Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Performer: Gwendolyn Masin, David Cristobal Litago, Marijke Schroder, Henriette Jensen, Jonas Tschanz, Melisma Sax Quartet
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Orchid
Release: 2020
Size: 420 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
West Side Story
01. Prologue
02. Jet Song
03. Blues
04. Somewhere
05. Procession & Nightmare
06. Scherzo
07. Mambo
08. Cha-Cha
09. I Feel Pretty
10. Maria
11. Cool
12. America
13. One Hand, One Heart
14. Gee, Officer Krupke
15. Tonight
16. A Boy Like That
17. I Have a Love
18. The Rumble
19. Finale
The GAIA Music Festival takes place annually in Oberhofen in Switzerland. The brainchild of violinist Gwendolyn Masin, the Festival is named after the Greek goddess of the Earth, and in just a few years has grown into a thriving and captivating series. Concerts from the Festival have been recorded in collaboration with Orchid Classics, capturing the energy and spontaneity of these special live performances. This recording is of Leonard Bernstein’s seminal musical, West Side Story, in a unique arrangement for violin and saxophone quartet made by composer-conductor Henk Huizinga, performed by Gwendolyn Masin and the Melisma Saxophone Quartet. The unusual combination of instruments works superbly: the violin line soars, often taking the main vocal melody, while the winds show their versatility with sonorities ranging from earthy to delicate. The movement order reflects the story arc of West Side Story while creating contrast between lighter and darker numbers, including ‘Somewhere’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’ and ‘America’.