When William Schumann (1910-1992) wrote his “American Festival Overture” for Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he already ranked among the young generation of leading American composers. Koussevitzky led the premiere on 4 October 1939. It was the opening work of two concerts given as part of a festival season of American music. The work sparkles with energy and spontaneity, with a kind of undefeatable American optimism that conquers listeners with its charm and spirit to this day. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in this performance recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1976.
Berlioz, Harold in Italy, op.16
In November 1976, one year after his triumphal performance of the Berlioz Requiem, a bearded Leonard Bernstein returned to Paris to conduct the Orchestre National de France. In two highly publicized concerts given at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, he conducted Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” and “Harold in Italy”, in addition to two works by Darius Milhaud, Bloch’s “Schelomo Rhapsody” and Schumann’s Cello Concerto, the latter two featuring the celebrated cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. The concerts were unanimously hailed in the press, both for the dynamism and brio of a conductor at the peak of his artistic powers, and for the unmistakable signs of rejuvenation of the Orchestre National de France.
Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, op.14
In November 1976, one year after his triumphal performance of the Berlioz Requiem in September 1975 (also recorded by Unitel), a bearded Leonard Bernstein returned to Paris to conduct the Orchestre National de France. In two highly publicized concerts given at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, he conducted Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” and “Harold in Italy”, in addition to two works by Darius Milhaud, Bloch’s “Schelomo Rhapsody” and Schumann’s Cello Concerto, the latter two featuring the celebrated cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. The concerts were unanimously hailed in the press, both for the dynamism and brio of a conductor at the peak of his artistic powers, and for the unmistakable signs of rejuvenation of the Orchestre National de France.
Milhaud, La création du monde, op.81a
French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) owes his ballet “La création du monde” (The Creation of the World) above all to the jazz music he had heard in the United States in 1922. It was first performed in Paris in 1923 with decors and costumes by the artist Fernand Léger. In 1976, Leonard Bernstein included this work on his two programs of predominantly French music with the Orchestre National de France – a stimulating blend of celebrated repertoire works as well as lesser known masterpieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Reviewing one of the concerts, David Stevens, the critic of the International Herald Tribune, wrote on 4 November 1976: “There are precious few conductors who can so completely identify themselves with the works of certain composers and at the same time occupy themselves with extracting total cooperation from such willful bodies of humanity as, say, a French orchestra. The miracle duly took place¿”
Milhaud, Le boeuf sur le toit, op.58
“Le boeuf sur le toit” by French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) combines various melodies from Brazil: tangos, maxixes, sambas and the Portuguese fado. These had haunted Milhaud ever since his stay in Brazil. Subtitled “Cinéma-Fantaisie” and dedicated to Charlie Chaplin, the work was premiered in Paris in 1919 with a pantomime libretto by Jean Cocteau. In 1976, Leonard Bernstein included this work on his two programs of predominantly French music with the Orchestre National de France – a stimulating blend of celebrated repertoire works as well as lesser known masterpieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Reviewing one of the concerts, David Stevens, the critic of the International Herald Tribune, wrote on 4 November 1976: “There are precious few conductors who can so completely identify themselves with the works of certain composers and at the same time occupy themselves with extracting total cooperation from such willful bodies of humanity as, say, a French orchestra. The miracle duly took place¿”
Haydn, Symphony No.98 in B flat major
Like all the other works in Haydn’s series of twelve London symphonies, the Symphony No. 98 was first performed as part of a series of concerts featuring the violinist Johann Peter Salomon. Haydn conducted these concerts from the piano in 1792 and was accorded a rapturous reception by the London audience. Whilst the Allegro in the first movement bears the unmistakable stamp of Mozart’s influence, the extravagant swagger of the Minuet already anticipates Beethoven’s Scherzi. Haydn’s energy and dramatic wit are then seen at their best in the finale, which is packed with musical jests and playful flourishes. The work is one which deserves more attention that it has hitherto received. Leonard Bernstein began conducting Haydn’s orchestral works when he was still Music Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, his interpretations of the symphonies have consistently met with unreserved critical acclaim. He, of all conductors, possessed precisely the qualities which Haydn’s music requires: grace, charm and a generous measure of wit. This production with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was recorded in 1984.
Tchaikovsky, Andante Cantabile
Winner of a prestigious Emmy Award in 1976, Leonard Bernstein’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Andante cantabile with the New York Philharmonic was filmed live at Avery Fisher Hall on 24 April 1975. Bernstein had the entire string section play the Andante cantabile, originally for string quartet, thus taking up a practice begun by Arturo Toscanini many years before. In his later years, Bernstein came to identify as closely with Tchaikovsky as he had with Mahler, and gave searingly intense interpretations of both composers.
Bernstein, Mahler Rehearsals (Symphonies 5&9)
Copland, Lincoln Portrait
Soon after the United States was drawn into World War II, André Kostelanetz approached three American composers with the suggestion of composing three musical portraits of eminent Americans, to express the ‘magnificent spirit of our country.’ The proposal resulted in Virgil Thomson’s “The Mayor La Guardia Waltzes’, Jerome Kern’s “Portrait for Orchestra of Mark Twain’, and Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait”. The score is dedicated to André Kostelanetz, who conducted the first performance at a pension fund concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Cincinnati on 14 May 1942. Our concert featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein was recorded in London in 1976.
Gershwin, An American in Paris
Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin – two musicians inseparably linked with America – form an exuberant and stimulating combination in this program with the New York Philharmonic. Gershwin was one of the American composers Bernstein revered the most and one who, along with Mahler, Copland and Blitzstein, exerted a great influence on him as a composer. For his senior thesis at Harvard University, for example, Bernstein set out to show that Gershwin and Copland had created a national musical style by responding creatively to jazz and Latin-American influences. And when his musical “On the Town” was premiered in 1944, one critic described it as “an energetic blend of Stravinsky and Gershwin.” If anyone could do justice to Gershwin’s spirited, swinging style, it was unquestionably Leonard Bernstein.