BaL 8.03.14 - Bernstein: West Side Story

[Don Petter]

I think it's fine as a one-off, but the way Radio 3 has been moving in recent years, we might yet be served with a regular supply of lesser musicals.

Camelot, he we come.

[waldo]

I think it's fine as a one-off, but the way Radio 3 has been moving in recent years, we might yet be served with a regular supply of lesser musicals.

And the presenter will probably spend half their allotted time trying to convince us that West Side Story is really an opera in disguise.........

[Lordgeous]

[QUOTE=Black Swan;381271]

This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

I totally agree. This is why for me the original cast recording is my favorite.

Agreed!

[Nick Armstrong]

And the presenter will probably spend half their allotted time trying to convince us that West Side Story is really an opera in disguise.........

It's not as if this Seckerson chap has form with Bernstein or anything...

[BBMmk2]

It's not as if this Seckerson chap has form with Bernstein or anything...

I was thinking that too. Thanks Cali!! :)

[richardfinegold]

Yes a very short list it will be interesting. What the choice will be. I have:

Kiri Te Kanawa, Joes Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne, Bernstein, which I feel is a bit to Operatic.

Marnie Nixon, Rita Moreno/Betty Wand, Jimmy Bryant, Johnny Green (Original soundtrack recording), which is probably my favorite.

Jazz Version:

Oscar Peterson Trio

The Bernstein led version with Carreras and Kiri is to Operatic, but it is fascinating, and the dances are excitingly led.
I usually listen to the Original Cast Album.

[Bryn]

I was taken to a London production when I was 7 or 8 years old. I recall my mother being appalled by the intensity of the kitchen department's contribution. My first recording of music from the show was:



I doubt it will be included for consideration.

Marni Nixon (who premiered Boulez's 2nd Improvisation on Mallarmé in America) and co. get my vote.

[Nick Armstrong]

I am listening to CD Review now. I have to say the first 2 discs didn't impress me and obviously not Andrew either. It makes one wonder why they were selected for CD Review.

Bloody 'orrible, weren't they?!!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The John Owen Edwards recording is a fine one - I have it - but I wasn't aware of its continuing availablity. But as Amazon still stocks it, I'm adding it to the list, more in hope than anything.
This recording has the benefits of good quality singing without the misfit casting of the DG Bernstein.

[Bryn]

The John Owen Edwards recording is a fine one - I have it - but I wasn't aware of its continuing availablity. But as Amazon still stocks it, I'm adding it to the list, more in hope than anything.
This recording has the benefits of good quality singing without the misfit casting of the DG Bernstein.

Cheap used copy duly ordered.

[cincinnatus]

This is not the first time there has been a BAL on West Side Story. In 1999 the John Owen Edwards' version was the recommended recording. And it is not the only musical to be considered by BAL - in 2001 Kiss Me Kate was looked at with John McGlinn's EMI recording chosen.

I really appreciated FHG's comments on why a BAL on WSS can be justified. My concern is the smallness of the field especially as some of EA's list can probably be ruled out. Can i also take this rare posting by me to say thank you to EA for his weekly list.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I really appreciated FHG's comments on why a BAL on WSS can be justified. My concern is the smallness of the field especially as some of EA's list can probably be ruled out.

Yes - this would be my concern, too. (And thank you for your kind comment.)

Can i also take this rare posting by me to say thank you to EA for his weekly list.

- not quite King Olaf, but I bet he was relieved when he compiled this week's list after the Beethoven #7 task.

[Roehre]

Apart from the "Classical or not" status (where is Rhapsody in Blue on that shape-shifting map?) the suggested similarity with Lord Lloyd Banker's score is grotesquely unfair. WSS is very clearly by a composer who could also produce the Jeremiah Symphony, The Age of Anxiety, the Serenade for Violin and Orchestra after Plato's "Symposium" - the Harvard and Curtis graduand whose doctoral thesis was on the potential of the American Musical Theatre as a medium for serious Musical activity - and the man who would go on to write and present the Young People's Concerts and the Norton Lectures.

WSS owes as much to the Western Classical traditions as it does to Broadway: the three-note motif that represents the Sharks in the Prelude, permutated to become that of "Ma-ri-a" (with octave displacement first presented in Something's Coming at the words "Who knows?"), permutated even further to become the subject of the "fugue" in Cool. The way Something's Coming "ends" with a dominant minor ninth chord on D (but in fourth inversion) - defying the tonality of D major and pulling it towards G major, a key which is only reached at the Cha-Cha during the Dance at the Gym - the moment when Tony first sees Maria and the "something good" that he knew was "coming" has "arrived" (the Cha-cha itself, of course, using a version of the melody of Maria, a number which we haven't yet). This is use of Music(al) thinking that only someone steeped in the Music of Bach and Brahms and Species Counterpoint could pull off so successfully.

and not only is steeped in this tradition, but is not afraid to use "classical" motivs derived from e.g. Brahms (cello sonata 2) or Mahler (10th) either.

As far a a favourite recording is concerned, Bernstein's "operatic" approach on DGG doesn't really appeal to me.
I prefer the soundtrack recording, how awfully sung it in some places is.
It's a pity Miles Davis hasn't made an arrangement à la his Porgy & Bess

[french frank]

WSS owes as much to the Western Classical traditions as it does to Broadway: the three-note motif that represents the Sharks in the Prelude, permutated to become that of "Ma-ri-a" (with octave displacement first presented in Something's Coming at the words "Who knows?"), permutated even further to become the subject of the "fugue" in Cool. The way Something's Coming "ends" with a dominant minor ninth chord on D (but in fourth inversion) - defying the tonality of D major and pulling it towards G major, a key which is only reached at the Cha-Cha during the Dance at the Gym - the moment when Tony first sees Maria and the "something good" that he knew was "coming" has "arrived" (the Cha-cha itself, of course, using a version of the melody of Maria, a number which we haven't yet). This is use of Music(al) thinking that only someone steeped in the Music of Bach and Brahms and Species Counterpoint could pull off so successfully.

Though I would venture to suggest that a programme (or short series) explaining such technicalities might be of more use than simply talking about the small number of recorded versions - more benefit to listeners and perhaps even to Bernstein?

[Roehre]

Though I would venture to suggest that a programme (or short series) explaining such technicalities might be of more use than simply talking about the small number of recorded versions - more benefit to listeners and perhaps even to Bernstein?