Composed two months before Mozart’s death, the Clarinet Concerto K. 622 marks the beginning and climax of clarinet literature. It set standards, was never equaled, and became the undisputed landmark on which Weber, Strauss, Debussy and Busoni guided themselves. Mozart masterfully exploited the particular sound quality of the instrument and the various timbres of its registers to produce a work of ethereal beauty and lyrical elegance. The Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein lives up to its usual high standard in this interpretation of “its” Mozart. Incidentally, the soloist Peter Schmidl, who has been solo clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic since 1968, is the son and grandson of former solo clarinetists of this same orchestra!
Leonard Bernstein in Salzau 1987 – Part I: “…so that we get ahead…” The Birth of an Orchestra.
The music special “Leonard Bernstein in Salzau” offers a lively and fascinating inside look at the professional world of young conductors and orchestral musicians in three one-hour-long programs. It also portrays one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Leonard Bernstein, shown at work with young musicians, challenging them, but also encouraging and reassuring them. In Part One, we witness the arrival of 120 young musicians in Salzau, all of whom have been selected from over 1600 competitors in auditions. Under the guidance of experienced conductors and teachers, they work together in various groups which yield a homogeneous orchestral body in an amazingly short time. During this preparatory phase, the musicians were constantly observed by Unitel’s cameras and interviewed about their impressions and experiences.
Leonard Bernstein in Salzau 1987 – Part II: With him up front…” Orchestral Work with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”
“Leonard Bernstein in Salzau” offers a lively and fascinating inside look at the professional world of young musicians. At the same time, it portrays one of the most eminent musicians of our time: Leonard Bernstein. Young conductors and instrumentalists, some of whom have already acquired a certain reputation, have come to Salzau Castle to learn while playing and to make music of the highest standards. “I am trying to do something for Europe that Europe actually did for me: through Sergei Koussevitzky, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Fritz Reiner… I had promised myself to founding another Tanglewood here.” (Leonard Bernstein)
Leonard Bernstein in Salzau 1987 – Part III: “Beating time is very basic, but…” International Conductor’s Competition and Master Course.
The music special “Leonard Bernstein in Salzau” offers a lively and fascinating inside look at the professional world of young conductors and orchestral musicians in three one-hour-long programs. It also portrays one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Leonard Bernstein, shown at work with young musicians, challenging them, but also encouraging and reassuring them. In Part Three, we follow four young conductors who are given the chance to work with Leonard Bernstein and to go on a concert tour with him. The youths are torn between fear and hope, disappointment and triumph before finally submitting to the ultimate challenge of conducting the orchestra under the watchful gaze of the maestro. “Beating time is naturally very basic. Almost everybody can learn to beat¿ But what we are looking for is not the beating of the beat, it is the beating of the music.” (Leonard Bernstein)
Sibelius, Symphony No.7 in C major, op.105
Conceived in one sole movement, the Symphony No. 7 is a triumphant display of “organic-thematic growth,” with melodies and rhythms blending into one another, giving birth to new elements and branching out to develop in passages reminiscent of symphonic movements. Sibelius’s last symphony was given its first performance in Stockholm on 24 March 1924 and was first heard in Finland in 1927. In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein’s death in 1990 unfortunately cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. They were recorded live at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and were the object of stellar reviews. Bernstein, in the words of a leading Austrian daily, “painted a canvas of late-romantic splendor with the Philharmonic’s sound – the incomparable brilliancy of the strings, the glowing intensity of the brass – in a way that only the greatest conductors can.” (Symphony No. 1) And in its review of the Second Symphony, a major Viennese newspaper wrote: “For the sake of Jean Sibelius, Leonard Bernstein leaps with fanatical zeal into the heaving waves of late romantic emotions.” It is not surprising that Leonard Bernstein felt so passionately about Sibelius’s music. In many respects, it strikingly parallels that of Gustav Mahler. In fact, Sibelius’s oeuvre is seen along with Gustav Mahler’s as the most important symphonic legacy between late romanticism and modernity. And as Mahler’s glowing advocate, Bernstein was suited like none other to disseminate the music of his great colleague Jean Sibelius.
Schubert, Symphony No.9 in C major, D. 944
This concert featuring the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein was recorded live in June 1987 in the Congress Hall of the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Ives, Symphony No.2 (with an introduction by Leonard Bernstein)
Charles Edward Ives was the first internationally acclaimed American composer. He wrote his Symphony No. 2 in the years 1897 to 1901, but it was not given its first performance until 1951. With his unparalleled musical imagination, Ives created atonal music before Arnold Schoenberg, and anticipated Igor Stravinsky in his experimentation with free dissonances, quarter tones and polyrhythms, which are still problematical to play today. The Symphony No. 2, however, is a simple, almost “academic” work in comparison. It unites the musical tradition of the Old World with American folk songs, hymns and patriotic songs. What emerged was a humorous, almost folkloristic work which vividly conveys the feeling of true American vitality, naturalness and optimism, while interjecting recollections of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Dvorak and Bruckner. Played by the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio under Leonard Bernstein, Ives’ Symphony No. 2 was recorded at the Congress Hall of the Deutsches Museum in Munich in 1987.
Sibelius, Symphony No.5 in E flat major, op.82
In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein’s death in 1990 unfortunately cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. They were recorded live at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and were the object of stellar reviews. Bernstein, in the words of a leading Austrian daily, “painted a canvas of late-romantic splendor with the Philharmonic’s sound – the incomparable brilliancy of the strings, the glowing intensity of the brass – in a way that only the greatest conductors can.” (Symphony No. 1) And in its review of the Second Symphony, a major Viennese newspaper wrote: “For the sake of Jean Sibelius, Leonard Bernstein leaps with fanatical zeal into the heaving waves of late romantic emotions.” It is not surprising that Leonard Bernstein felt so passionately about Sibelius’s music. In many respects, it strikingly parallels that of Gustav Mahler. In fact, Sibelius’s oeuvre is seen along with Gustav Mahler’s as the most important symphonic legacy between late romanticism and modernity. And as Mahler’s glowing advocate, Bernstein was suited like none other to disseminate the music of his great colleague Jean Sibelius.
Schumann’s Symphonies – A TV essay by Klaus Lindemann featuring Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic performing Robert Schumann’s symphonies
Produced in 1987, the one-hour television special “Schumann’s Symphonies – An Essay by Klaus Lindemann on the Schumann Cycle with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra” explores Schumann’s romanticism in the light of the literature and visual arts of the times. The paintings of Caspar David Friedrich – the epitome of German romanticism – provide revealing parallels with Schumann, as well as the works of William Turner, Delacroix, the Nazarene School, Constable, Géricault¿ “With Schumann,” says Lindemann, “we stand in the full flowering of Romanticism and gaze from one peak to another.” In addition to many new insights on Schumann and his relationship to the visual and literary arts of his day, the program also contains many excerpts from Schumann’s four symphonies.
Bernstein, Symphony No.2 “The Age of Anxiety”
Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 was recorded live with the London Symphony Orchestra during the Leonard Bernstein Festival which took place at London’s Barbican Centre in May 1986. In the presence of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, Leonard Bernstein conducted a gala concert on 6 May with three of his most important works: the Chichester Psalms, the Serenade for Violin and Orchestra, and the Second Symphony, entitled “The Age of Anxiety”. The soloists in these concerts were Gidon Kremer (violin), Krystian Zimerman (piano) and Aled Jones (voice).