Bernstein, Overture to “Candide”
Written in 1955/56 in collaboration with famed author Lillian Hellman, the musical comedy “Candide” (based loosely on Voltaire’s story) consists of nearly two hours of music and more than thirty different numbers including solos, ensembles, choruses and purely orchestral music. While Bernstein described it as a “Valentine card to European music,” it struck others as derisive of European opera and operetta. After the premiere, Variety wrote: “It’s a spectacular, opulent and racy musical, verging on operetta. It’s replete with eye-filling costumes, lavish settings, a big cast and fine musical score.” It was with the New York Philharmonic that Bernstein first conducted a full orchestra version of his “Candide Overture” in late 1956/early 1957. The critic Harold Schonberg described it as “a smart, sophisticated little piece.” It soon became Bernstein’s most popular concert work. This performance with the New York Philharmonic under the maestro and composer was recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1976.
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No.4 in F minor, op.36
Winner of a prestigious Emmy Award in 1976, Leonard Bernstein’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic captures the full drama and emotional depth of the work. Filmed live at Avery Fisher Hall on 24 April 1975, the concert was an overwhelming success. Bernstein returned to the Fourth again and again, and conducted it in 1989 in his last appearance at Avery Fisher Hall. Critics called this interpretation “rivetingly, definitively manic-depressive”. He had come to identify as closely with Tchaikovsky as he had with Mahler, and gave searingly intense interpretations of both composers.
Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D major, op.35
Along with Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Opus 35 has become one of the most popular concertos in the world. But this was not always so. When it was first performed in Vienna on 4 December 1881, it was almost unanimously rejected by the press and said to “stink in the ear”. The first two movements are marked by a tender lyricism that wonderfully brings out the violin’s songful qualities. The third movement, an Allegro vivacissimo, launches into a fireworks of virtuoso display that concludes the work on a dazzling note. Recorded with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall in 1975, this performance of Tchaikovsky’s beloved violin concerto marked the U.S. debut of the Israeli violinist Boris Belkin, who has since performed with all the leading orchestras of the world and under such eminent conductors as Maazel, Muti, Haitink and Mehta.
Schuman, American Festival Overture
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.
Ives, The Unanswered Question
“The Unanswered Question” is one of Charles Ives’ most famous works. Long before Stravinsky and other Europeans tried out the clashing keys technically referred to as ‘bitonality’ or ‘polytonality’, this independent Yankee businessman and artist had discovered these things for himself. Indeed, he was so bold, so radical in his experiments that he could find almost no one to take his music seriously until long after Stravinsky, Bartók, Hindemith and other Europeans had made such sounds fashionable and even popular. This work was recorded live at New York’s Carnegie Hall on 20 May 1976. Under Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert of American music in honor of the American Bicentennial.
Harris, Symphony No.3
American composer Roy Harris (1898-1979) wrote his Third Symphony in the late 1930s. When it was first performed in 1939, it was judged by many to be the most important symphonic work ever produced in the U.S. Some saw in it a reflection of the American West, of the vast horizons and open landscapes that have so little in common with the more European-flavored American music of the East coast establishment. Leonard Bernstein was one of the first musicians to hail the work as a great stroke of genius and, reviewing the first performance in February 1939 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky, he wrote in “Modern Music” that the symphony was “mature in every sense, beautifully proportioned, eloquent, restrained, and affecting.” This performance with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein was recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1976.
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.
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.
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.