New York Philharmonic Special Editions: Bernstein LIVE

New York Philharmonic Special Editions: Bernstein LIVE
Few if any conductors of our age had the versatility and sheer gusto that Leonard Bernstein brought to so varied a repertoire. Who, if anyone, excelled so consistently with such diverse composers as Stravinsky, Mahler, Haydn, Schumann, Sibelius, Gershwin, Beethoven, and Hindemith? And then there were those surprising forays into unknown territory, even more so in the 60s than now: Nielsen, Milhaud, Roussel, Blitzstein, Shapiro, Goldmark...the list goes on and on. Fortunately, much of Bernstein's best work was amply documented by Sony and DG, but as this New York Philharmonic Special Editions set eloquently demonstrates, there was much of exceptional interest that didn't make it into the studio. Here, then, is a listener's guide to one of the most exciting things to happen in classical music since, well, the New York Philharmonic's last 10-CD set!

Composer Title (note or soloist) Date Time

Disc 1

Stravinsky Song of the Nightingale 12/16/56 20:53

Elgar Cockaigne Overture 02/09/63 13:24

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 (Lazar Berman) 03/02/77 44:02

Bernstein was, of course, a master in Stravinsky, and this performance dating from 1956 demonstrates once again his enthusiasm for a composer he considered the greatest of the 20th century. When it comes to Elgar, it's the controversial DG reading of the Enigma Variations that immediately comes to mind. This comparatively straightforward, rip-snorting performance of Cockaigne offers a huge amount of excitement, plain and simple. The Rachmaninoff Third is a big-boned, very Romantic reading marred by some untidy ensemble. Berman's performance has grandeur, no doubt about it, and he literally clobbers the first movement cadenza, but some may prefer more lightness and elegance in a work that hardly needs indulging.

Disc 2

Stravinsky The Seine at Night 10/14/61 08:45

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 (Byron Janis) 01/30/60 24.47

Webern Six Pieces for Orchestra 01/19/58 12:44

Hindemith Symphony, Mathis der Maler 12/23/56 27:42

This disc contains some of the set's greatest performance, including a live Mathis der Maler, captured in marvelous sound for the period, that features a heavenly opening Angelic Concert and a finale that the term "blistering excitement" barely begins to describe. Byron Janis turns in a refined Mozart concerto, with an especially lovely slow movement, and the Webern demonstrates Bernstein's ability to make even the music of this cerebral composer practically ooze expressiveness. Thomson's lovely tone poem sets the scene for a disc which is, all by itself, a magnificently conceived whole from beginning to end.

Disc 3

Britten Spring Symphony
(Jennifer Vyvyan, Regina Sarfaty, Richard Lewis) 05/04/63 42:52

Schumann Cello Concerto (Jacqueline du Pré) 03/03/67 25:25

Sibelius Songs (Phyllis Curtin) 10/02/65 08:54

Bernstein's involvement with Britten's music dates back to Koussevitsky's commissioning of the opera Peter Grimes in the 1940s, but he recorded relatively little of it. That makes this ebullient performance of the Spring Symphony all the more important and a major addition to the Bernstein discography. Typically with a live recording of such a complex work, the balances aren't always just, the chorus can be indistinct and the boy's choir inaudible, but with an excellent team of soloists the result will please fans of Britten and of this particular work. Schumann was, of course, a Bernstein specialty, and he provides a superb accompaniment to du Pré's wiry-toned, sometimes sour (in terms of intonation) cello playing. She's not terrible, but no way is she up to the level of her collaborators. The Sibelius songs make a fine bonus; it's always a pleasure to hear Phyllis Curtin, and the repertoire is both unusual and very attractive.

Disc 4

Mozart The Magic Flute Overture 10/29/66 06:40

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 (Wilhelm Kempff) 10/29/66 36:32

Foss Quintets for Orchestra 01/31/81 14:35

Copland Dance Symphony 01/31/81 19:19

Another marvelous disc that works as a complete concert all by itself: Mozart's Magic Flute Overture introduces a dynamically charged Beethoven Third Concerto with Kempff in fine form and Bernstein offering the same marvelous accompaniments he gave to Rudolf Serkin in their studio recording of the work. The Foss performance represents an important addition to the discography of a very interesting, neglected composer, while the Copland neatly fills a gap in Bernstein's almost complete "official" orchestral tribute to a friend and colleague whose music he conducted better than anyone.

Disc 5

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy) 11/29/58 30:49

Markevitch Icare (U.S. Premiere) 04/13/58 24:28

Varèse Arcana 11/29/58 17:15

This stunning disc presents the young Ashkenazy in dazzling form, though the audience contributes rather too much to the proceedings, while Markevitch's marvelous ballet/tone poem Icare offers yet another testimony to Bernstein's omnivorous musical appetite. The Varèse really smokes, though the limitations of the original source perhaps prevent the performance from achieving its maximum impact.

Disc 6

Barber Second Essay 10/24/59 10:26

Russo Symphony No. 2 (Maynard Ferguson, World Premiere) 04/18/59 20:28

Ruggles Men and Mountains 10/18/58 09:33

Ives Symphony No. 2 (World Premiere) 02/25/51 37:47

A bold performance of the Barber makes an enjoyable prelude to Russo's interesting, "third wave" classical/jazz fusion piece featuring Maynard Ferguson's amazing solo work. Ruggles' Men and Mountains marks an important addition to Bernstein's American music discography, while the Ives Second Symphony broadcast (taken from an excellent sounding source for the period) is the stuff of legends. Interestingly, Lenny takes the cacophonous last chord as written, short and sharp, rather than as the prolonged raspberry he made of it on his two later recordings.

Disc 7

Shchedrin Mischievous Folk Ditties 05/20/67 07:59

Stravinsky Capriccio (Seymour Lipkin) 05/19/62 17:35

Henze Symphony No. 5
(World Premiere, Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the opening celebration of Lincoln Center) 05/18/63 19:44

Beethoven Triple Concerto
(Leonard Bernstein, John Corigliano, Laszlo Varga) 10/17/59 32:49

Shchedrin's Mischievous Folk Ditties receive a bubbly, mischievous performance, but the highlight of this disc is the Stravinsky, another fine rendition of a major work by one of Lenny's "special" composers. The Henze premiere is worth having, though the music won't be to all tastes, as a major statement by someone widely regarded as Germany's most significant composer of the past 50 years or so, while the Beethoven shows Lenny relaxing at home with some of his Philharmonic colleagues-a genial, smiling view of a piece that needs to convey a certain sense of occasion. It certainly does here.

Disc 8

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
(Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, John Wummer) 12/05/59 22:36

Bruckner Symphony No. 6 03/27/76 56:48

A peppy, vital Bach concerto introduces a performance of Bruckner's Sixth that's something of a trip. Using extra brass (with some spectacularly cracking horns) and winds, Bernstein somewhat surprisingly gets all of the basic tempos and the tricky relationships between them (in the outer movements especially) exactly right, while unsurprisingly trying to fuse Bruckner's abrupt non-transitions into a seamless whole though some pretty extreme maneuvers from one section to the next. It's a curious, not entirely idiomatic, but intelligent and interesting approach to a composer whose work Bernstein might well have come to love, and by the time it's all over it's hard not to be convinced by the sheer gusto that Lenny brings to the piece. Weirdly compelling.

Disc 9 Bernstein Discusses and Performs Twentieth-Century Music:

Copland An Outdoor Overture 11/12/60 11:17

Xenakis Pithoprakta (U.S. Premiere) 01/05/64 22:07

Brant Antiphony One 04/02/60 14:31

Boulez Improvisation sur Mallarmé I (Marni Nixon, U.S. Premiere 04/02/60 10:05

Cage Atlas Eclipticalis 02/09/64 19:44

The principal attraction of this disc for many will be the marvelous lectures from the conductor's podium that precede each performance, some of them longer than the works themselves. Of the five pieces presented here, the Brant certainly richly deserves the oblivion into which it has fallen. The others have more substance, and the performances range from less than stunning (Xenakis), to hauntingly evocative (Boulez, with the spectacular Marni Nixon showing Lenny-like versatility in a role about as far removed from the voice of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady as possible). Although castigated at the time by the critics for his comments (which seem dead-on accurate today), it's fascinating to hear such a brilliant musical mind attempting to come to grips with composers whose works Bernstein finds for the most part totally unsympathetic.

Disc 10

Wagner Scenes from Götterdämmerung
(Eileen Farrell, Jess Thomas) 01/24, 26/70 79:57

Bernstein's complete recording of Tristan reveals his affinity for Wagner, despite the fact that the opera house was not his primary arena of activity. He brings a truly epic sweep to these extended excerpts from Götterdämmerung, and the two soloists sing their collective hearts out. Farrell fans (and who isn't one of those?) will rejoice at the chance to hear her in more of the role she was born to sing but never recorded complete, and although she did the "Immolation Scene" with both Munch and Bernstein, this live performance has an intensity that those others don't quite match, fine though they are.

As usual with Philharmonic productions, the discs come with fabulous booklet: 500 pages of discographies, tributes to Bernstein from orchestral members, and sensational program notes. The transfers are superbly done from the best available sources. All of them are perfectly listenable, and the recordings from the 1950s, in particular, sound pretty amazing for their period. It's hard to imagine any serious record collector not wanting to acquire this set forthwith. You can find it at Tower Records stores, and direct on-line through the Philharmonic's website: www.nyphilharmonic.org. Buy it. Listen to it. Love it. Lenny would be pleased.