Brahms himself played the solo part at the world premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in Budapest’s Redoutensaal on 9 November 1881. The work opens with a beautiful horn call which is like a magical summons to the other instruments. The Scherzo is of symphonic proportions and richness. The nocturne-like mood of the slow movement is based on the song of a solo cello, a simple eight-measure phrase. The finale has a bright, skipping figure for the piano as the principal rondo refrain. Maurizio Pollini was born in Milan to a family of artists in 1942. In 1960 he won the first prize at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Since then, he has been a leading protagonist at all major concert venues in Europe, as well as in America and Japan.
Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”
The Musical ‘West Side Story’ is Leonard Bernstein’s most popular stage work and contains songs that have achieved enormous popularity throughout the world. The first performance was in September 1957 in New York. Bernstein later prepared a suite of orchestral music from the show. This performance with the New York Philharmonic under the maestro and composer was recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle in Hoechst, Germany, in 1976.
Bernstein, Overture to “Candide”
After the premiere of the musical comedy ‘Candide’ (based loosely on Voltaire’s story) in 1956, Variety wrote: ‘It’s a spectacular, opulent and racy musical, verging on operetta.’ 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 the Jahrhunderthalle in Hoechst, Germany, in 1976.
Copland, Symphony No.3
Aaron Copland (1900-1990), one of the most “American” of American composers, developed his unmistakable style by assimilating influences from popular and folk music of North and South America, as well as from European art music. He became friends with Bernstein in 1937 and, as his composition teacher, exercised perhaps the strongest influence on Bernstein, the composer. Copland’s Third Symphony is a very special work for Leonard Bernstein, since he conducted it several times with the Israel Philharmonic during his triumphal tour of Israel in 1948.
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue
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.
Sousa, The Stars and Stripes Forever
Avowedly popular in style, spirit and feeling – and proud of it – was John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), whose march The Stars and Stripes Forever of 1897 not only brought him lasting fame among band lovers the world over, but also the handsome sum of $300,000 in royalties! Sousa, incidentally, wrote not only march music, but also successful operettas, books and poetry as well. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert was recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle in Hoechst, Germany, in 1976.
Wagner, Overture to “Der Fliegende Holländer”
Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. His remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony began in 1954; he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday. This recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was made in 1976 at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago.
Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, op.22
At 88, Arthur Rubinstein showed no trace of losing that quality of “joie de vivre” that had so fascinated audiences for almost three quarters of a century. The true Rubinstein sound, full and sonorous at every pitch, was always one of the distinctive marks of his playing ever since he began appearing in public. Rubinstein’s performance of Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn, is a perfect testimony of his notion of a “singing tone”. With playing that is by turns vital and poetic, extrovert and reflective, rhapsodic and poised, this performance, filmed in April 1975 at Croydon’s Fairfield Hall, is Rubinstein at his warm-hearted, lyrical best. Incidentally, Rubinstein made his New York debut with the Saint-Saëns Concerto at Carnegie Hall on 8 January 1906.