“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.
Chopin, Prelude in C sharp minor, op.45
Ivo Pogorelich is perhaps the only great pianist who became an instant celebrity for the prize he didn’t win. It was in 1980, when he was eliminated in the third round of the Warsaw Chopin Competition. An argument ensued among the jurors, and Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, resigned in protest, claiming “Pogorelich is a genius!” The scandal provoked by Argerich’s reaction made him famous overnight. The eyes of the musical world were soon upon young Ivo Pogorelich, and they have yet to be disappointed. Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 and began playing the piano at the age of seven. After his classical training at the Moscow Conservatory, he took master classes from Aliza Kezeradze, who passed on to him the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school. In an interview with the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, Pogorelich once listed the four most important things he learned from Kezeradze: “First, technical perfection as something natural. Second, an insight into the development of the piano sound, as perfected by the pianist-composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, composers who understood the piano both as a human voice … and as an orchestra with which they could produce a variety of colors. Third, the need to learn how to use every aspect of our new instruments, which are richer in sound. Fourth, the importance of differentiation.” Pogorelich won the Casagrande Competition in 1978 and the first prize of the International Music Competition in Montreal in 1980. Since the Warsaw scandal, Pogorelich has been pursuing a brilliant international career. His debuts in London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, Milan and Tel Aviv were triumphs. He has performed with practically all the major orchestras in the world, and his recitals are almost always sold out. Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: “He was an entire orchestra.” His often controversial and always stunning interpretations confirm the originality of his talent and intellect. In 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s, Unitel recorded a series of six recitals with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty. The fact that the young pianist chose several pieces that are not among the most spectacular or frequently performed of the piano repertoire already hints at the unique and uncompromising character of this young pianist.
Chopin, Nocturne in E flat major, op.55/2
Ivo Pogorelich is perhaps the only great pianist who became an instant celebrity for the prize he didn’t win. It was in 1980, when he was eliminated in the third round of the Warsaw Chopin Competition. An argument ensued among the jurors, and Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, resigned in protest, claiming “Pogorelich is a genius!” The scandal provoked by Argerich’s reaction made him famous overnight. The eyes of the musical world were soon upon young Ivo Pogorelich, and they have yet to be disappointed. Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 and began playing the piano at the age of seven. After his classical training at the Moscow Conservatory, he took master classes from Aliza Kezeradze, who passed on to him the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school. In an interview with the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, Pogorelich once listed the four most important things he learned from Kezeradze: “First, technical perfection as something natural. Second, an insight into the development of the piano sound, as perfected by the pianist-composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, composers who understood the piano both as a human voice … and as an orchestra with which they could produce a variety of colors. Third, the need to learn how to use every aspect of our new instruments, which are richer in sound. Fourth, the importance of differentiation.” Pogorelich won the Casagrande Competition in 1978 and the first prize of the International Music Competition in Montreal in 1980. Since the Warsaw scandal, Pogorelich has been pursuing a brilliant international career. His debuts in London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, Milan and Tel Aviv were triumphs. He has performed with practically all the major orchestras in the world, and his recitals are almost always sold out. Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: “He was an entire orchestra.” His often controversial and always stunning interpretations confirm the originality of his talent and intellect. In 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s, Unitel recorded a series of six recitals with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty. The fact that the young pianist chose several pieces that are not among the most spectacular or frequently performed of the piano repertoire already hints at the unique and uncompromising character of this young pianist.
Chopin, Sonata No.3 in B minor, op.58
Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade on 20 October 1958. After his classical training at the Moscow Conservatory, he took master classes from Aliza Kezeradze, whom he married in 1980. In 1978 he won the Casagrande Competition in Italy and in 1980 the International Music Competition in Montreal. At the International Chopin Competition in 1980, his spectacular failure to win the first prize made him famous overnight. Martha Argerich, member of the jury, protested: “Pogorelich is a genius!” Since then, Pogorelich has been pursuing a brilliant international career. His often controversial and always stunning interpretations confirm the originality of his talent and intellect. The artist founded the “Ivo Pogorelich Festival” in Bad Wörishofen in 1989, an event dedicated to the promotion of young artists. In 1993 he launched the Ivo Pogorelich Piano Competition in California. Our program was recorded at the Castello Reale in Racconigi near Turin, one of the residences of the Italian royal family.
The Secret Of Macbeth – The Making of an Opera Film
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.