West Side Story

The soundtrack of the West Side Story film is deservedly one of the most popular soundtrack recordings of all time, and one of the relatively few to have attained long-term popularity beyond a specialized soundtrack/theatrical musical audience. (It is an entirely different recording, it should be emphasized, from the original Broadway cast recording, which was also a massive-selling album.) Its widespread impact could be attributed to a few factors: the wide range of compositional and orchestral styles, from cool swing jazz and shades of Latin pop to classical; the universality of the storyline, pitting underdog lovers against the world; and an assortment of songs that goes well beyond the sentimental love odes that are the staples of musicals (though it has some of those, too), including some downright tough posturing and sardonic social commentary. "Jet Song," "America," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "Tonight," "Cool," "Maria," "I Feel Pretty," and "Something's Coming" are all among the most famous and oft-sung soundtrack numbers ever.

Collection of West Side Story's greatest musical moments reinterpreted by jazz greats such as Cal Tjader, Stan Kenton, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Oscar Peterson Trio, Andre Previn with Shelly Manne and Red Mitchell, Annie Ross and Gerry Mulligan, Marian McPartland and others. Never before had there been a musical whose protagonists were 'youths of the street whose speech is acrid and ugly', and whose conduct is 'neurotic and savage'. This was not a show meant to entertain and to amuse with a romantic story and lifting music but one of revolt, struggle and tragedy. That it became such an astounding success all over the world is due to the breath-taking sequence of scenes of an ever-changing character and mood, in which melodrama, solo and ensemble singing, dialogue, ballet, and instrumental interludes follow each other in stark dramatic succession.

Collection of West Side Story's greatest musical moments reinterpreted by jazz greats such as Cal Tjader, Stan Kenton, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Oscar Peterson Trio, Andre Previn with Shelly Manne and Red Mitchell, Annie Ross and Gerry Mulligan, Marian McPartland and others. Never before had there been a musical whose protagonists were 'youths of the street whose speech is acrid and ugly', and whose conduct is 'neurotic and savage'. This was not a show meant to entertain and to amuse with a romantic story and lifting music but one of revolt, struggle and tragedy. That it became such an astounding success all over the world is due to the breath-taking sequence of scenes of an ever-changing character and mood, in which melodrama, solo and ensemble singing, dialogue, ballet, and instrumental interludes follow each other in stark dramatic succession.

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.

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 of events. Concerts from the Festival have been recorded in collaboration with Orchid Classics, capturing the energy and spontaneity of these special live performances.

No figure in 20th century American classical music had as prominent or controversial a career – or did more to sell classical music to the general public as something genuinely exciting and worth getting into a sweat over – than Leonard Bernstein. For more than 30 years, from his assumption of the post of Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958 until the final concerts that he conducted in obviously failing health near the end of his life in 1990, he was the most widely recognized American-born conductor in the world, and the dominant personality in American classical music as both a conductor and, to a lesser degree, a composer.

No figure in 20th century American classical music had as prominent or controversial a career – or did more to sell classical music to the general public as something genuinely exciting and worth getting into a sweat over – than Leonard Bernstein. For more than 30 years, from his assumption of the post of Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958 until the final concerts that he conducted in obviously failing health near the end of his life in 1990, he was the most widely recognized American-born conductor in the world, and the dominant personality in American classical music as both a conductor and, to a lesser degree, a composer.

Bernstein illuminates the story of two rival gangs in New York by juxtaposing a jazz-blues ‘American’ idiom with a more ‘Latin American’ Puerto Rican sound, in which the Cuban mambo and cha-cha, and the Mexican huapango are also integrated.