[.ca] Clar Cto Salon Mexico

From Amazon.com:
There has never been a better interpreter of Copland's music than Leonard Bernstein. Lenny's affection for--and understanding of--Copland and his music was matched by a unique physical ability to get the feeling of the music across as a conductor; in essence, he became the music when he conducted it, something Copland himself wasn't capable of. As a consequence, Bernstein's accounts of Copland's music speak with a convincing accent and special authority. That's certainly the case with these performances, which date from the last year of Bernstein's life and find him reunited with his old band, the New York Philharmonic. The bookends are the Music for the Theatre, from 1925, and Connotations for Orchestra, commissioned by Bernstein and the Philharmonic for the opening of their new home at Lincoln Center in 1962. Both are impressively done, as is El Salón México, one of the most rousing and colorful of Copland's orchestral essays. A different Copland emerges in the Clarinet Concerto, which was composed for Benny Goodman in 1947 and fashioned with a lapidary touch. The Philharmonic's principal clarinet, Stanley Drucker, steps easily into the solo role, playing with great sensitivity in the pensive opening movement--which, with Lenny on the podium, sounds very slow and full of tenderness, though perhaps a bit too poignant--and showing plenty of agility in the concerto's finale, where Latin and jazz elements come into play along with the high notes that were one of Goodman's specialties. --Ted Libbey

THE BEST OF STANLEY DRUCKER AND AARON COPLAND:
If you are a Copland fan then this CD is for you...couldn't find a better clarinet soloist as Stanley Drucker, our world's top Clarinetist. He can make you laugh, cry, and tap along while he amazes you with his musical abilities. This is THE Clarinet Concerto of the 20th Century! With Berstein at the head of the orchestra, Drucker is in his element of music when paired with Copland.

Biggest and best conglomeration of American musical talent.:
This recording is taken from the final concerts Leonard Bernstein gave with the New York Philharmonic in October 1989, so it is a very historical bit of musical documentation as well as a fine reading of great American music. Bernstein and Copland had a long history together, and some of LB's greatest performances were of Copland works (Appalachian Spring, Piano Concerto, et al.). This disc is no exception; it's a very lovely recounting of some of the most important music of the 20th Century. "El Salon Mexico" is given a vibrant reading to start out, one that I might suggest as being almost definitive. The first part of the Clarinet Concerto is slower than some interpretations, but beautiful all the same. The second movement is where Stanley Drucker, Lenny and friends pull out all the stops for the raucous ending. The "Music for Theater" is conversely snappy and restful, a better reading (I'd say) than the mid-60s one done by the same orchestra and conductor. Finally "Connotations", one of Copland's last great works, is given a neat run-through by the ensemble it was written for. From its opening rim-shots to the final, ear-splitting chords, "Connotations" is quite an accomplishment for a composer whose name is most often associated with softer, more "open" tonality. This is a great CD (in the truest sense of the word), and a glorious way for America's greatest conductor to end his career with one of America's greatest orchestras.

• El Salon Mexico
• Concerto For Clarinet And String Orchestra, With Harp And Piano: Slowly & Expressively
• Concerto For Clarinet And String Orchestra, With Harp And Piano: Rather fast
• Music For The Theatre: I. Prologue
• Music For The Theatre: II. Dance
• Music For The Theatre: III. Interlude
• Music For The Theatre: IV. Burlesque
• Music For The Theatre: V. Epilogue
• Connotations For Orchestra