Bernstein: West Side Story Suite

by Bell,Joshua / Bernstein / Pao / Zinman

Overview

Accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by David Zinman, violinist Joshua Bell introduces William David Brohn's arrangement of "West Side Story Suite," a 19-minute work drawn from Leonard Bernstein's music for the Broadway musical West Side Story, in a world-premiere recording. The arrangement comes ten years after Bernstein's death, but his daughter, Jamie Bernstein Thomas, in her liner notes, suggests that the composer would have approved, although she cautions that his reactions could be unpredictable. Whatever he might have thought, the suite is really a minor, unremarkable effort that does little more than string together the major melodies from the show's songs for Bell to render in his characteristically high-pitched playing. Far more interesting, even if it is included only to fill out the disc, is the five-part, half-hour-long "Serenade After Plato's 'Symposium,'" a piece of Bernstein program music that makes greater demands on the orchestra and soloist. "West Side Story Suite" may get the headline here, but the serenade is much more worthy of the musicians' time and effort. The songs (also included are numbers from On the Town and Candide) are better left to the shows for which they were written. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	06/19/2001
Label:	Sony Classical
UPC:	0696998935822
Rank:	139847

Tracks

1. West Side Story Suite, for violin & orchestra (after Bernstein)
2. On the Town, musical~Lonely Town
3. Make Our Garden Grow, song for voice & orchestra or piano (from "Candide")
4. Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings; also for violin & piano~1. Phaedrus: Pausanias (Lento - Allegro)
5. Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings; also for violin & piano~2. Aristo phanes (Allegretto)
6. Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings; also for violin & piano~3. Eryximachus (Presto)
7. Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings; also for violin & piano~4. Agathon (Adagio)
8. Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings; also for violin & piano~5. Socrates: Alcibiades (molto Tenuto - Allegro molto vivace)
9. On the Town, musical~New York, New York

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Philharmonia Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Joshua Bell   Primary Artist,Violin
David Zinman   Primary Artist,Conductor,Orchestra,Orchestra Director
Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra   Orchestra

Technical Credits

Roxanne Slimak   Art Direction,Design
Gil Gilbert   Photography
Laraine Perri   Executive Producer
Tim White   Photography
Philharmonia Orchestra   Musician
Steven Epstein   Producer
John Tavenner   Product Manager
Tobi Corney   Photography
Timothy White   Photography
Cynthia Elliott   Editorial Director
Laura Kszan   Editorial Production
Stacie Negas   Product Manager
Jamie Bernstein Thomas   Liner Notes
Richard King   Engineer
Betty Comden   Composer
John Corigliano   Arranger
Chris Barrett   Assistant Engineer
Jake Jackson   Assistant Engineer
William David Brohn   Arranger
Leonard Bernstein   Composer
Richard Wilbur   Composer
Adolph Green   Composer
Stephen Sondheim   Composer
Jen Wyler   Engineer