Bernstein conducts Bernstein (7 CD box set, FLAC)

Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Audio CD
SPARS Code: ADD
Number of Discs: 7 CD box set
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 1.93 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
01. The Great Lover – Allegro pesante
02. Lonely Town: Pas de deux – Andante – Sostenuto
03. Times Square: 1944 – Allegro
04. Big Stiff
05. Opening Dance
06. Scene at the Bar
07. Enter Two Girls
08. Pas De Deux
09. Competition Scene
10. Variation 1: Galop
11. Variation 2: Waltz
12. Variation 3: Danzon
13. Finale
14. Big Stuff (Blues)
15. Facsimile

CD 02
01. Overture to ‘Candide’
02. Prologue: Allegro Moderato
03. Somewhere: Adagio
04. Scherzo: Vivace leggiero
05. Mambo: Presto
06. Cha-Cha: Andantino Con Grazia
07. Meeting Scene: Meno Mosso
08. Cool, Fugue: Allegretto
09. Rumble: Molto Allegro
10. Finale: Adagio
11. Andante (With Dignity) – Presto Barbaro
12. Andante largarmente – More flowing – Lento
13. Moving forward – Largamente – Andante come prima
14. A tempo (Poco piu sostenuto)
15. Prelude (for the Brass): Fast and exact
16. Fugue (for the Saxes): Exactly the same beat
17. Riffs (for Everyone)

CD 03
01. Prophecy: Largamente
02. Profanation: Vivace con brio
03. Lamentation: Lento
04. The Prologue: Lento moderato
05. The Seven Ages: Variations 1-7
06. The Seven Stages: Variations 8-14
07. The Dirge: Largo
08. The Masque: Extremely fast

CD 04
01. Psalm 108 (verse 2); Psalm 100 (complete)
02. Psalm 23 (complete); Psalm 2 (verses 1-4)
03. Invocation: Adagio
04. Kaddish 1: L’istesso tempo – Allegro molto
05. Din-Torah: Di nuovo Adagio
06. Kaddish 2: Andante con tenerezza
07. Scherzo: Presto scherzando, sempre pianissimo
08. Finale: Adagio come nel Din-Torah- (Kaddish 3)
09. Allegro vivo, con gioia (Kaddish 3)

CD 05
01. Waltz: Allegretto, con grazia
02. Mazurka: Mesto (molto moderato)
03. Samba: Allegro giusto
04. Turkey Trot: Allegretto, ben misurato
05. Sphinxes: Adagio lugubre
06. Blues: Slow blues tempo
07. Allegro Con Brio
08. A Political Overture
09. Lento assai, molto sostenuto
10. Andante sostenuto – Variations 1-4 – Coda
11. Presto – Fast and primitive – Molto adagio

CD 06
01. Free-Style Events: Allegro con brio, giocoso
02. Mixed Doubles: Theme and Seven Variations
03. Diaspora Dances: Vivace
04. Benediction: Moderato, invocando
05. Invocation and Trance
06. The Pledge
07. Kabbalah
08. Possession
09. Pas De Deux
10. Exorcism
11. The Messengers
12. Leah
13. 5 Kabbalah Variations
14. Dream

CD 07
01. Phaedrus – Pausanias: Lento – Allegro marcato
02. Aristophanes: Allegretto
03. Erixymachus: Presto
04. Agathon: Adagio
05. Socrates – Alcibiades: Molto tenuto – Allegro molto vivace
06. Opening Hymn – To the Poem
07. Three Solos – The Pennycandystore Beyond the El
08. A Julia de Burgos
09. To What You Said…
10. Three Ensembles – Duet: I, Too, Sing America – Okay ‘Negroes’
11. Trio – To My Dear and Loving Husband
12. Duet: Storyette H.M.
13. Sextet – If you can’t eat you got to
14. Three Solos – Music I Heard With You
15. Three Solos: Zizi’s Lament
16. Three Solos: Sonnet – What lips my lips have kissed…
17. Closing Hymn – Israfel

Mostly valuable for what’s not duplicated

Once he departed for Europe, Bernstein rarely recorded again in the U.S. These recordings demonstrate his loyalty to the Israel Phil., with whom he duplicated many things he had already recorded in New York. This set is equally a testimonry to his love affair with the Vienna Phil, which sounds a little out of touch in American music. The original recordings from NY on Sony surpass the remakes in vigor and freshness. Even so, it’s nice to get the Kaddish Sym. with revised narration, and to hear Gidon Kremer in the Serenade for violin and orchestra.

This 7-disc set also includes later Bernstein compositions that never appeared on Sony, in particular Songest and Jubilee Games. But the singers aren’t particularly good in the former recording and the piece isn’t very good in the latter. All in all, I think only a Bernstein completist would seek out this collection. Better to stick with the wonderful recordings originally made in New York in Bernstein’s heyday.