For his third CD, organist Yahel brings back guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Brian Blade (see Trio on Criss Cross) and percussionist Kahlil Kwame Bell, who plays percussion on two tracks. There's much more going on under the surface than initially meets the ear, and that's the beauty of Yahel's concept. He's stealth and lurking in underground caves, searching for light and finding mine shafts of pure gold, with the always capable and melodic Bernstein a veritable beacon of energy and soul. Yahel wrote two of these eight selections.
…It is, above all, a triumph for the Vienna Philharmonic: their second memorable live Bruckner Ninth in so many months. …Given my reservations over Bernstein's handling of the first movement, this is obviously no front-line library recommendation. But, Bernstein being Bernstein, he can misdirect parts of the first movement and still go on to conduct an utterly memorable performance. As Schumann said of Chopin in a rather different context: "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!".
Richard Osborne, The Gramophone
On the eve of his centenary in 2018, Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.
On the eve of his centenary in 2018, Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.