Search - Bernstein, Foss, Stern :: Symphony 2 / Serenade After Plato's Symposium

Despite the composer's lofty programmatic ambitions for these two concerted works, the pieces not only stand on their own merits, but are arguably Bernstein's most inventive and concise large-scale instrumental works. They explode with catchy tunes and carefully built climaxes that stir rather than bait the emotions (is that "Maria" hidden in the Serenade's first movement?). Bernstein's restless rhythms out-Copland Copland, yet are never complex for their own sake. The youthful Isaac Stern was at his robust peak in this 1956 recording (excellent mono) while the 28-year-old Lukas Foss sails through Age of Anxiety's demanding piano part with breathtaking aplomb, and digs into the jazzy "Masque" movement like an unbridled puppy. Bernstein later revised the ending, but this 1950 version is still a classic. --Jed Distler