Bernstein: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Alsop, Baltimore Symphony

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
January 13, 2017
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      LEONARD BERNSTEIN
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Jennifer Johnson Cano, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marin Alsop
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 13, 2017
    • UPC
      636943979020
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8559790
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Chamber Music & Recitals
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Prophecy

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    2. II. Profanation

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    3. III. Lamentation

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jennifer Johnson Cano

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    4. Part I: The Prologue: Lento moderato -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    5. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 1: L'istesso tempo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    6. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 2: Poco più mosso -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    7. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 3: Largamente, ma mosso -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    8. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 4: Più mosso -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    9. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 5 -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    10. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 6: Poco meno mosso -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    11. Part I: The Seven Ages: Variation 7: L'istesso tempo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    12. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 8: Molto moderato, ma movendo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    13. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 9: Più mosso [tempo di valse] -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    14. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 10: Più mosso -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    15. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 11: L'istesso tempo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    16. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 12: Poco più vivace -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    17. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 13: L'istesso tempo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    18. Part I: The Seven Stages: Variation 14: L'istesso tempo [poco più vivace]

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    19. Part II: The Dirge: Largo -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    20. Part II: The Masque: Extremely fast -

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop

    21. Part II: The Epilogue: L'istesso tempo

      Composer: Leonard Bernstein

      Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

      Conductor: Marin Alsop


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)