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Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra
BR Klassik

Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra

$19.99

Details

Composer
BERNSTEIN, LEONARD
Artist
Schirmer, Criswell, Gilfry, Grimson, Dwyer, Collett, Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Format
CD
Label
BR Klassik
Released
Sep 29, 2009
Catalog #
403571900300
UPC
4035719003000

About



BERNSTEIN West Side Story: Symphonic Dances. Trouble in Tahiti 1 & • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Kim Criswell ( Dinah ); 1 Rodney Gilfry ( Sam ); 1 Marlene Grimson ( Trio sop ); 1 Adrian Dwyer ( Trio ten ); 1 Ronan Collett ( Trio bar ); 1 Munich RO • BR 719003 (77:43 Text and Translation) Live: Munich 10/12/2008


& German interview with Ulf Schirmer


I have not generally been impressed with German orchestral performances of distinctly American scores such as these by Leonard Bernstein—heavily dependent on Latin dance rhythms and jazz inflections, having found too many of them stiff and uncomfortable with the idiom. I rather imagine that Viennese listeners have a similar reaction when an American orchestra and conductor perform Johann Strauss. Like the subtle inflections of language, there are some things one just absorbs from the culture that are hard to master otherwise.


So it proves here, especially in the “Symphonic Dances.” The percussion get the rhythms, and the brass have the feel as well, though the trumpets seem reluctant to wail with sufficient abandon, but generally, the woodwinds just can’t quite bring themselves to let lose in the long stretches of exuberance, and the strings are too polite by half. Add to that Ulf Schirmer’s tendency to relax momentum in the more lyrical sections—something Bernstein never did—and you have a performance that is a little too pokerfaced to take flight. It is not bad by any means—Schirmer often generates a good deal of energy and excitement—but it is simply not competitive with more idiomatic performances by the composer and others.


Some of that same orchestral stiffness infects the performance of Bernstein’s heavily ironic, autobiographical one-act opera, Trouble in Tahiti —the characters almost certainly represent Bernstein’s mismatched parents, Jennie and Sam—but this performance is harder to pass over. First of all, there are not a lot of recordings around, and more important, these singers have the style to make it work. The issue raised by this interpretation is one of genre: is it opera or is it musical theater? While most performances are cast with classically trained singers who can act, this recording straddles the fence by using an operatic baritone and a Broadway mezzo. (They also appeared in Simon Rattle’s 1999 EMI Wonderful Town .) Both are very fine: Gilfry, with his virile, flexible instrument, is a perfect self-absorbed and egotistical Sam, and Criswell, a singer with a vibrant and colorful voice, though rather limited on top for “I was standing in a garden,” is an emotionally fragile and angry Dinah. Their voices never blend, but one has to wonder if the stylistic contrast is an interpretive choice. Certainly, even if the combination gives less aural pleasure than two matched operatic voices might, it makes some sense for the antagonistic characters. And the choice of Criswell, a brilliant actress, is vindicated by an absolutely stunning performance of the show-stopping, musical theater-style “What a movie!” The Greek-chorus jazz vocal trio is classy with a reasonable sense of swing, and though the balance between the voices is not always ideal, they create just the right balance of satire and empathy.


In the end though, effective as this performance is, it must still take second place to the 1973 Bernstein-led performance on Sony 60969: very stylish and expressive, with excellent soloists and a perfect trio. There are other performances on CD: the student-cast performance by the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater on Newport Classic 85641 is quite good, and the 2006 Calliope recording (9391) in accented English with French performers, is an interesting novelty: urbane and very coolly jazzy. But once you have the Bernstein CD, Gilfry and Criswell make this new release an ideal supplement.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. 1 I. Prologue 04:22
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Prologue
    Duration
    04:22
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  2. 2 II. Somewhere 04:26
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Somewhere
    Duration
    04:26
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  3. 3 III. Scherzo 01:21
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Scherzo
    Duration
    01:21
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  4. 4 IV. Mambo 02:18
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Mambo
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  5. 5 V. Cha-cha 00:57
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Cha-cha
    Duration
    00:57
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  6. 6 VI. Meeting Scene 00:35
    Track
    6
    Title
    VI. Meeting Scene
    Duration
    00:35
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  7. 7 VII. Cool 00:51
    Track
    7
    Title
    VII. Cool
    Duration
    00:51
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  8. 8 VIII. Fugue 02:54
    Track
    8
    Title
    VIII. Fugue
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  9. 9 IX. Rumble 01:55
    Track
    9
    Title
    IX. Rumble
    Duration
    01:55
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  10. 10 X. Finale 03:30
    Track
    10
    Title
    X. Finale
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  11. 11 Prelude: Mornin' Sun (Trio) 03:23
    Track
    11
    Title
    Prelude: Mornin' Sun (Trio)
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  12. 12 Scene 1: How could you say (Sam, Dinah, Trio) 05:34
    Track
    12
    Title
    Scene 1: How could you say (Sam, Dinah, Trio)
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Kim Criswell, Rodney Gilfry, Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  13. 13 Scene 2: Yes? Oh Mister Partridge! (Sam, Trio) 02:56
    Track
    13
    Title
    Scene 2: Yes? Oh Mister Partridge! (Sam, Trio)
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Rodney Gilfry, Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  14. 14 Scene 3: I was standing in a garden (Dinah) - Scene 2a: Miss Brown? (Sam) - Scene 3a: Then the desire took hold inside me (Dinah) 07:52
    Track
    14
    Title
    Scene 3: I was standing in a garden (Dinah) - Scene 2a: Miss Brown? (Sam) - Scene 3a: Then the desire took hold inside me (Dinah)
    Duration
    07:52
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Kim Criswell, Rodney Gilfry
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  15. 15 Scene 4: Well, of all people (Sam, Dinah) 05:09
    Track
    15
    Title
    Scene 4: Well, of all people (Sam, Dinah)
    Duration
    05:09
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Kim Criswell, Rodney Gilfry
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  16. 16 Interlude: Lovely day! (Trio) 01:51
    Track
    16
    Title
    Interlude: Lovely day! (Trio)
    Duration
    01:51
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  17. 17 Scene 5: There's a law (Sam) 04:12
    Track
    17
    Title
    Scene 5: There's a law (Sam)
    Duration
    04:12
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Rodney Gilfry
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  18. 18 Scene 6: What a movie (Dinah, Trio) 04:53
    Track
    18
    Title
    Scene 6: What a movie (Dinah, Trio)
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Kim Criswell, Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  19. 19 Scene 6a: There's a law (Sam) - Scene 7: Evening Shadows (Sam, Dinah, Trio) 08:01
    Track
    19
    Title
    Scene 6a: There's a law (Sam) - Scene 7: Evening Shadows (Sam, Dinah, Trio)
    Duration
    08:01
    Composer
    Leonard Bernstein
    Performer
    Kim Criswell, Rodney Gilfry, Martene Grimson, Adrian Dwyer, Ronan Collett
    Ensemble
    Münchner Rundfunkorchester
    Conductor
    Ulf Schirmer
  20. 20 Elgin Heuerding in conversation with Ulf Schirmer 10:12
    Track
    20
    Title
    Elgin Heuerding in conversation with Ulf Schirmer
    Duration
    10:12
    Composer
    na Not Applicable
    Performer
    Elgin Heuerding, Ulf Schirmer