Search - Nathan Gunn, Leonard Bernstein, James Judd :: Bernstein: Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah"; Concerto for Orchestra "Jubilee Games"

A Complete Success for Judd and His New Zealanders

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have not had very many kind words heretofore for the ongoing Bernstein issues on the super-budget Naxos label. And generally that's been because we have earlier presumably definitive recordings conducted by Bernstein himself. But this issue is different. I've spent a good deal of time comparing the 'Jeremiah' Symphony as recorded by Bernstein and this new issue from James Judd conducting the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Although there are some differences - Bernstein's performances are perhaps a bit more intense - the New Zealanders who, while I wasn't watching, have become a major orchestra, actually outplay the Israel Philharmonic (1977) and the New York Philharmonic of this score under the composer. In the first movement, 'Prophecy,' the orchestra's divided strings really dig in, the horn soloist plays with real angst, the winds coruscate and the percussion bring you up out of your seat. In 'Profanation' there is rhythmic snap fully the equal of Bernstein's--let's give some credit to conductor Judd for that--and the ensemble playing is as passionate as it is precise. In the 'Lamentation' movement the contralto soloist, Helen Medlyn, is fully the equal of both Christa Ludwig (IPO) and Jennie Tourel(NYPO)--and I thought I would NEVER say that; they are two of my favorite singers, Tourel particularly in Bernstein's music. Medlyn pours out beautiful sound as she limns the mournful Hebrew lyrics. Just as the 'Jeremiah' Symphony was Bernstein's first big essay for orchestral forces, the 'Concerto for Orchestra,' subtitled 'Jubilee Games,' was his last. As far as I know there has only been one previous recording of it with Bernstein conducting the dedicatee orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, and I've not heard it. Consequently I was somewhat unprepared for the music itself. All the usual Bernstein hallmarks are there--American-inflected Stravinskian rhythmic vitality, characteristic turns of melody, both complicated and spare textures, virtuosic writing for various intruments in sometimes odd instrumental combinations--but there is a granitic quality that one rarely encounters in his music. We're told there is a good bit of improvisation built into the score, especially in the first movement, subtitled 'Free-Style Events,' a percussion-dominated seven minute piece that has an intriguing controlled chaos about it. The second movement, 'Mixed Doubles,' an original theme with seven variations, pays homage to the 'Game of Pairs' movement of Bartók's 'Concerto for Orchestra.' Instead of like pairs of instruments, however, Bernstein couples mostly unaccompanied disparate pairs--e.g., double bass and viola; English horn and contrabassoon. The principal players of the NZSO have a real chance to shine here, and they do. The third movement, 'Diaspora Dances,' is an odd-metered, forward-driving piece that crams a lot of incident into its five minutes. One hears echoes of the dance music in 'West Side Story' cheek-by-jowl with Jewish folk dance rhythms and textures. The finale, 'Benediction,' uses a melody Bernstein had invented in one of his early piano 'Anniversaries' pieces. It closes with a benediction beautifully sung by rising American baritone, Nathan Gunn, to the familiar 'May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord lift up his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace,' sung in Hebrew, bringing the whole to a serene and consolatory end. Strongly recommended.Scott Morrison"

Eclectic Bernstein Respectfully and Passionately Performed

Ed Uyeshima | San Francisco, CA USA | 06/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was not familiar with these Leonard Bernstein pieces, though his compositional style is unmistakable on these two symphonic works. Although inspiring as a conductor, his track record as a composer is quite mixed likely due to his tendency to indulge in whatever was at hand. Here in these two cases, however, he manages to make stylistically coherent pieces of music. Not unlike his masterful "West Side Story", which is granted, in a different league, both are powerfully resonant and full of dramatic fire amid some challenging passages. I had just heard conductor James Judd lead the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu's excellent new recording, "Opera Arias", but I was not prepared for how subtly audacious they play here.



Powerfully moving, Bernstein's Symphony #1 "Jeremiah" is a heartfelt work impeccably performed. Judd manages to capture the bluesy menace of the first-movement "Prophecy", and then he drives the second-movement "Profanation" even harder by bringing a scorching approach to the accents and syncopations of the movement and in turn, getting a tremendous virtuoso response from the players. In the final "Lamentation", mezzo-soprano Helen Medlyn succeeds in capturing the sorrow and bitterness of this movement by staying true to the context without using unnecessary ornamentations.



As one of Bernstein's most exploratory and uneven scores, his Concerto for Orchestra "Jubilee Games" was his final major orchestral work. Producing purposeful aural chaos, Judd and his players tear into the opening "Free-Style Events" like a crowd on a rampage, and frankly it is the least successful passage on the recording. But Judd and his players recover with some superb solo turns in the follow-up movement, the oddly spare "Mixed Doubles". The third section, "Diaspora Dances", is easily the peak as it is a brilliant scherzo in Bernstein's characteristic jazzy milieu with its rhythmic game-playing and street-wise tones. In the closing "Benediction", Judd finds exactly the same level of solemnity with baritone Nathan Gunn offering a gently moving final prayer. The recorded sound is very clear and balanced. Again Naxos has produced a superb recording for a bargain basement price, this time of the brilliant and periodically discordant work of a legend."

Bernstein first and last, in good performances

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've rarely heard a CD as differently from Scott Morrison as here. He hears form James Judd and his provincial New Zealand Symphony a performance of the 'Jeremiah' Symphony that surpasses the NY Phil. under Bernstein (Sony). I don't remotely hear it that way -- Bernstein's recording is huge, intense, almsot combustible. Judd's is energetic and enthusiastic. It's like comparing Vessuvius with the Little Engine That Could. But if orchestral virtuosity and a composer's total rapport with his own music aren't important to you, Judd does catch the idiom of Bernstein's first sumphonic success from 1943, which won him a Pulitzer and widened his range beyond Broadway. Mezzo Helen Medlyn is intense and committed, but she'sno match for Jennie Tourel, or Christa Ludwig on Bernstein's later, inferior remake with the Israel Phil. on DG.



There's moe room for competition in Bernstein's last, neglected symphonic score, "Jubilee Games." This issn't a concerto for Orchestra, despite the official title, but a collage of bits nd pieces that don't make a whole. Bernstein doesn't so much explore different idioms as drift from one to the next. Given its low reputation, I expected little, but Judd brings out the music's life and emotion. The 'Free-Style Events' in the first movement have a jokey title but turn out to be exuberant riffs that include percussion and mass singing-shouting. 'Mixed Doubles' is based on a doleful, unpromising theme, but Bernstein's spare variations are expert. the spirit of both jubilation and games isn't present -- I won't listen to this movement again.



Bernstein's relationship with Israel was heartfelt nd mostly joyful, as reflected in 'Diaspora Dances,' which returns the work to form. It's a trifle workaday, but the dance rhythms have a stomping, romping energy -- and cheeky bits from West Side Story. The concluding 'Benediction' recalls a typical Bernstein brand of reverence, which uneasily combined synagogue, Tin Pan Alley, and a sinner's sorrow for the state of the world. Nathan Gunn's contribution lasts only a minute but is very touching -- I hope Bernstein finally found such solace himself. In all, 'Jubilee Games' only fitfully shows inspsiration, but it's moving to hear Bernstein express himself first and last.







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