Léonard

Tout commence un soir de janvier 1937, à Boston où le chef Dimitri Mitropoulos achève son deuxième séjour par la Symphonie en ut de Schumann. Invité à suivre répétitions et concert, l’étudiant Bernstein sent, au cours de l’Adagio espressivo, son « coeur éclater dans un mélange terrible de fierté et d’abattement ». Conçue au fond du gouffre, achevée au retour de la lumière en 1846, cette Symphonie no 2 le poursuivra longtemps. Bernstein chef d’orchestre est né par elle, commençons de même [CD I, 1-4]. L’influence de Mitropoulos ne s’arrête pas là. Une saison plus tôt, le chef grec avait soufflé Boston en dirigeant du piano le Concerto no 3 de Prokofiev, numéro de voltige que son admirateur reproduira en substituant Ravel à Prokofiev.

Leonard Slatkin celebrated his 75th birthday in September 2019. Many of the selections in this program come from a concert given in his honor and are also a tribute to his remarkable musical family, both past and present. Historical recordings include Leonard’s cellist mother, Eleanor Aller, being conducted by Korngold in the Haydn concerto and a 1944 broadcast of his father, Felix, as a solo violinist in Brahms. Every piece here has a deeply personal connection for the family. For his composition The Raven, Leonard used Edgar Allan Poe’s poem in a work that is “almost like a concerto for speaker and orchestra.”

An historical album if there is one, with its iconic cover photo. Conducting from the piano in Rhapsody in Blue, Leonard Bernstein manages to capture the lean vigor and impertinence that emanates from the work. He whips up a beefy orchestral contour while subtly jazzy, intensely inspired and romantic in feeling. The dynamic Suite An American in Paris is full of that energy that Bernstein used to know how to distil like no other did. Listen to the orchestra rip into the Charleston. These recordings, from 1958-59, are fabulous, and well worthy of their reference status. The famous West Side Story Symphonic Dances, and the Symphonic Suite "On the Waterfront" complete this album of American music bursting with infectious enthusiasm.