Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 / Manfred Overture (Royal Edition No. 74);

No one has more fully conveyed the impassioned exuberance of the score than Leonard Bernstein did in this 1960 recording, the capstone of a Schumann symphony cycle he and a fired-up New York Philharmonic taped for CBS in just three weeks. The performance scales the heights of Romantic ardor, and the sound is amazingly vibrant. --Ted Libbey