Fans of Leonard Bernstein will not want to miss the chance to snap up this limited edition 60-CD set, Bernstein Symphony Edition. With a list price of just over two dollars per disc, it's a bargain not to be missed. What's most impressive about these recordings of well over 100 symphonies made between 1953 and 1976, almost all of which feature the New York Philharmonic, is the scope and depth of Bernstein's repertoire.
"Bernstein catches the Romantic secret of this music in a way that most conductors have not." (New York Times)
Recorded in 1959-1960 in Boston/New York. SYMPHONIE No.1 «Le Printemps» - "…this recording fascinates with the perfect adequacy of expression with formal tags and stylistics of the work…" SYMPHONIE No.4 (version1851) - "… Bernstein arouses enthusiasm with immediacy and extraversion which express in an irresistible way the vital impulse of this charter of romanticism…"
Mischa Maisky performs with the Vienna Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein in concertos by Haydn and Schumann. “Maisky and his players perform the Haydn with warm, polished energy. His Schumann, with a fairly restrained Bernstein, sometimes overdoes the languishing, but it's beautiful playing, and visually compelling.” (BBC Misic Magazine)
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.
Throughout the 1970s, conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein was invited to lead the greatest orchestras of the world in a number of concerts that since such time have become legendary. Now, these historic performances are available on DVD for the first time. This Leonard Bernstein collectors's boxed set is the ultimate concert experience on DVD, and it is also the perfect companion to the Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts DVD set.
Mstislav Rostropovich did more for the advancement of the cello than probably any other artist since Pablo Casals. Even after his sad passing in 2007 at the age of 80, is musical influence is felt not only in the cello community, but among orchestral musicians as well. This Deutsche Grammophon DVD is among the many tributes to Rostropovich that have surfaced over the short time since his passing. It features the Schumann Concerto and Bloch's Schelomo with Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France and Strauss' Don Quixote with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. All of these performances are given their first DVD release here. Schumann and Bloch are given intense, riveting performances by Rostropovich and orchestra alike. Any other cellist who played with as much force and aggression would be accused of overplaying, but with Rostropovich the intensity and conviction of his playing are what make the entire performance.
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.