Search - Leonard Bernstein, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky :: Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 "The Age of Anxiety"; William Bolcom: Piano Concerto

Dazzling

11/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard the Bernstein in concert, I've heard it on disk, and it always seemed a half-baked conception to me. But in the performance under consideration here, the work almost makes sense as tone poem, and it makes perfect and persuasive sense as music. Like most tone poems, of course, its literary connections are tenuous at best--whether or not it conveys anything of the notions contained in Auden's "Age of Anxiety" is an unimportant point because it's ultimately a piece of music, the most abstract of the arts. But Hamelin convinces that us this hybrid work is an enticing one musically, shaping the slow music with great sensitivity, giving just the right edginess to Bernstein's "anxious" fast movements.It is a worthy disc mate for the Bolcom concerto, a wonderfully sardonic piece that one can almost call "post-Americanism." Here, the conventions of that American sound hammered out by every native-thinking composer from Gottschalk to Copland, is devilishly deconstructed, especially in the savagely funny finale, which early listeners of the work, during the Bicentennial year, somehow responded to as if it were an American tunefest by Morton Gould or Richard Rodney Bennett. But if there's a more crushingly effective sendup of musical jingoism, I don't know it. Strutting with the smary feel-good air of a Broadway review, the last movement skewers all patriotic swooning over such icons as "Dixie" and "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean." Hilarious, and marvelously done by that great comic duo of Hamelin and Sitkovetsky!The very respectable Ulster Orchestra has never sounded better on disc, thanks to heads-up conducting and, possibly, the thrill of discovery. A very fine recording too. This is my favorite "concerto" record of the year."

Bravura surprise

Theodore R. Spickler | Beaver Falls, PA United States | 04/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought long and hard before risking hard earned money on something called "The Ulster Orchestra" playing American works. Lucky break, the orchestra plays with precision and a great sense of style as if they just really knew how these two pieces are supposed to sound. Total commitment and integration between orchestra and piano soloist offers about as convincing a performance as I think one could hope for. I was thinking the Bernstein might be somewhat like his Jeremiah symphony but it turns out to be more introspective and delicate. I will be pleased to explore it at great length and is worth becoming acquainted with."

(No title).

offeck | New York, NY -- United States of America | 12/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two works, one a symphony, one a concerto, an exemplary coupling, are written upon very similar philosophical gounds (or lack thereof, as it is ever so popular to include, and in this instance very appropriate). Both composers seem to be coming to terms with a lack of fundamental grounding which they both seek, probing with all their confused might to establish themselves however they can. Neither piece is very conventional or showy, rather, Bernstein's is sombre, jazzy, exhilirating, and inspiring, and Bolcom's is cynical, ironic, humorous, and mocking. Rather than the piano being a true solo instrument, both composers integrate it symphonically with the orchestra... Hamelin exhibits a real feel for the composers driving intentions, as well as its modern, jazzy, and rhythmic influences."