[ EMI Essential / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Friday 20 April 2012
The American composer, conductor, pianist and educator Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history. He was music director of the New York Philharmonic for many years and was a guest conductor with many of the world's greatest orchestras. He composed music in many genres, from choral and symphonic to Broadway musicals and ballets, but his greatest success was the ground-breaking musical West Side Story, based on the story of Romeo and Juliet. A wide range of Bernstein's compositions are represented in this collection.
Compact Disc 1
Candide
1 Overture
London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn
Fancy Free
2 Competition Scene
3-5 Three Dance Variations
6 Finale
Paul Searle-Barnes piano · Paul Turner drums
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton P 1991
On the Town
7 New York, New York, it's a wonderful town
Dennis Lotus, Lionel Blair, Shane Rimmer baritones
Geoff Love and his Orchestra P 1959/1995*
On the Town
8 - 10 Three Dance Episodes
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Slatkin
West Side Story
11 Maria
Lambert Wilson baritone
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo / John McGlinn
West Side Story
12 Only you...Tonight
Angela Gheorghiu soprano · Roberto Alagna tenor
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Richard Armstrong
13 Facsimile Choreographic Essay for Orchestra
Barbara Lieberman piano
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Slatkin
14 Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
Sabine Meyer clarinet · Wayne Marshall piano
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi
Candide
15 Glitter and be gay
Natalie Dessay soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Davis
Compact Disc 2
Wonderful Town
1 Overture
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group / Sir Simon Rattle
Chichester Psalms
2 Urah, haneval, v'chinor!: Maestoso ma energico (Psalms 108 & 100)
David Corkhill percussion · Peter Barley organ · Rachel Masters harp
Choir of King's College, Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury
3 - 10 Divertimento for Orchestra
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi
11. Mass
A Simple Song
Bruce Hubbard baritone
Orchestra of St Luke's / Dennis Russell Davies
12 - 18. Symphony No.2 'The Age of Anxiety' after W.H. Auden
Part One C: The Seven Stages
Jeffrey Kahane piano
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
19. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
The President Jefferson Sunday Luncheon Party March
Davis Gaines baritone · Linda Richardson, Tracey Miller sopranos
Ambrosian Chorus
London Sinfonietta / John McGlinn
20. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Seena
Bruce Hubbard baritone
Orchestra of St Luke's / Dennis Russell Davies P 1990 Angel Records
21. Symphony No.3 'Kaddish'
Kaddish 2
Barbara Hendricks soprano
Members of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Eric Ericson
22 - 29. Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story' (original version)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi