New Haven, CT December 8, 2010: The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) proudly announces that its recently released Walton CD is a 2010 Critic’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine.

Each December, critics from the internationally-acclaimed Gramophone Magazine name the recording they’ll be giving as a holiday gift in the annual Critic’s Choice feature. Gramophone critic Edward Greenfield selected the Walton recording saying “Under William Boughton, these splendidly idiomatic performances from the New Haven Symphony Orchestra of both Walton’s iconic First Symphony and his Violin Concerto. The nagging repetitions in the first movement of the First Symphony are magnetic, the leading Scherzo quirky. In the concerto, Kurt Nikkanen is a clean-cut yet warmly expressive soloist.”

Recorded live at Woolsey Hall, this full length commercial CD released on the Nimbus record label showcases the artistic mastery of the NHSO and Music Director William Boughton conducting William Walton’s Symphony No. 1 and his Violin Concerto featuring internationally-renowned violinist and Connecticut native Kurt Nikkanen.

This recording is part of the 3-CD Walton Recording Project featuring Walton’s symphonic works and concertos utilizing original manuscripts accessed through Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

CDs can be purchased for $20.95 each (shipping and handling included) by contacting the NHSO office at (203) 865-0831 or by visiting www.NewHavenSymphony.org.

This CD would not have been made possible without the generous support of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Nimbus Records, Yale University, and Whitney Center.