1944 saw the premiere of the ballet Fancy Free, 25-year old Leonard Bernstein’s first major composition as well as the first in a string of scores for the stage and film. In order to celebrate the centennial of Bernstein’s birth in 1918, Christian Lindberg has gathered music from five different productions spanning a period of 13 years – from Fancy Free to the iconic musical West Side Story, premiered in 1957. The disc is bookended by the sparkling and witty Overture to Candide and Three Dance Episodes from the musical On the Town. Also included is the substantial Symphonic Suite from ‘On the Waterfront’, developed by Bernstein from the score he wrote for Elia Kazan’s classic film. The drama of this tale of love and betrayal set amid the docks of Hoboken in New Jersey is brought out by Bernstein’s music, which seethes with dramatic tension. Making its first appearance on BIS in these flamboyant and life-enhancing scores, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra clearly relishes the opportunity to let its collective hair down. The players are egged on by Lindberg, known for his ability to energize both orchestras and audiences.

REVIEW:

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic put on such a good show throughout this disc. The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story find them rounding corners that challenge the very best big bands. The all-dancing aspects of the disc do Bernstein’s struttin’ NYC style proud.

– Gramophone

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

REVIEWS:

Chutzpah and certainty: could this be the Mass for the new millennium?

For a work that was derided by some as much as it was adored by others upon its premiere, Bernstein’s Mass seems now to be a modern classic. This new recording is likely to be a powerful advocate in its widespread reassessment. Kristjan Järvi conducts his many and varied forces with high-octane energy, while Chandos delivers thrillingly clear and immediate sound.

-- Gramophone [5/2009]

Bravo and thrice-triple bravo! Bernstein’s flower child finally comes of age.

When I first heard Bernstein’s Mass it was less than a decade old, and already it seemed dated. I wasn’t much impressed at the time, although I’m pleased to say Mass and Chichester Psalms are now the Bernstein works I enjoy most; for me both have a naive charm that is unmistakably Lenny. Some listeners are much less charitable, describing Mass as either toe-curling or just plain trash, even though it’s blessed with music of genuine emotional weight and inspiration. These qualities are not necessarily obvious in Bernstein’s own recording for CBS/Sony, recently released as part of the Bernstein Century series (SM2K 63089). Kent Nagano’s Harmonia Mundi set (HM 801840) is certainly most welcome, especially as it is a hybrid SACD, but that isn’t wholly satisfying either.

Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy to commemorate the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, Mass is recorded here by Austrian groups under Kristjan Järvi. Rob Barnett was much impressed with this conductor’s set of Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln – see review – but I was more curious to hear how these non-English-speaking forces would cope with such a quintessentially American score.

The Celebrant in Bernstein’s own recording is the light baritone Alan Titus, whose boyish good looks seemed entirely right for the piece. Järvi’s Celebrant is the darker, more commanding Randall Scarlata, who bears a passing resemblance to the late British actor Donald Pleasence. Not quite the youthful presence one might expect, but his first entry in the Hymn and Psalm dispels any doubts about his suitability for the part. This ‘Simple Song’ with its artless guitar chords has a certain gravitas that’s every bit as appealing as Titus’s more naive approach for Bernstein. In fact, from the very outset one senses that Järvi takes a serious view of this work, the instrumental soloists, singers and orchestral players commendably focused throughout.

The Responsory: Alleluia (tr. 3) is the first of the work’s pre-recorded-tape segments and very effective it is too. The vocalists meld beautifully with the music’s jazzy syncopations, and even if Bernstein’s is the more sprightly reading Järvi’s is much more insightful in terms of detail and texture. Indeed, the latter makes this music sound newly minted, bringing out the many fine qualities of Bernstein’s writing. If anything the composer doesn’t always do justice to his own score; also, the CBS sound is a little rough and variably balanced, the recessed ‘ping-pong stereophony’ of the opening Antiphon sounding very contrived. By comparison the Chandos engineers have come up with a convincing soundstage and a warm, vibrant acoustic that gives the music a lovely inner glow.

Even at this early stage it’s clear that Järvi has transformed Mass from a piece of seventies tat into something much more substantial and less time-bound. Those who cringe at Bernstein’s own reading will surely respond to this more symphonic reading. I certainly found myself revelling in details and rhythms as yet only hinted at, marvelling also at the coherence of Bernstein’s hastily assembled creation. Yes, the Alleluias are heavily accented but goodness, the Ivesian rumty-tumty of the First Introit (tr. 4) has never sounded so uproarious. Perhaps the Austrian oompah-pah tradition is the secret ingredient here, the Company of Music (the Street Chorus) and Tölz boys in fine form as well. Surely even the ever-critical Bernstein would have been captivated by the verve of this performance.

At this point I’d pretty much given up comparing the two recordings, such are the musical virtues and sonic splendours of this Chandos account. Scarlata and the boys’ choir are incisive and alert in the Thrice-Triple Canon: Dominus vobiscum (tr. 5) and the restless bongos of In nomine Patris (another taped segment) are judged to perfection. The Tölz boys and the Chorus sine nomine are particularly affecting in the supplicatory Prayer for the Congregation (tr. 7). One would have to be stony hearted not to be moved by this gentlest of utterances, so feelingly voiced. After the bird-like oboe solo in the Epiphany (tr. 8) the Celebrant’s call to confession (tr. 9) has some strongly rhythmic singing from Chorus sine nomine and a moody electric bass line.

The balance between acoustic and electric instruments is a real challenge in Mass, but here it’s very well managed, the funky trope ‘I Don’t Know’ stylishly sung by ‘rock singers’ Reinwald Kranner and Dave Moskin. This kind of pointedly ‘hip’ interjection is very risky indeed – cue more shudders from the critics – but if anyone can bring it off Lenny can. Meanwhile the bluesy trope ‘Easy’ (tr. 11) reminds me of Hair, another of those iconic shows from the period, albeit with the brazenness and Berlin accents of Cabaret. What a contrast with the symphonic Meditation No. 1 (tr. 12), with its agitated, Shostakovich-like string figures. There is real darkness and doubt in Mass and it lurks here too, although the radiant violin solos do manage to pierce the pervading gloom.

This new optimism is echoed in the vigorous Gloria tibi (tr. 13). Gloria in excelsis (tr. 14) is surely modelled on the spring-loaded rhythms of Poulenc’s Gloria, with a dash of West Side Story added to ‘Half of the People’ (tr. 15). Incredibly for players who aren’t familiar with this music they inject an idiomatic, Jet-like swagger to the start of ‘Thank You’, movingly sung by soprano Ruth Kraus. Again doubts surface in the Mahlerian Meditation No. 2, the cello soloist assailed by menacing interjections from the orchestra. In spite of that the simple solo line outlasts them all, bringing the first disc to a warmly expressive close.

For all its shortcomings Bernstein’s recording will always have a special one. It’s a unique reflection of the prevailing zeitgeist, and for that reason alone it deserves a place on your shelves. Järvi’s reading is altogether more thoughtful, a mature, 21st-century take on the fading flower culture of the early seventies. We readily accept that performing styles change in other genres, so it’s entirely appropriate that we have a new – and refreshing – perspective on Mass as well.

Scarlata opens disc two with an arresting Epistle. Even ‘Dear Mom and Dad’ has added resonance, a new urgency, in an uncertain world, and once again Järvi responds with great sensitivity to the demands of the score. Anyone who doubts the ability of European performers to get to the heart of this piece of Americana should sample the upbeat Gospel-Sermon ‘God Said’ (tr. 2). I was simply astonished by the choruses’ ability to capture the rafter-ringing revivalism of this great number. Järvi and his musicians really seem to believe in this score, and of course belief – in the form of the Credo – lies at the very heart of the Mass. Typically, Bernstein contrasts this pre-recorded segment with its polar opposite, ‘Non Credo‘. André Bauer is the fine baritone soloist here, and the pre-recorded Crucifixus will surely bring back memories of the rock-opera Jesus Christ Superstar. There’s a bit of everything here, but then that’s what Bernstein does best; he is a great assimilator.

The mezzo Heldemaria Gruber makes the most of the trope ‘Hurry’ (tr. 5), although her words aren’t very clear. Ruth Kraus enters the fray in ‘World without End’ (tr. 6), which teeters on the brink of musical anarchy. Then there is a torrent of Janá?ek-like ‘Amens’ at the start of ‘I Believe in God’ (tr. 7), in which Moskin – and just about everybody else – come perilously close to bringing the temple crashing down around them. The Chandos engineers cope admirably with all this controlled chaos; indeed, the recording sounds exceptional in both its CD and two-channel SACD forms. I imagine it would sound even more spectacular in its multi-channel guise.

The Celebrant’s stern invocation ‘Let us pray’ is met with an equally forceful response from the players in Meditation No. 3 (tr. 8) and elicits some transported singing from Chorus sine nomine. Scarlata’s heartfelt prayer ’Remember, O Lord, thou servants and handmaids’ – intoned over a sustained organ note – embraces performers and conductor; it’s a touching moment that can so easily descend into bathos, yet here it’s carried off with great conviction. The Tölz boys and Chorus sine nomine blaze their way through the Orffian Offertory (tr. 9) before we hear The Lord’s Prayer (tr. 10), sung and picked out on the piano by the Celebrant. It’s another of those potentially shudder-inducing moments that actually works very well. Scarlata then tops that with a melting rendition of ‘I Go On’. At this point I admit I was ready to jump up and applaud.

We move into the bright tones of the treble-dominated Sanctus (tr. 12) with its twangy interlude for electric guitar, part for counter-tenor and the usual Orffian ostinati. It’s a truly bizarre confection but, as usual, Bernstein seems to make a decent recipe out of these disparate ingredients. Goodness, these drums would make the Telarc engineers green with envy; and the sheer oomph of the Agnus Dei (tr. 13) will take your breath away; Indeed, I wondered if Järvi and his musicians could wring any more volume or intensity from this wild, wild apotheosis.

The somewhat surreal sprechgesang-like ‘Fraction: Things Get Broken’ (tr. 14) comes as a welcome respite after all that unbridled power. Once again Scarlata impresses with his extraordinary vocal range and colour palette, not to mention his ability to traverse so many different singing styles. In this, one of the longest and most sustained sections of Mass. Bernstein’s melodic gifts are arrayed for all to see; remarkably, though, it’s Järvi, not the composer, who shows them off to best advantage.

Despite all the conductor’s insights it’s Scarlata who makes this performance come alive. By comparison Titus sounds like a lightweight, lacking in character or feeling. Just listen to how Scaralata conveys exhaustion and despair in this penultimate – and very demanding – section. And savour those harps, soft pillows of sound on which the Celebrant can rest his weary head. Hugely theatrical, but as with all such gestures they are highly effective when handled with such sensitivity and good judgment. And the final section, with its treble solo, will surely bring back memories of Chichester Psalms. Boy soprano Georg Drexel is very affecting here – far preferable to the rather winsome soloist in Lenny’s recording – as is the solo flute of Sonja Korak. There is a real sense of repose here, framed by harps and vocalists. Drexel returns at the close, his pure tones entwined with those of the more worldly Celebrant.

As a convert I exhort all those who don’t believe in Mass to buy this recording and recant. I didn’t expect to be as moved and thrilled by this performance as I was; indeed, it sets new standards for this most underrated work, both musically and sonically. Add to all these virtues a chunky, well-written booklet – including texts – and you have the makings of a modern classic.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWe International [5/2009]

In celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centenary (1918-2018), this recording features the composer’s complete solo piano works, plus, as special bonus, the witty and charming “Bridal Suite” for piano four-hands, heard here in its first complete recording. In addition to the better known “Anniversaries”, “Sonata for the Piano”, and “Touches”, Andrew Cooperstock has included Leonard Bernstein’s very first published work, the highly effective transcription of Aaron Copland’s orchestral tone poem “El Salón México”, together with the “Four Sabras”, “Non troppo presto”, and “Music for the Dance, No. II”. The recording encompasses music from the composer's teenage years through his last piano composition, “Touches”, and includes music Bernstein dedicated to friends and colleagues including Lukas Foss, Sergei Koussevitzky, William Schuman, William Kapell, and Stephen Sondheim. The distinguished pianist Andrew Cooperstock is Professor of Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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REVIEWS:

Superbly played by Andrew Cooperstock and with Bridge’s usual fine production standards this is a very fine collection of rarely heard works by one of the 20th century’s key musical figures.

– MusicWeb International

Bridal Suite (1960) was written to mark the marriage of the lyricist Adolph Green, one of his collaborators on On the Town and Wonderful Town, and the actress Phyllis Newman. The opening Prelude is a hoot, blending Ave Maria with ‘Just in time’ and Bach’s Prelude in C major. The collection is scored for piano four hands, which Cooperstock, brilliant and sensitive throughout the set, manages deftly.

– Gramophone

The sparkling overture to Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 musical Candide immediately found a prominent place in concert programs all over the world and is now one of his most frequently performed pieces. Many of Bernstein’s best loved works drew inspiration from the city of New York, and this is true both of the three sailors pursuing female conquest in the ballet ‘Fancy Free,’ and of the rip-roaring swing rhythm and big tunes from the musical ‘Wonderful Town.’ Bernstein celebrated his friends and family with his ‘Anniversaries’- piano vignettes heard here for the first time in colorfully expanded orchestrations. Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives.” She became music director of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and made history in 2013 as the first female conductor of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, which she returned to conduct in 2015. As a student of Leonard Bernstein, Alsop is central to his 100th anniversary celebrations, conducting Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ at the Ravina Festival, where she serves as musical curator for 2018 and 2019.

This new West Side Story, the first American-based recording to appear since DG's star-studded 1985 composer-conducted version, blessedly avoids that earlier production's operatic pretensions, returning instead to the work's Broadway roots by using young, theatrically trained singers with some genuine acting ability. Even with that, it's probably wishful thinking to expect that this cast (fine as it is) can recreate the vibrant, raw freshness and scintillating brilliance of the original. Mike Eldred's Tony comes off best; singing with a more mature sound than Larry Kert, he nonetheless creates a sense of heightened expectancy and wonder in "Something's Coming". As Maria, Betsi Morrison struggles to maintain an authentic-sounding Puerto Rican accent, but she sings beautifully throughout, especially in "Tonight" and "I Have a Love". I'm afraid Marianne Cook's Anita is no match for Chita Rivera's, but she communicates the character's feelings convincingly enough. The remainder of the ensemble consists of good, solid, legit voices, but a lot has changed on Broadway since 1957: the overall style of singing, with its occasionally overemphatic declamation (as in "A Boy Like That" and "Cool") makes clear how years of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals have influenced American performers.


This recording utilizes Bernstein's score in its original form, before it underwent the necessary revisions to make it more suitable to the needs of musical theater at the time. Actually, it sounds pretty much the same, the most obvious distinctions being a few missing bars near the end of the Prologue and the different vocal arrangement for "America".


Kenneth Schermerhorn was studying with Bernstein during the creation of West Side Story and briefly was considered as a possible conductor for the premiere. Finally getting his chance nearly 50 years later, Schermerhorn conducts the score with an authority and enthusiasm that reveals his intimate knowledge and personal conviction, even if at times his tempos drag (as in "I feel pretty" and "Gee Officer Krupke"), though not as much as the elderly Bernstein's. Then there's the somewhat obsessive concern with full note values at the expense of rhythmic flow (as in the "Jet Song", and in "Quintet", with its heavy articulation on the word "tonight") that occasionally robs the music of its spontaneity.


Throughout, the Nashville Symphony plays with an ideal blend of symphonic elegance and jazzy swagger that shows why this work is such a wonderful classic. Only the multimiked and obviously studio-bound recording, with its artificially close voices, slightly disappoints. Yet despite this and the above-noted concerns, this production faithfully recreates the magical and enthralling world that is West Side Story, and anyone coming to this piece afresh is in for a rare and special experience. [11/4/2002]
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

Not too many listeners are Dybbuk admirers, and even Bernstein's supporters find this music less interesting than much else that he wrote. The fact that the music resorts to some dodecaphonic and numerological compositional techniques isn't a point in its favor, though in actual sonority it's entirely characteristic of Bernstein, and at this late date it's easy to hear that his personality inhabits every bar. If there's a problem with the piece, it likely stems from the fact that the overall impression it makes is a bit glum, lacking in that special snap that makes his best work so memorable. Certainly the supernatural subject is a dark one, and it calls forth plenty of eerie, atmospheric scoring; but the actual musical material seems stretched thinly over the work's 45 minutes (48, if you're the composer). Bernstein recorded the complete work for Sony, but broke it up into a pair of suites for his DG remakes. I do prefer the original; the music is what it is, and over time it has grown on me--and might well do so for you too.


Fancy Free of course is delightful, and often recorded, but this performance holds its own with the best--and I frankly prefer Andrew Mogrelia to the composer in Dybbuk. He's just that much livelier, and the Nashville Symphony sounds as inside the idiom as the New York Philharmonic of several decades' past. This newcomer also is better recorded than Bernstein's performances either on Sony or DG, and the excellent version of "Hot Stuff" that opens Fancy Free also is a plus. If you're a Bernstein fan, you will certainly want this.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Includes work(s) by Aaron Copland, Maurice Ravel, Joaquín Rodrigo, Sergei Prokofiev, Virgil Thomson, Gabriel Fauré, Jacques Ibert, Percy Aldridge Grainger. Ensemble: Philharmonia Virtuosi. Conductor: Richard Kapp.

"Marin Alsop follows up her excellent Samuel Barber series for Naxos with works by her one-time mentor, Leonard Bernstein. For the most part, she and the Bournemouth Symphony deliver the goods. The suite Bernstein fashioned from his lone film score, On the Waterfront, contains some of this composer's most vibrant and involving music, where no section of the orchestra goes under-utilized. Everything in the score clearly stands out under Alsop's eagle eyes and ears, with syncopated rhythms and canonic passages securely aligned and the Bournemouth brass at their assertive best (especially in the final Allegro non troppo section)...The Bournemouth strings come into their own in Chichester Psalms, notably in the third-movement prelude. Alsop's brisk tempos serve the first movement's insouciant asymmetry well, and she makes the third movement's lyrical points through strict dynamic gradations and steady tempos (it's so tempting to milk this music to death!). The chorus is expertly prepared, and the small solo parts are handled as well as they can be. Boy soprano Thomas Kelly's centered pitch and clear diction deserves more than honorable mention. My only complaint about Naxos' wide-ranging sonics is that you can barely understand the words at loud moments--but listeners will find texts and translations are provided. Yes, no one conducts Bernstein like Lenny, but Marin Alsop manages to make this music her own. And that's no small feat."

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

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Bernstein the composer has a champion in Marin Alsop, who decided to become a conductor after hearing him lead the New York Philharmonic when she was 9. On a Naxos disc, she conducts an uplifting performance of his colorful "Chichester Psalms" with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (of which she was principal conductor from 2002 to 2008). Bernstein described the "Psalms," for which he set Hebrew texts, as the "most B flat majorish tonal piece I’ve ever written." The recording also includes lively renditions of his Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town" (a musical theater piece) and the Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront," which uses material (including some that was cut) from his 1954 film score.

--Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times

A two-disc cast album from Robbins's anthology show, which includes re-creations of production numbers excerpted from such shows as On the Town, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, and Fiddler on the Roof. Onstage it was breathtaking; on record it makes for a sort of Broadway's-greatest-hits album, albeit with re-recorded versions.

-- William Ruhlmann, AllMusic.com

Music composed by Elmer Bernstein. Lyrics written by Carolyn Leigh. Principal cast includes: Anthony Roberts, Marilyn Mason, Brenda Vaccaro, Tommy Tune, Barnard Hughes, Hiram Sherman, James Congdon, Joe McGrath, Bob Gorman, Patti Davis, Alexander Orfaly, Jennifer Darling, Rex Everhart. Recorded at Webster Hall, New York, New York on December 17, 1967. Includes liner notes by Peter Marks. Digitally remastered by Harold Hagopian & Hsi-ling Chang (1999, BMG Studios).

Lara Downes’ new album For Lenny celebrates the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein with a special friends-and-family tribute to the man behind the music. The recording features Bernstein’s aptly-named Anniversaries for Piano, new arrangements of his songs, and world premieres of works dedicated to Bernstein by leading American composers including Stephen Sondheim, John Corigliano, and Stephen Schwartz. The album is introduced by an essay from acclaimed New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik.

Taking her inspiration from Bernstein’s boundary-breaking approach to music-making, Lara has invited a diverse group of guest artists: opera legend Thomas Hampson, roots singer Rhiannon Giddens, superstar beatboxer Kevin “K.O.” Olusola (a member of the chart-topping a cappella group Pentatonix), and Mexican/American clarinet prodigy Javier Morales-Martinez.

Describing FOR LENNY, Lara says: “Leonard Bernstein reminds me of what a musician can be. Of what music can do in this world – how it can reach and teach and make things happen. Just imagine what American music was before Lenny came along, everything he changed. I’m only here at all, I think, because of the rules he broke and the doors he knocked down. Imagine the thousands of other musicians who feel the same way.”

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REVIEW:

In the midst of all of this abundance, pianist Lara Downes seems to have homed in on the sweet spot for giving this hard-working musician with a larger-than-life reputation a tribute recording that manages to be sincere without going over the top with adulation.... Downes’ recording may well have qualities that will endure long after the celebratory shouts of “Bravo!” have evaporated into the ether.

– The Rehearsal Studio (Stephen Smoliar)

At the age of 21, Leonard Bernstein wrote what he described as a ‘Hebrew song’ using a text from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Three years later the song became the final movement of his Symphony No. 1 and in January 1944 Bernstein himself conducted the première of the work. What is being lamented is the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, but according to the composer, he primarily wanted to convey the text’s ‘emotional quality’. The first movement thus aims to parallel in feeling the intensity of the prophet’s pleas while the scherzo gives a general sense of the destruction and chaos. Being a setting of the biblical text, the third movement is naturally more literary: the cry of Jeremiah, as he mourns his beloved Jerusalem. During the next few years, Bernstein’s career as a conductor took flight, while the musical On the Town made his name on Broadway. Towards the end of the 1940s he returned to the symphonic genre, however – once more with an extra-musical inspiration. W.H. Auden’s poem The Age of Anxiety is set during the recently concluded war, and falls – like the symphony – into six sections during which four characters express their anxieties, hopes and the quest for meaning and identity. Bernstein chose to portray all four characters via a single instrument, the piano, but he did not want to label the work a piano concerto. The instrument does however come to the fore at various points and in one of the final sections Bernstein supplies what is arguably the most exuberant and rhythmically dazzling display of piano writing in the symphonic literature. For this Christian Lindberg and the Arctic Philharmonic have enlisted the aid of Roland Pöntinen, while Anna Larsson is the soloist in Jeremiah.

This recording brings together music from some of Leonard Bernstein's best-loved scores with seldom heard occasional works and premiere recordings. From the iconic musical West Side Story, the hot-blooded dance number 'Mambo' embodies the show's dramatic tensions. 'Slava!' celebrates Bernstein's friend and colleague, the cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, in music reworked from the daring show 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, from which the Suite rescues further highlights. 'CBS Music' has not ben heard since the broadcasting giant's 50th anniversary celebrations in 1978, while the 'Birthday Bouquet' takes the form of affectionate musical tributes from eight composer colleagues to one of the twentieth century's greatest musicians. Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene who passionately believes that "music has the power to change lives." She became music director of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and made history in 2013 as the first female conductor of the BBC's Last Night of the Proms, which she returned to conduct in 2015. As a student of Leonard Bernstein, Alsop is central to his 100th anniversary celebrations, conducting Bernstein's 'Mass' at the Ravina Festival, where she serves as musical curator for 2018 and 2019.

Leonard Bernstein’s legendary 1943 Carnegie Hall conducting début brought his name to national attention, and the event was followed a few months later by the triumphant reception of his Symphony No. 1 ‘Jeremiah.’ This major symphonic statement explores a crisis in faith and employs Jewish liturgical sources, its final movement, Lamentation, being an anguished cry at the destruction of Jerusalem. Sharing the theme of loss of faith, Symphony No. 2 ‘The Age of Anxiety’ takes W.H. Auden’s poem of the same name and follows its four characters in their spiritual journey to hard-won triumph.

REVIEW:

It’s great to see this music being played with such conviction. We all know that Alsop is a superb Bernstein conductor, and Naxos already has a terrific account of the First Symphony from James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony, but this newcomer is, if anything, even finer–certainly sonically–and conducted with even more pizzazz. In the central Profanation movement, Alsop really does outdo Bernstein himself; the playing of the Baltimore Symphony here is sensational, and in the finale Jennifer Johnson Cano sings with great sensitivity and a beautiful tone. The tragic climaxes hit you right in the gut.

In the Second Symphony, Jean-Yves Thibaudet offers a first class account of his solo part. The Masque is especially outstanding–virtuosic but at the same time nicely “cool.” Prior to that, in the opening variation sets, Alsop knits the music together expertly, ensuring that the glum bits never bog down, and that the entire first part builds inexorably to its exciting conclusion. The following Dirge is is a barn-burner, and somehow after all of this the Epilogue never turns hollow. Again, I don’t think that Bernstein could have done better, and as suggested above the engineering is also rock solid and brilliant by turns. A marvelous release by any standard.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz, 10/10)

Bernstein's piano output reflects the various strands of his multifaceted personality, in works as different as Touches (1981) and, at the other end of the scale, his often tender, sentimental Anniversaries. Taken together his piano works form a musical diary tracing the breadth of his experiences and ideas. Four of his Five Anniversaries (1949-51) appear as themes in his violin concerto, the Serenade after Plato’s “Symposium.” The personal commemorations he created were not portraits so much as self-portrayals, revealing different aspects of his own multi-faceted personality. To play these works well requires an understanding of the various elements that made up the Bernstein persona.

The Italian pianist Michele Tozzetti brings out the heartfelt tenderness of most of these tributes, the Jewish elements and the dance rhythms. In the Anniversary dedicated to Aaron Copland (in Seven Anniversaries, 1943), Tozzetti captures the sound and spirit of the man Bernstein called ‘my first friend in New York, my master, my idol, my sage, my shrink, my guide, my counselor, my elder brother, [and] my beloved friend.’ The pianist reveals a delicate sense of sonority along with fine dynamic control in For Paul Bowles, and brings an idiomatic edginess to For Sergei Koussevitzky. He also injects youthful vigor into Bernstein’s Sonata (1937), a probing work rich in counterpoint, written when the composer was still a student. Also on this recording are Non Troppo Presto, a manuscript discovered in the Leonard Bernstein archive at the Library of Congress; and Touches: Chorale, Eight Variations and Coda, commissioned by the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 1981. Its bluesy chorale is identical to Virgo Blues, written for his daughter, Jamie on her twenty-sixth birthday in 1978. Bernstein dedicated this work ‘to my first love, the keyboard’. In Michele Tozzetti’s hands, that love is beautifully realized.

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REVIEW:

When you put it all together, there is a great deal to enjoy in Leonard Bernstein’s piano music. The Sonata, Music for the Dance, and Touches are strikingly stark and crunchy. The Sabras and Anniversaries are more personal and lyrical. The contrast between modernism and Bernstein’s more familiar nostalgic tunefulness is striking. The young pianist Michele Tozzetti plays with a deft touch and sharp articulation. As a bonus, one gets to read the superb program annotation of Stuart Isacoff, author of a wonderful new book on Van Cliburn.

– American Record Guide (Jack Sullivan)