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.
Preußisches Märchen
On the surface it is a comic version of the “Hauptmann von Köpenick” story in which it is not the petty thief Wilhelm Voigt who carries off the prank but a respected member of society, the clerk Wilhelm Fadenkreutz. He is not a factory owner like Diederich Heßling, but definitely has many of the characteristics of the hero of “Der Untertan”. Boris Blacher and Heinz von Cramer Cramer quickly realised that such a devastating critique of Germany’s past would not be easy to stage, and they toned down the satirical text before presenting it to the intendant of the Städtische Oper, Heinz Tietjen. Blacher also shortened the caricature of the German national anthem played on the tuba at the start of the piece to make it less recognisable. The authors cast about for a long time for a title for their work that would not conflict with Carl Zuckmayer’s “Der Hauptmann von Köpenick”. After considering “Herrliche Zeiten” (Glorious Times), they finally hit on the idea of combining the local and the fantastical by calling the work “Preußisches Märchen” (A Prussian Fairytale). The premiere on 23 September 1952 in the Theater des Westens, where the Deutsche Oper Berlin ensemble appeared under the title of “Städtische Oper” between 1945 and 1961, was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.
Bernstein, Mahler Rehearsals (Symphonies 5&9)
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.
Haydn, Symphony No.97 in C major
Haydn composed this lesser-known but nevertheless highly inventive and charming work during his first stay in London in 1791-92. Its inner symmetry and Mozartian delicacy easily place it on a par with Haydn’s more famous compositions. The prominence accorded to the two violin parts (a tribute to the violinist Salomon) in the slow movement lends the latter an almost concertante air. With its toe-tapping brightness, the minuet is especially attractive; the finale also typifies the sense of gaiety and sheer high spirits found in all of Haydn’s music. 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.
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.