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Compositeur: BERNSTEIN, Leonard ((1918-1990)) |
| Son vie:
(contributed by <lruleu
aol.com>)
A prodigiously talented composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, Leonard Bernstein did more to validate America's position in the musical world than virtually any other musician in history. More importantly, he contributed a galaxy of superlative compositions and recorded performances to our culture, and redefined the boundaries between classical music and other recently-derived popular styles. He was the leading light of 20th century American music, and no contemporary musician of any instrument or specialty pursues his craft without first acknowledging a debt to Bernstein. As a charismatic ambassador of music, he remains without peer.
He was born Louis Bernstein into a family of Russian Jewish immigrants in Lawrence, Mass. in 1918; he changed his name to Leonard to avoid confusion with a relative named Louis. He studied piano in Boston as a child, and entered Harvard at the age of seventeen, where his composition teachers included Walter Piston and A. Tillman Merritt. After graduating in 1939, he arrived at the Curtus Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied conducting with the legendary maestro Fritz Reiner. During the summers of 1940 and 1941, he went to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and studied with his most important musical mentor, conductor/bassist Serge Koussevitzky. Even at this relatively young age, Bernstein was considered a major talent, both on the podium and at the piano.
By 1943, Bernstein had attained a position as an assistant conductor for the New York Philharmonic; in November of that year, he had his famous musical epiphany. On November 14, he was called upon to substitute-conduct a demanding Philharmonic concert; his flair and virtuosity captivated the audience, and critics sang his praises. From this moment on, he was the darling of the classical music world, particularly in America, where he was proclaimed the greatest young musician of the age. For the next fifteen years, he conducted the greatest orchestras of the world, both in concerts and in a blistering schedule of recordings, and won the highest stature as a pianist. In 1958, he was appointed Music Director of the New York Philharmonic; in the same year, he began his legendary series of televised concerts for children, which are still regarded as definitive ground-breaking educational events. Over the course of his career as a podium celebrity, he led countless concerts of repertoire from the Baroque to contemp
Bernstein was also a composer of great ability and verve. He wrote several classics for orchestra, including three symphonies, Facsimile, Fancy Free, Kaddish, and the Serenade for Violin and Orchestra; his musical theater credits include West Side Story, Candide, and Wonderful Town; he was the composer of many songs, chamber pieces, and incidental works. An accomplished author, he penned several books on music-making and music education. For two generations of students, he was a demi-god; making Tanglewood his second home, he conducted legendary classes in conducting and music appreciation. He was conducting and creating music until his death in 1990.
Summarizing Bernstein's musical accomplishments - and the effect of his ebullient and headstrong personality on the world's musical landscape - is a task best left to professional biographers, and several have produced high-profile studies of his life and art. As famed for his mercurial lifestyle as his musicianship, he will be forever regarded as an enigmatic and extraordinary blessing to music.
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ID: ACDBA090-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
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Collection:
Brass Collection
Subcollection: QuintetTRACKLIST
1. Fanfare La Péri 2:01
2. Stanfare 5:24
3. Esther 3:57
4. Music Hall Suite - Soubrette Song 1:33
5. Music Hall Suite - Trick-cyclists 1:12
6. Music Hall Suite - Soft shoe shuffle 2:33
7. Music Hall Suite - Les Girls 1:27
8. Triosonate in g minor - Largo 2:45
9. Triosonate in g minor - Allegro 2:44
10. Triosonate in g minor - Cantabile 2:49
11. Triosonate in g minor - Allegro 1:24
12. Air 3:37
13. Letter from Home 2:35
14. West Side Story - Prologue 2:24
15. West Side Story - Something’s Comin’ 2:24
16. West Side Story - Maria 2:46
17. West Side Story - Tonight 1:58
18. West Side Story - America 2:22
19. West Side Story - One hand, one heart 1:59
20. West Side Story - I Feel Pretty 1:38
21. West Side Story - Somewhere 2:46
22. Tea for Two 2:03
23. Night and Day 2:36 |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: BC3003
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Brass Collection
J. S. Bach, (arr. Eric Crees) - Fantasia & Fugue in G minor, BWV542 'Great'
L. Bernstein, (arr. Eric Crees) - Dance Episodes (3) from ‘On The Town'
E. Crees - The Birth of Conchobar
F. Liszt, (arr. Eric Crees) - Prelude & Fugue on B-A-C-H, S260 |
| 15.00 eur Buy |
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ID: BRIL6322
CDs: 1
Type: DVD5
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Collection:
Choral Collection
1 DVD 16:9
Total time: 1:53:43
Region: (All) PAL, 2.35:1 ALL FORMATS
Sound Tracks: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo 5.1 |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: CHRCD008
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Vocal Collection
Subcollection: Vocal and PianoShe went on to say:
The upper reaches of Lott's still gleaming soprano inhabit Barber's ?Shining Night' and Fauré's ?Clair de lune'. And her robust English version of Schubert's ?Who is Sylvia?' finds an irresistible companion in Arne's ?Where the Bee Sucks', with its veritable midsummer night's dream of an accompaniment from Johnson. The artists' palpable sense of joy and well-being gathers momentum as they visit Berlioz's ?L'île inconnue' and as they sing on the water with Schubert. . . . And Lott and Johnson know well that the only way to face sentiment is to acknowledge its own integrity, as they do when they listen to Haydn Wood's ?Little Brown Bird' and eavesdrop with Fraser-Simson on Christopher Robin saying his prayers.
This CD features songs from a great variety of composers - Gershwin, Barber, Cole Porter, Bernstein, Brahms, Schubert, Arne, Schumann, Berlioz, and many more. A full 29 tracks of summer-themed songs! |
| 15.00 eur Buy |
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ID: DCD34097
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Vocal Collection
Subcollection: Choral and OrganThis ‘songbook’ is unique to the Schola Cantorum choristers of Tewkesbury Abbey. “Essentially, it's a showcase for the Abbey trebles,” their Director of Music Benjamin Nicholas explains. “We’ve been assembling our own Songbook for quite a while now - the songs the trebles sing, from time to time, in boys-only concerts, and that they are taught in individual singing lessons. I’ve always been keen to build each boy up as a soloist, not necessarily with the express idea of them singing lots of solos, but so that they can learn to sing in a soloistic way.”
This is evident most of all in the distinctive singing of 11- year-old Laurence Kilsby, whose gifts won him the BBC Chorister of the Year competition in 2009. On this recording, he features as soloist in two Shelley settings by Roger Quilter, the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria and in John Ireland’s beautiful, sincerely-felt Passiontide motet Ex Ore Innocentium from 1944.
Laurence Kilsby (treble), Helen Porter (piano), Carleton Etherington (organ)
The trebles of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum, Benjamin Nicholas (director)
Track listing
1 Music, When Soft Voices Die
Roger Quilter
2 Vater Unser
Arvo Pärt
3 Fairest Isle (Address To Britain)
Henry Purcell
4 Love’s Philosophy
Quilter
5 The Land Of Spices
Gabriel Jackson
6 Whispers
Howard Skempton
7 O Salutaris Hostia
Léo Delibes
8 Ex Ore Innocentium
John Ireland
9 The Flower
Philip Wilby
10 A Song At Evening
Richard Rodney Bennett
11 Ave Maria
J.S. Bach / Charles Gounod
12 Nymphs And Shepherds
Purcell
13 Dutch Carol
James MacMillan
14 I Will Give My Love An Apple
trad., arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams
15 Linden Lea
Vaughan Williams
16 Dirge For Fidele
Vaughan Williams
17 Somewhere
Leonard Bernstein
18 Sure On This Shining Night
Samuel Barber
19 At The River
Robert Lowry, arr. Aaron Copland
20 The Lord’s Prayer
John Tavener, arr. Barry Rose
21 Wedding Introit
MacMillan
22 I Sing Of A Maiden
Patrick Hadley
23 Skye Boat Song
trad., arr. Percy Grainger
24 How Can I Keep From Singing?
Lowry, arr. John Scott
Total playing time [66:42] |
| 15.00 eur Buy |
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ID: MCD2915
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Jazz
Subcollection: PianoAlexander and Ekaterina Kolodochka were born into a musical family in Moscow. At a very young age they began what would become a life of music with their education in the “State Chopin Music School.” Their schooling continued at the “State Gnessin College” in Moscow, where both received their degrees with honours. Ekaterina moved to Germany and Alexander followed her one year later, where brother and sister continued their musical education. Their list of master classes includes professors with such well known names as Gililov, Edelstein, Leuschner, Gottlieb, von Arnim, Pochekin, Valdma, Voskressensky and Kämmerling, as well as Stenzel & Stenzel and Genova & Dimitrov. They participated in and won various national and international competitions, which are part of their impressive curricula vitae. At the “University for Music and Dance” Cologne under Prof. Anthony Spiri they completed their studies and were awarded the “Master of Music” with the highest possible degree (1.0). In 2006 they had their debut at the Philharmonic in Essen, Germany, under their newly formed name “Piano Duo Kolodochka”. Since then they have concentrated on piano-duo concerts, playing four hands on one or two grand pianos. Winning the “Torneo Internazionale di Musica” in Verona in 2008 confirmed their role as an upcoming young piano-duo in this special class. Their evergrowing repertoire consists of a variety of compositions which are played together on one or two grand pianos. The duo has performed to rave reviews at national and international concerts, among them at the Philharmonic in Essen, The “Alte Oper” Frankfurt, Kurhaus Wiesbaden, Radio Station WDR, Cologne, Robert Schumann Concert Hall, Düsseldorf, Rudolfinum Prague, and in Luxembourg. It is fascinating to watch the charming and highly talented brother and sister Alexander & Ekaterina Kolodochka complimenting each other and at amazing speeds. Their symbiotic competence is absolutely convincing. |
| 15.00 eur Buy |
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ID: MSV28505
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Instrumental
Subcollection: Piano and ClarinetFollowing their fine recital of song transcriptions (Voice of the Clarinet - Divine Art dda25040) these fine musicians tackle a wide range of modern music from the post romantic Arnold Bax to the contemporary world of Esa-Pekka Salonen and Salvador Brotons. All of the music is however very approachable and given life and soul in these brilliant performances.
tracks:
Arnold BAX: Clarinet Sonata Leonard BERNSTEIN: Clarinet Sonata Alban BERG: Vier Stücke Arthur HONEGGER: Sonatina for Clarinet Salvador BROTONS: Clarinet Sonata, op. 46 Esa-Pekka SALONEN: Nachtlieder |
| 12.00 eur Buy |
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ID: NEMACD100
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Instrumental
Subcollection: PianoFeatures Nettle & Markham s special transcription of Scenes from West Side Story, presented to Bernstein for his 70th birthday. This unique combination of music for two pianos offers the best of American musical theatre in two exciting transcriptions as well as some masterful pastiche from Sir Richard Rodney Bennett. |
| 15.00 eur Buy |
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ID: QTZ2005
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Instrumental
Subcollection: PianoA fascinating exploration of piano works by American composers whose lives, in some way, have been touched by New York. "These pieces seemed tied inextricably with the American personality and culture", says Elizabeth Hayes of this programme, "at times warm and intimate, at others dazzling and extroverted, capturing an essence of blue-grass, jazz, hoe-downs and a cool, lyrical modernity".
Gershwin: New York Connections
I was performing Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer and some of the Gershwin Songbook as part of a recital programme. An American friend asked if I played Joplin's Solace, and so later that month I sat down with a couple of scores of Joplin's rags and found them exhilarating. I wanted to explore the American piano repertoire more fully.
I had performed Rhapsody in Blue several times with orchestras, but never properly explored the solo piano version. I was already familiar with Samuel Barber's works, but had yet to include any in my programmes.
I had the chance later that year of visiting New York for the first time, and loved it. I began to connect together a programme of American composers whose lives had touched New York. These pieces seemed tied inextricably with the American personality and culture - at times warm and intimate, at others dazzling and extroverted, capturing an essence of blue-grass, jazz, hoe-downs and a cool, lyrical modernity.
So gradually this recording took shape; I hope it shows the colour and immediacy that I found.
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898, and lived in New York for most of his life. In all of his music there is a vibrancy and colour: the bright lights of Broadway, the glamour of Hollywood. The Preludes were published in 1926. Nos. 1 and 3 are energetic, with moments of schmaltz. No.2 is essentially a blues piece - warm and tender with a simple melody over a strummed bass line.
Gershwin's success was born of the many songs from the shows he wrote with his brother Ira. He arranged several for solo piano, loving to sit and improvise at the many after-show parties. Who Cares? comes from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I Sing, written in 1931, and has a modern feel. Fascinating Rhythm and The Man I Love came earlier, in 1924, the year of Rhapsody in Blue. I Got Rhythm was written in 1930 and is a larger-scale arrangement, with a change of key and style in the middle.
The piece that perhaps epitomises Gershwin's style more than any other is Rhapsody in Blue. Written in haste in 1924 when a mooted idea for a concert at the Aeolian Hall in New York became a reality, it is romantic, heart-on-sleeve music. A simple melodic and rhythmic idea forms the basis for the piece, which falls loosely into three sections, and he draws on many different influences in its composition: moments of ragtime, jazz and blues, as well as the work of more established composers such as Rachmaninov and Stravinsky.
Gershwin arranged the piece for solo piano in 1927, managing to keep the sense of a large-scale orchestral work while making some cuts to the original.
Aaron Copland's Four Piano Blues were written in 1949. More than any other composer he seems able to portray the sense of America's landscape and the cultural roots of its music. He was born in Brooklyn in 1900, living most of his life in New York City until his death in 1990.
Though he was known more widely for his large-scale orchestral works, Copland writes with intimacy and a very personal voice in these short pieces. Each has a descriptive performance direction: 1. Freely poetic; 2. Soft and languid; 3. Muted and sensuous; 4. With bounce.
Leonard Bernstein's Anniversaries are again intimate portraits, snap-shots of people in his life. He wrote several sets - these four are from 1948.
1. Dedicated to his wife, Felicia Montealegre - it shows sadness, beauty, a complex character, implicit tenderness. 2. For Johnny Mehegan, is sexy and dangerous - a foretaste perhaps of the music of West Side Story. Mehegan was a successful jazz pianist and close friend of Bernstein.
3. Written for the composer David Diamond - there is a seriousness here, but also a sensitivity. 4. For Helen Coates - a whirlwind of a piece, describing his assistant - a woman central to his career. It shows a brittle, pointed character, buzzing with energy and with a fiery temper.
Leonard Bernstein became connected with New York through his work with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, from 1958, and was a friend and colleague of Copland, dying there the same year, 1990.
Samuel Barber wrote the four Excursions from 1942 to 1944, describing them as "excursions in small classical forms into regional American idioms...Their regional characteristics, as well as their sources in folk material and their scoring, reminiscent of local instruments, are easily recognised." Though sometimes labelled as "neo-Romantic", Barber's writing refuses to be pigeon-holed into one particular style, and these pieces show that diversity well.
The first is the only piece to show sophistication and dryness in its boogie-woogie bass line and rhythmic patterning. More dissonant than the others, it may reflect the city of New York where he lived for some years, dying there in 1981. No.2 has a feel of the deep south, a plaintive blues melody. The third is opulent and lush, with a vaguely Latin-American style. The cross-rhythms are complex, though the overall effect is very free and improvisatory. Finally there is a hoe-down; the fourth piece is exuberant and folksy, reminiscent of harmonica and fiddle-playing.
Scott Joplin was born in Texas in 1868, and spent the life of an itinerant ragtime pianist until moving to New York in 1911. He worked in the bars and jazz clubs of St. Louis and Chicago for many years, but was later able to gain an income from the publication of his rags - notably his first success, Maple Leaf Rag - named after the Maple Leaf Club of Sedalia, where he played for some time. The Entertainer has become perhaps his most famous composition - both this and Maple Leaf Rag encapsulate the elegance, subtlety and wit of Joplin's work. Magnetic Rag is an example of the later rags, more experimental in its harmonies, and with one of its sections in a minor key. It has the feel of an accompaniment to a silent movie, with a broader emotional scope than usual. Solace, subtitled A Mexican Serenade, is a much more personal statement, with a gentle melancholy and beautiful lyricism
Programme Notes by Elizabeth Hayes |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: RES10187
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Collection:
Choral Collection
Subcollection: ChoirSaint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys and John Scott
Meg Bragle (mezzo), Frederick Teardo (organ), Anna Reinersman (harp), Maya Gunji (percussion)
Continuing their ongoing series with Resonus, the Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York and conductor John Scott release an album of celebrated as well as more recent American choral music.
Featuring music from the last seven decades, this engrossing recording celebrates the very best of American choral works with music from Leonard Bernstein, Randall Thompson, Aaron Copland, Nico Muhly, Samuel Barber, Daniel Castellanos, Ned Rorem, and former Saint Thomas music director Gerre Hancock. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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