Bernstein and Copland-An Unbeatable Combination
Ed Stoerger | Hazlet,N.J. USA | 10/28/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It is no secret that Bernstein delighted in performing the music of his lifelong friend Aaron Copland.His zest and enthusiasm for Copland's pieces were highly evident when heard.The performances on this disc are no exception.The majority of them were composed between 1925-1936,the period known as Copland's "Modernist" phase."Music For The Theatre" and "Concerto For Piano And Orchestra" have a heavy jazz influence.The 1962 recording of the concerto is even more special in that Copland himself is the soloist.Both pieces are vibrant ,bouncy and well executed as is the remainder of the disc."Connotations...,"which was also recorded in 1962 celebrated the opening of Philharmonic Hall has an incredible finale to it.I agree with the liner notes that this is an underrated piece in the Copland canon.El Salon Mexico was written during Copland's residency in that country during the mid 1930's.Not surprisingly,it incorporates Latin themes.Unfortunately,the sound quality is not as good as the others but you have to give it the benefit of the doubt given the year of this particular performance(1951 and in mono).All in all,this is a must have disc.It presents a nice insight to the early years of Copland as an emerging force as well as the usual brilliant performance of Bernstein and his musicians"
Spanning a lifetime from populist to modernist
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/05/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The handful of works that made Copland world-famous (Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring, El Salon Mexico) were actually an anomaly. In his own mind Copland was a modernist, and he gave us a steady stream of difficult works, up to and including serial compositions, that audiences firmly rejected. His populist music is so easy to love that few wanted to work at absorbing "difficult" Copland. Here his lifelong champion Leonard Bernstein tries to make the medicine go down easier by mixing both styles.
The reviewer below might scare new listeners off by describing Music for the Theater (1925) and the Piano Concerto (1926) as tough modernism. Both are saucy, jazzy works that bring immediate enjoymnet. I wouldn't call them any more modernist than Milahud or Poulenc--indeed, both works have a whiff of Parisian chic about them. The performances here, needless to say, are as good as it gets. Copland used the concerto as his calling card, and he is quite a good pianist, supported with vivacious enthusiasm by Bernstein.
The ploar extremes of difficulty are represented by the ever-popular El Salon Mexico, which Bernstein performs with great suavity and sexiness; this 1951 mono recording isn't the best, but it's clear and bright. At the time of release it competed with a famous 78-rpm recording from Bernstein's mentor, and an equally great champion of Copland, Serge Koussevitzky. Finally, we get the 12-tone Connotations for Orchestra composed in 1962 for the opening of Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. I had remembered the work as "granitic," to use the word favored by the writer of the program notes, but actually it has more lyrical qualities and a prominent piano part that really isn't difficult to absorb, despite the atonal idiom. As with late Stravinsky, the theory may be updated, but you can sitll hear the familiar voice of Copland underneath.
In sum, one of the classics of the entire Copland discography."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1