The first time I've heard Leonard Bernstein was as a conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
I especially loved the Peter and the Wolf.
He starts off with "Usually the conductor explains to the audience what each instrument represents, but you already know that, right?", or something like that. :)
Later on, I would listen to "West Side Story", and find out that he composes as well!
And it turns out, he was a composer first, and conductor second.
He can even play the Piano, so what more can you ask? :)
(Hint: He wasn't a very good singer.)
So anyways, this concert featured "Symphony No. 2" with pianist Benjamin Pasternack, "Slava!", and "Overture to Candide".
There were also a couple songs with Celena Shafer, not on the program.
Conductor Carl St. Clair is a protégé of Bernstein, so it makes perfect sense to position Bernstein in Carl's 25th anniversary concert series.
Symphony No. 2
This piece parallels with the poem by W. H. Auden.
The Prologue starts with two clarinets, a unique way to start a symphony.
Then there are fourteen variations (The Seven Ages and The Seven Stages), the final notes of the variation becomes the theme of the next variation.
The winds opening The Dirge may have represented Bernstein singing.
The Masque shows his jazz influence, and The Epilogue his Aaron Copland influence.
For an encore, Benjamin Pasternack played his arrangement of a piece from "On the Town".
Celena Shafer
Not on the program, she sang "A Little Bit in Love" from Wonderful Town, and "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide.
The concert concluded with the overture from "Candide" without Carl conducting, so the audience can imagine how it might be like if Bernstein was still there.
A recording of the night concert will be broadcast on KUSC on March 15 this year.
Listen to Alan Chapman's preview on SoundCloud.
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