Leonard Bernstein - Fancy Free; Anniversaries for Orchestra (Marin Alsop)

Information

Composer: Leonard Bernstein

• Overture to Candide
• Fancy Free
• Anniversaries (orch. Garth Edwin Sunderland)
• Overture to Wonderful Town (arr. Charlie Harmon)

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra

Marin Alsop, conductor

Date: 2018

Label: Naxos

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Review

Marin Alsop plays Bernstein as well as Bernstein, and there can be no higher compliment than that. This version of the iconic ballet Fancy Free has all of the pizzazz that the composer himself brought to it, as well as that special, lyrical elegance that characterizes all of Bernstein’s best music. It’s amazing how fresh the piece still sounds–of it’s time (1944) for sure, but also perennially new and full of life. The Candide Overture too benefits from being played up to tempo, its madcap antics projected with unapologetic glee. Wonderful Town’s overture doesn’t get played often–it’s clearly a Broadway potpourri kind of piece, not really structured as an independent concert work. The ending, in particular, sort of just stops, but the tunes are, well, wonderful.

Over the years Bernstein wrote numerous “Anniversaries” for piano solo, little vignettes dedicated to friends and colleagues. The eleven pieces featured in this selection are typically eclectic in style and obviously Bernstein, but musically negligible. They run for a mere fifteen minutes, and blowing them up to orchestral size, even in Garth Sunderland’s capable instrumentation, only emphasizes their lack of substance. Here’s another case where the Bernstein Corp. has not necessarily been the best guardian of his posthumous reputation. Still, there’s absolutely nothing to quibble about as regards the performances or the vivid engineering, and Bernstein completists will probably enjoy hearing the music in these alternate arrangements.

— David Hurwitz

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Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the US to receive worldwide acclaim. His fame derived from his tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, his concerts with most of the world's leading orchestras, and his composition. As a composer he wrote in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and piano pieces. He also gave numerous television lectures on classical music.

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Marin Alsop (born 16 October 1956) is an American conductor best known as the first woman to lead a major American orchestra, serving as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2021. Alsop has also held leading posts with orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Brazil. Raised by musician parents, she trained as a violinist at Juilliard before turning to conducting, studying with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Renowned for championing American and contemporary music, she has earned numerous awards, including Gramophone's Artist of the Year (2003) and a MacArthur Fellowship.

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