Chicago Symphony Orchestra: First Grammy Awards

Recordings by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra were first recognized by the Recording Academy at the third Grammy Awards ceremony in April 1961. Fritz Reiner leading Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta won the statuette for Best Classical Performance–Orchestra, and Sviatoslav Richter—in his U.S. debut—was awarded Best Classical Performance–Concerto or Instrumental Soloist for his interpretation of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with Erich Leinsdorf conducting. Four years later, Leontyne Price won the award for Best Vocal Soloist Performance (with or without orchestra) for Falla’s El amor brujo under Reiner’s baton.

Falla El amor brujo
Fritz Reiner conductor
Leontyne Price soprano
March 1963 (RCA)

Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
Fritz Reiner conductor
December 1958 (RCA)

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
Erich Leinsdorf conductor
Sviatoslav Richter piano
October 1960 (RCA)

From the CSO’s Archives: The First 130 Years—featuring recordings from the CSO’s vast discography, including releases on CSO Resound—is a cultural and community partnership between the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and WFMT, Chicago’s Classical Music Station.

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