Legacy: Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein's Best
It's astonishing how easily a grainy black and white image can transport one back in time to a youth misspent watching countless hours of television. Thankfully in my case, that time included regular doses of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. While my generation was busy learning the intricacies of scales, intervals and symphonic development from Lenny, adult viewers across the pond were treated to a short but remarkable TV series titled "Symphonic Twilight". This disc derives from two of those 1966 BBC broadcasts.

The series was the brainchild of Humphrey Burton, then head of music and arts programming for the BBC. Burton went on to produce most (if not all) of Bernstein's videos and write a perceptive biography of the great man (Leonard Bernstein). Here, though, he seems somewhat mystified by the title Bernstein chose for his series. Citing Lenny's own three symphonies as Exhibit A, Burton...

Surprisingly stunning despite compromising sound.
Dated video quality. Sound very crude. Not a modern Bob Coles or Brian Large spectacular. All that is true BUT..... the performance is much more integrated and, oddly, in sync than the quadraphonic recording with the same orchestra 6/7 years later. That one, the second Rite recording by Bernstein, sort of falls apart in the end (a terribly ragged Sacrificial Dance) and the sonics are also compromised, but in a different way. The performance here is as white hot as the early New York Phil recording, his first, yet better played. Could it be the best Bernstein Le Sacre??? I think so. I was thrilled by it. Add to that a great Sibelius 5 and you have an essential purchase. Add to that the little talk with Burton and Bernstein as a bonus and you have a DVD that all Bernstein fans should have; additionally it's a DVD Bernstein naysayers should hear to perhaps reconsider the presumed conclusion that he was a "indulgent over the top interpreter with no objectivity whatsoever". The orchestra...

As Stravinsky said (of an earlier Bernstein performance): WOW!
The other reviewers beat me to it, so I'll just say that this Sibelius 5th far surpasses what Bernstein did with Vienna on the later DVD. No-- the sound isn't perfect. But get this while you can. You can sit around and hope, but stuff this good ain't never comin' round again.

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Les Sylphides / Coppelia / Giselle

Giselle is breathtaking. The absolute most beautiful ballet with Nureyev great but Fonteyn the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Gisselle is the absolute best. i wish I could have seen it live. Fonteyn floats. you'd swear she never touches the floor. Her arms float like the branches of a willow in the wind. She is absolutely the most exquiite dancer ever in this performance. Nureyev is always good but Fonteyn is magical.

Notable for early Giselle pairing of Fonteyn & Nureyev
Though this DVD mainly features ballerina Nadia Nerina in two Sadlers Wells/Royal Ballet 1950s productions, its highlight is the rare 1962 footage of Margot Fonteyn and her recently defected, new (and historic) partner the young Rudolf Nureyev, in Act II from Giselle. This June 1962 Giselle was filmed only four months after their 2/62 debut Giselle performance, which stirred the world's passions for this remarkable pair. Though a brief clip from Act II, it is beautifully danced, Fonteyn with her usual sure-footed, elegant grace partnered by an agile, coltish young Nureyev, whose pure talent is very evident in his leaping solo variations filled with perfect entrechats, rond de jambes, backward arches, spins and fabulous quick footwork. Fonteyn keeps time with him admirably, and at the very end we get closeups of her expressive face acting as the ultimate broken-hearted Giselle, blessing her love Albrecht back to life before lamentably leaving for the spirit world. The Nadia Nerina...

Of historical interest for better and worse
Production values mar both Les Sylphides and Coppelia. Rather than show them on stage or at least allowing us to see the dancing unimpeded, we get to watch through foliage and windows and from behind the cast. This is so counter-productive as to be infuriating when it isn't risible. At several moments in Sylphides, I was convinced the BBC had borrowed Brussels' Mannekin Pis for the occasion. This is every bit as bad as those videos of Maya who was allowed to dance in and out of camera range in Bolshoi productions of roughly the same period. We are also not allowed to watch dancing in favor of reaction shots, a lamentable trend which persists to this day. Coppelia even featured non-ballet dancers in favor of ethnic dancers. In Giselle, the Wilis are notable for their absence and this is inexcusable because it robs the dancing of its context. This is only for serious balletomanes not the general audience, as there are far better versions available.

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Legacy: Benjamin Britten

Mozart and night-music beautifully studied.
Mozart was one of Britten's heroes, a favourite when the composer had to perform as a virtuoso, and conduct: here we have a Mozart symphony, which he called 'the loveliest'. This black-and-white film of a 1964 performance is a glimpse into mid-20th century music-making at its finest, the camera focusing in on the orchestral playing of some famous figures as well as Britten's conducting style --- nuanced, clear, free of large dramatic gestures--- and the result is both subtle and exciting. This is contrasted with a colour film of Mendelssohn from 1970 when Britten was already ill with his mortal heart condition. He still coaxes his players into full, resonant romantic sound, his directions as decisive as ever, but the man is white with fatigue and less steady on his feet than before. The real prize, however, is the centerpiece, Britten's own 'little night-music', the Nocturne. Less than half an hour in length, the Nocturne is an exploration as much of the 'subtle and beautifully...





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