Leonard Bernstein first signed with Columbia Masterworks in 1956, and up to 1979 he recorded over 500 compositions as conductor, pianist, and commentator for the label. Just a year before, legendary photographer Don Hunstein joined Columbia Records at a time when the company was under the direction of Goddard Lieberson, who thought it important to document in photographs the cultural history of the music of the time.

This 224-page book collects for the first time the photographic highlights – many of them previously unseen – from the Leonard Bernstein photo collection. It also contains twelve CDs with Bernstein’s legendary recordings of symphonic masterpieces, concertos, and vocal works, featuring him as conductor, composer, and pianist. This book is a tribute to the art of recording-studio photography in the heyday of the LP era.