Leonard Bernstein 1918-1990

Started by vandermolen, May 13, 2009, 03:20:23 AM

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Quote from: zamyrabyrd on May 12, 2018, 03:27:31 AM
It's incredible to think that Lenny has been gone for almost 30 years now.
I do agree with your choice of his best compositions.

zb

Indeed, but thankfully his musical legacy lives on!

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Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 12, 2018, 04:02:51 AM
I'm one of those who have always loved "Mass" .  Not blindly, not in its entirety but as some kind of patchwork sampler of its time and the hopes and aspirations of that time.  I think it will date (has dated) in the way other Bernstein works have not but even then as a kind of period piece I find it often deeply moving.  I think it also represents its creator remarkably well - a host of influences/styles/aspirations/ideas.  I also think it is one of the very very few works that tries to bridge the divide between "Art" music and "Popular" music which works more than it doesn't.  All the other kind of "Concerto for Rock Band & Orchestra" or concept albums trying to fuse Rock with Cassical are abject failures to my ears by ending up dumbing down both genres.

As to why it can be described as "garbled" I have no idea.

By the way - the new DG Nezet-Seguin recording is awful!

I do like the Meditation movements from the Mass, but that's about it.

vandermolen

Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 12, 2018, 04:25:23 AM
A less well-known version of Symphonies 1&2 [asin]B01M03E1B4[/asin] - well played by the Arnhem Orchestra but of particular interest for Jard van Nes' excellent and moving singing of the "Lamentation" movement in No.1
No picture showing  :(
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on May 12, 2018, 10:13:48 AMNo picture showing  :(

(Have it myself, of course; my local band playing).
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#244
Thanks Johan.
This forthcoming release, should the picture appear, looks interesting:
[asin]B07D55HVWF[/asin]

And I heard this conductor perform Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony in London last Friday. I was so delighted to hear this great work live.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

schnittkease

I thought that was Bernstein on the Google homepage.  Happy centennial celebrations!

Karl Henning

Quote from: schnittkease on August 25, 2018, 07:05:29 AM
I thought that was Bernstein on the Google homepage.  Happy centennial celebrations!

Did not much look like him.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vandermolen

I've been enjoying this performance of 'The Age of Anxiety' a work that I've come to appreciate greatly in the last couple of years. It's a live recording from 1959 and is Bernstein's debut in Salzburg with the NYPO. Good performance of the Shostakovich as well:
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread -

QuoteFirst-Listen Mondays -

Bernstein
Halil - nocturne for flute, percussion and piano or orchestra
Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute)
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein




The beginning of this work has some Takemitsu-like phrases that I find quite fascinating, but then it goes into this lush, sensuous but subdued melodic section that I find intoxicating. I might have to repeat this work again. I liked it that much.

"Halil is formally unlike any other work I have written, but it is like much of my music in its struggle between tonal and non-tonal forces. In this case I sense that struggle as involving wars and the threats of wars, the overwhelming desire to live and the consolations of art, love, and the hope for peace." - Leonard Bernstein

Has any one else heard this work, Halil? I find it quite haunting and shows a different side to the composer. Most people think of Bernstein's West Side Story or perhaps the symphonies, but he composed a wide variety of music in many different genres. Another work that stuck out in my mind when I was exploring his music many years ago was Facsimile, which is a ballet in collaboration between the composer and Jerome Robbins.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 06, 2020, 04:52:12 PM
Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread -

Has any one else heard this work, Halil? I find it quite haunting and shows a different side to the composer. Most people think of Bernstein's West Side Story or perhaps the symphonies, but he composed a wide variety of music in many different genres. Another work that stuck out in my mind when I was exploring his music many years ago was Facsimile, which is a ballet in collaboration between the composer and Jerome Robbins.
I don't know it John but I really like Facsimile of which I have several recordings.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

#250
Quote from: vandermolen on January 06, 2020, 09:39:33 PM
I don't know it John but I really like Facsimile of which I have several recordings.

For your listening pleasure:

https://www.youtube.com/v/dJVwYaBzVQU

You will not find this work in the Bernstein Columbia (Sony) box set (or any Bernstein-led Columbia recording) because this is a later work and Columbia was nothing more than a distant memory at this point in his career.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 07, 2020, 05:46:52 AM
For your listening pleasure:

https://www.youtube.com/v/dJVwYaBzVQU

You will not find this work in the Bernstein Columbia (Sony) box set (or any Bernstein-led Columbia recording) because this is a later work and Columbia was nothing more than a distant memory at this point in his career.
Thanks John.
At the moment I'm listening to 'Facsimile' - one of my favourite works by Bernstein. I especially like this CD as it also features Bernstein's St Louis SO recording of the marvellous 'Jeremiah Symphony' which I was very fortunate to hear live at the Proms last year.:
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Very cool, Jeffrey. 8) I don't know that recording --- is it in mono?

Mirror Image

Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread -

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 07, 2020, 06:26:26 PM
Bernstein
Chichester Psalms
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Jeunesse-Chor
Leonard Bernstein




What an incredible piece of music this is! This performance has more weight to it than the earlier one on Columbia and this benefits this work, especially in the final movement. Also, the recording standards by this time have improved significantly, so many of the details that don't quite present themselves in the Columbia performance are brought into the fore in this DG remake. A stunning achievement from all-involved. There's nothing self-indulgent or self-important about this performance and I laugh at San Antone's criticism of Bernstein's later remakes of his music on DG because, if anything, they demonstrate a man who has grown and lived with the music for a longer time. These DG remakes are just as inspired as his earlier performances and for the Bernstein fan, this DG box set is an essential acquisition, IMHO.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 08, 2020, 05:40:36 AM
Very cool, Jeffrey. 8) I don't know that recording --- is it in mono?
I guess so John as the recordings come from the 1940s but Dutton have done a terrific job with the re-mastering. You also get the On the Town ballet music and Ravel's Piano Concerto thrown in.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on January 08, 2020, 06:07:15 AM
I guess so John as the recordings come from the 1940s but Dutton have done a terrific job with the re-mastering. You also get the On the Town ballet music and Ravel's Piano Concerto thrown in.

Cool, Jeffrey. I'm not too fond of recordings from the 1940s and back. Given the advancements of technology and performance standards, this recording wouldn't be something I'm interested in.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 08, 2020, 06:11:57 AM
Cool, Jeffrey. I'm not too fond of recordings from the 1940s and back. Given the advancements of technology and performance standards, this recording wouldn't be something I'm interested in.
Fair enough John but it features very fine performances of 'Jeremiah' and 'Facsimile' - the CD gets played a lot here.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on January 08, 2020, 06:19:18 AM
Fair enough John but it features very fine performances of 'Jeremiah' and 'Facsimile' - the CD gets played a lot here.

Well, I have two conducted performances of both of those works from the man himself (Sony and DG), so I don't really need any others, also I have a strong preference for Bernstein's DG recordings for not only the insight he brings to the music but for the fact that there were many works that you can't get in the different Sony sets that have been released, because they were newer works written during his time on DG.

Mirror Image

This is shaping up to be a purchase of the year for sure:



I have several single issues and a Bernstein Conducts Bernstein set on DG, but nothing truly 'complete'. It's nice to have Candide, On the Town, Peter Pan, A Quiet Place, among other theater works that I didn't own previously.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 08, 2020, 06:30:48 AM
Well, I have two conducted performances of both of those works from the man himself (Sony and DG), so I don't really need any others, also I have a strong preference for Bernstein's DG recordings for not only the insight he brings to the music but for the fact that there were many works that you can't get in the different Sony sets that have been released, because they were newer works written during his time on DG.
Just ordered this John. Any views on it?
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).