Planet Lenny

[Peter Power Pop]

Per the driver for my pulling the trigger on this, I am starting with The Planets.  Gracious, the sound of this Mars is fabulous;  and while the interpretation certainly trends towards "the edgy side," I find it completely, fabulously convincing.

I'm with you.

Damn, but when you listen to this, you feel that the NY Phil is the best-sounding band in the world.

Yep.

[xochitl]

that album with the Turangalila rehearsal on Spotify has a harrowing Sacre with the NY Phil. just heard it too...oh gosh...this is the first time the piece has left me feeling like a deer in the headlights

[EigenUser]

that album with the Turangalila rehearsal on Spotify has a harrowing Sacre with the NY Phil. just heard it too...oh gosh...this is the first time the piece has left me feeling like a deer in the headlights

Good harrowing or bad harrowing? I haven't heard it, and I can't tell if you mean it was a terrifying performance or a terrible performance.

[Sergeant Rock]

This may veer off-topic, but does anybody know why he left Columbia? Lebrecht says they dropped him because they didn't think he was #1 in anything but his own compositions. (Grain/mound of salt as usual with Lebrecht.) Considering that at the time, Bruno Walter was dead, Ormandy had already left for RCA, Szell was getting very old, and severe austerity measures were not yet in effect, that seems like a spectacularly poor decision even by classical record industry standards.

In Joan Peyser's biography of Lenny she says one reason he left CBS was because of that company's hesitation or refusal to record and promote opera:

"By 1970 Clive Davis was running CBS Records" and at one meeting with Bernstein that concentrated on Bernstein's wish to record operas "Davis articulated CBS's relunctance because of the costs involved[...]The strained relations between Bernstein and CBS reached a crisis point during the summer conference in London. Bernstein demanded the company record his new Carmen, a venture that would have cost more than $200,000. Bernstein asked for a large promotion budget and a junket to Spain." CBS passed on the project and released Lenny to record Carmen for DG (which had been pursuing him). Carmen was a hit, selling more than 100,000 copies within the first three years, becoming DG's best-selling opera. Bernstein was impressed by DG's marketing acumen.

Another reason he preferred DG was their willingness, unlike CBS, to record him live.

BUT: Lebrecht also says that he didn't sign an exclusive contract with DG until 1981

Peyser says Bernstein's first exclusive contract with DG was signed in 1976. Exclusive doesn't seem to mean what we think it means, though, since Lenny also recorded for other labels after that time. But his relationship with DG made him an international star on the same level as Karajan. It was lucrative for him and DG.


Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, Sarge.  I've meant to seek out Peyser's bio.

[Pat B]

Thanks, Sarge.

+1. I think Peyser must have been mistaken about the word "exclusive," but that is now a minor point. The rest of your quote paints a clear picture that is completely plausible.

I guess I should have asked which of his bios are best. The one I'm getting from the library is a new one by Allen Shawn, who has instant credibility since his brother played Vizzini.

[Karl Henning]

Do I recall that there is an Allen Shawn book on Schoenberg, as well? (... which I have been meaning to look into ....)

[Sergeant Rock]

+1. I think Peyser must have been mistaken about the word "exclusive," but that is now a minor point. The rest of your quote paints a clear picture that is completely plausible.

I guess I should have asked which of his bios are best. The one I'm getting from the library is a new one by Allen Shawn, who has instant credibility since his brother played Vizzini.

I don't know which biography is best. I do know Peyser is criticized for her emphasis on Bernstein's private life (sexuality, etc). She's not very sympathetic towards her subject. Some have called her book a character assasination. She is also very critical of Lenny's lack of interest in atonal music and post WWII music trends.

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

She certainly gave an impression of something of a hostile biographer of Boulez.

[Ken B]

She certainly gave an impression of something of a hostile biographer of Boulez.

Just when Sarge was leading me to dislike her ...

[xochitl]

Good harrowing or bad harrowing? I haven't heard it, and I can't tell if you mean it was a terrifying performance or a terrible performance.

terrifying. i was really tired and bored after work last nite and i just heard it to get a feel for a younger Lenny ('51) but was totally not expecting to be gripped and reinvigorated. gonna listen a second time just to make sure it wasnt a fluke 

ok. heard it again: still awesome! it's totally brutal and messy and Lenny pushes and pulls the thing a bit much but it works, i mean it's about a young girl being sacrificed ffs

[EigenUser]

terrifying. i was really tired and bored after work last nite and i just heard it to get a feel for a younger Lenny ('51) but was totally not expecting to be gripped and reinvigorated. gonna listen a second time just to make sure it wasnt a fluke 

ok. heard it again: still awesome! it's totally brutal and messy and Lenny pushes and pulls the thing a bit much but it works, i mean it's about a young girl being sacrificed ffs

I'm intrigued. I love RoS, but I am so sick of it from overplaying it (totally my fault, not Igor's!). Maybe this is what I need to hear to be able to enjoy it again.

I really, really wish that Lenny had recorded Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie in full! Did he not like the piece? I know it was a commission from Koussevitzky, who was too ill to conduct it. It seems odd that Bernstein premiered such a major 20C piece and never recorded it. Did he conduct it in concert after the premiere?

[Moonfish]

Reading...

[Karl Henning]

Granted, that Dallapiccola's Tartiniana is a half-questionable addition to Music of Our Time ....