Leonard Bernstein - An American in Paris (Remastered) Leonard Bernstein

• Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869): Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48:
• 1 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48: I. Rêveries - Passions 13:41
• 2 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48: II. Un bal 06:55
• 3 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48: III. Scène aux champs 16:30
• 4 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48: IV. Marche au supplice 04:55
• 5 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48: V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat 10:05
• Harold en Italie, Op. 16, H. 68:
• 6 Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16, H. 68: I. Harold in the Mountain 15:01
• 7 Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16, H. 68: II. Procession of the Pilgrims 08:40
• 8 Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16, H. 68: III. Serenade 06:49
• 9 Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16, H. 68: IV. Orgy of the Brigands 12:57
• Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974): Milhaud:
• 10 Milhaud: La Création du monde, Op. 81 16:49
• 11 Milhaud: Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: VII. Corcovado 02:19
• 12 Milhaud: Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: IX. Sumaré 01:45
• 13 Milhaud: Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: VIII. Tijuca 02:02
• 14 Milhaud: Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: XI. Larenjeiras 01:22
• 15 Milhaud: Le Boeuf sur le toit, Op. 58 19:34
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129:
• 16 Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129: I. Nicht zu schnell 12:14
• 17 Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129: II. Langsam 05:01
• 18 Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129: III. Sehr lebhaft 08:06
• Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959): Schelomo, B. 39:
• 19 Bloch: Schelomo, B. 39 22:52
• Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943): Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30:
• 20 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30: I. Allegro ma non tanto 17:37
• 21 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30: II. Intermezzo (Adagio) 12:57
• 22 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30: III. Finale (Alla breve) 16:09
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): M. 43: IV. Alborada del gracioso (Rehearsal Session):
• 23 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: IV. Alborada del gracioso (Rehearsal Session) 08:09
• Shéhérazade, M. 17 (Rehearsal Session):
• 24 Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 17 (Rehearsal Session) 04:36
• Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 (Rehearsal Session)
• 25 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 (Rehearsal Session) 12:00
• La Valse, M. 72 (Rehearsal Session)
• 26 Ravel: La Valse, M. 72 (Rehearsal Session) 08:30
• Miroirs, M. 43: IV. Alborada del gracioso
• 27 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: IV. Alborada del gracioso 07:37
• Shéhérazade, M. 41:
• 28 Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 41: I. Asie 10:20
• 29 Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 41: II. La Flûte enchantée 03:08
• 30 Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 41: III. L'Indifférent 04:54
• Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83:
• 31 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: I. Allegramente 08:16
• 32 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai 10:26
• 33 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: III. Presto 04:02
• Tzigane, M. 76:
• 34 Ravel: Tzigane, M. 76 10:27
• La Valse, M. 72:
• 35 Ravel: La Valse, M. 72 13:11
• Boléro, M. 81:
• 36 Ravel: Boléro, M. 81 15:28
• Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990): On the Waterfront:
• 37 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: I. Andante - Presto barbaro 03:07
• 38 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: II. Adagio - Allegro molto agitato - Alla breve 02:28
• 39 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: III. Andante largamente - More flowing - Lento 04:52
• 40 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: IV. Moving forward - Largamente - Andante come prima 04:45
• 41 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: V. Allegro non troppo, molto marcato - Poco più sostenuto 03:09
• 42 Bernstein: On the Waterfront: VI. A tempo (Poco più sostenuto) 02:38
• Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story":
• 43 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": I. Prologue 04:16
• 44 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": II. "Somewhere" 04:15
• 45 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": III. Scherzo 01:23
• 46 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": IV. Mambo 02:20
• 47 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": V. Cha-Cha 00:58
• 48 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": VI. Meeting Scene 00:45
• 49 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": VII. "Cool" - Fugue 04:00
• 50 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": VIII. Rumble 02:06
• 51 Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story": IX. Finale 03:58
• Total Runtime 06:40:24

Info for Leonard Bernstein - An American in Paris (Remastered)

This 7-album-set is the fruit of the love affair that developed in Paris between Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France in the 1970s. Beside long-admired studio recordings, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich and Alexis Weissenberg among the soloists, it presents live performances completely new to the catalogue: a 1975 programme to celebrate Ravel’s centenary – with Bernstein himself as soloist in the G major piano concerto – and orchestral suites taken from two of Bernstein’s most celebrated and brilliant works, both infused with jazz: the film score On the Waterfront and the landmark Broadway musical West Side Story.

25th August 2018 marks the centenary of the birth of American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). He was one of the most celebrated and charismatic musicians of his time, an artist who transcended conventional boundaries between genres. Warner Classics owns the treasurable and substantial catalogue of recordings made in Paris in the latter part of the 1970s during Bernstein’s ‘love affair’ with the Orchestre National de France (ONF). A key selling point of this box is that it complements these well-known studio recordings with previously unreleased live recordings (radio broadcasts) that Bernstein made with the ONF in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Among these are two famous works by Bernstein himself, including Symphonic Dances of West Side Story. The project will be highly supported by The Bernstein Office, running the Leonard Bernstein at 100 website (leonardbernstein.com) in which you can find events related to the Bernstein year all over the world) and socials (400k likes on Facebook, 6k followers on Twitter, etc.)

The Artist: Leonard Bernstein, born near Boston in 1918, was one of the most prominent musicians of the mid-to-late 20th century. The Los Angeles Times recently described Bernstein as “the most celebrated, most multitalented and most American musician of his time”. -As a composer, Bernstein is best known for the landmark Broadway musical West Side Story, which is represented in this set. In addition to other musicals and the score for the 1954 film On the Waterfront (also represented here) he wrote a substantial and artistically ambitious body of compositions for the concert hall, two operas and two ballet scores.

As a conductor, Bernstein had a 47-year relationship with the New York Philharmonic. He also enjoyed close links with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and of course the Orchestre National de France where he remains, 40 years after their collaboration, a musical and human hero Bernstein was the first conductor to give a series of television lectures on classical music, starting in 1954 and continuing until his death. Leonard Bernstein died in October 1990. On Christmas Day 1989 he had conducted Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the former East Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. This ‘Ode to Freedom‘ was described by Die Welt’s writer Klaus Geitel as marking “the absolute climax in the public life of the world citizen Leonard Bernstein”.

The Repertoire Two works by Bernstein himself feature in the set: The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story The symphonic suite drawn from his jazz-influenced film score On the Waterfront Live recordings that are receiving their world premiere release with this box. Both works were recorded at a concert in Paris in 1979. A significant emphasis on French music: Berlioz (including the Symphonie fantastique) Ravel (all but Shéhérazade are previously unreleased live recordings from concerts given at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1975 to mark Ravel’s centenary). Bernstein himself is soloist in Ravel’s G major piano concerto Milhaud (including La Création du monde and Le Bœuf sur le toit, both works with a strong element of jazz) Legendary Concertos albums with Rostropovich (Schumann-Bloch), and Weissenberg (Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3) The set also includes 3 rehearsal sequences (of music by Ravel) which showcase Bernstein’s passion as a musician and demonstrate the close relationship between him and the Orchestre National de France Remastering.

Digitally remastered

Leonard Bernstein
was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to 'The Birds,' and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's 'The Cradle Will Rock.' Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson.

In 1940, he studied at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's newly created summer institute, Tanglewood, with the orchestra's conductor, Serge Koussevitzky. Bernstein later became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant.

Bernstein was appointed to his first permanent conducting post in 1943, as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, Bernstein substituted on a few hours notice for the ailing Bruno Walter at a Carnegie Hall concert, which was broadcast nationally on radio, receiving critical acclaim. Soon orchestras worldwide sought him out as a guest conductor.

In 1945 he was appointed Music Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1947. After Serge Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein headed the orchestral and conducting departments at Tanglewood, teaching there for many years. In 1951 he married the Chilean actress and pianist, Felicia Montealegre. He was also visiting music professor, and head of the Creative Arts Festivals at Brandeis University in the early 1950s.

Bernstein became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958. From then until 1969 he led more concerts with the orchestra than any previous conductor. He subsequently held the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor, making frequent guest appearances with the orchestra. More than half of Bernstein's 400-plus recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic.

Bernstein traveled the world as a conductor. Immediately after World War II, in 1946, he conducted in London and at the International Music Festival in Prague. In 1947 he conducted in Tel Aviv, beginning a relationship with Israel that lasted until his death. In 1953, Bernstein was the first American to conduct opera at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan: Cherubini's 'Medea' with Maria Callas.

Bernstein was a leading advocate of American composers, particularly Aaron Copland. The two remained close friends for life. As a young pianist, Bernstein performed Copland's 'Piano Variations' so often he considered the composition his trademark. Bernstein programmed and recorded nearly all of the Copland orchestral works --many of them twice. He devoted several televised 'Young People's Concerts' to Copland, and gave the premiere of Copland's 'Connotations,' commissioned for the opening of Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center in 1962.

While Bernstein's conducting repertoire encompassed the standard literature, he may be best remembered for his performances and recordings of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Sibelius and Mahler. Particularly notable were his performances of the Mahler symphonies with the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s, sparking a renewed interest in the works of Mahler. Visit: www.leonardbernstein.com

This album contains no booklet.