Search - Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler :: Leonard Bernstein: A Tribute

A fitting 'Tribute'

Jonathan Blumhofer | Chicago | 11/10/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a beautiful memorial to a great musician, containing some of his greatest, most inspired performances. The "Symphonic Dances" never sounded better, and his "Chichester Psalms" is as energetic as ever. Gershwin's "Rhapsody" is taken at a fine speed (even though they cut one section of the orchestral playing) and Bernstein's playing represents him extremely honorably as a performer. But he is best known as a conductor and particularly as a champion of Mahler and Ives, which makes the final two tracks the most touching. The Adagietto from Mahler 5 was the piece he owned; he conducted it at RFK's televised funeral (Solti led the CSO in it at the concert immediately proceeding LB's death) and it's quite fitting that his first recording of it with the NYPO is given hear. It's such a beautiful reading. And Ives' "Unanswered Question" was the great American piece Bernstein adopted, even conducting it on his tour of the Soviet Union in 1959. A haunting piece to close out the disc with, but a very appropriate one no less."