Customer Reviews

Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc / Bernstein, New York PO

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pardon my shouting, but it's true. All the accolades this disc receives are warranted, and more. The playing on Appalachian Spring is pure, impassioned, eternal. No wonder Copland won the Pulitzer for it in 1945. It's just incredible. This recording of the Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo is DEFINITIVE. Every nuance and outburst of joyous energy in Buckaroo Holiday and Hoe Down is perfect. No one has done it better. And while Billy the Kid is "harder to mess up" in my opinion, I still haven't found a better reading of it than this one.

Just a couple of caveats, though. If you want the COMPLETE ballets for Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, and Billy the Kid, you will NOT find them here. These are the suites. For the complete Appalachian Spring (all 36 minutes in one track), I recommend Michael Tilson Thomas' version on a CD with the San Francisco Symphony called The Populist. And for complete versions of the other two, you need look no further than Leonard Slatkin's recordings with the St. Louis Symphony.

And then three more notes on the playing. The timpani player did an incredible job on this Bernstein Century recording; he consistently played the heck out the ample parts he got in all four pieces. This is one of the best features of the disc (I mean, you've gotta have good timpani for the Gun Battle in Billy the Kid, and here he does!)

Secondly, take particular note that the version of Fanfare for the Common Man is NOT the original. It is Copland's rescoring for his third symphony (which is also great in its own right). If you want the real original version, the best you can find features Copland himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, released on various other CDs on the Sony label, including a 36-minute "EP" called Aaron Copland Super Hits. If you do happen to buy that CD, note that it is mostly chopped up excerpts. However, the readings of El Salon Mexico and Fanfare make it worth the purchase price.

Thirdly and finally, I expected some sheer grandioso from the Variations on a Shaker Tune (Simple Gifts), which happens to be track seven on this recording. While Bernstein's reading is balanced and polished, this is the one place where he really should've played it up but didn't. Incidentally, Michael Tilson Thomas DOES play it up on his version of the complete ballet that I mentioned previously, really getting the low brass to ripple and rumble. It's very satisfying at high volume.

Please don't misconstrue these warnings to be negative. If you're getting a start in Copland's most popular repertoire, this Bernstein Century CD is the ONLY place to start. I just caution you that if you don't move on the other recordings as well, you are really missing the whole picture.

There are many recordings I have heard of these classic Copland works, conducted by such luminaries as Zubin Mehta, Donald Johanos, Morton Gould, even Eugene Ormandy. But none of these conductors knew the music of Aaron Copland better than his friend of 53 years, Leonard Bernstein, who Copland many times said conducted his music as if he had written it himself. No disc displays the tenderness and vivacity of Copland's Americana better than Bernstein and the Philharmonic's sensational performances of "Appalachian Spring," "Rodeo," and "Billy the Kid." These are works I know by heart, but it takes some doing for specific performances to make me emotional, and the fading last strains of "Appalachian" did it on my first listening test. The sound quality is top-notch, even for these recordings from 1959-1961. Look no further than Bernstein - who knew Copland better than anyone else - to deliver the finest recordings of these works ever. This is America at its most beautiful and exuberant. Do yourself a favor and start your collection of American music here.

I've owned this CD since before its rerelease as part of the "Bernstein Century" series and have always treasured it. There are who-knows-how-many Copland recordings out there and I can honestly say this is the best I've yet heard. Although my musical taste hasn't always gravitated toward this sort of music, there's an unmistakable sincerity in Copland that speaks to me as an American and a lover of both folk and art music... is there any moment in all classical music history quite like the inception of "The Gift to Be Simple" in Appalachian Spring? Copland is never sappy, and can be quite muscular and rhythmically charged as much as lyrical and folksy. And Bernstein, a composer in this American tradition himself (arguably in some repertoire a true disciple of Copland), is the right conductor for these pieces. I'm still amazed at what a strong and yet immmediately comprehensible piece "Billy the Kid" is, equal to Appalachian Spring... Rodeo is also a delight. If you don't already have this one, I'd pick it up for this very reasonable discounted price and check out some of the late piano repertoire of Copland while you're at it too. It's easy to see here why Copland is one of American Classical's enduring names in composition and Bernstein in conducting! Enjoy!

These recordings with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic are the definitive versions of these pieces. It doesn't get any better than this, excellent performances. An outstanding buy.

This is an essential cd for classical music lovers. Even by Copland's own admission, nobody conducted his music better than Bernstein, and this recording is a prime example. If you're looking for versions of these works, don't hesitate.

We are so pleased with not only the music, but the booklet comments on the lives of Berstein and Copland. Our only regret is that "Fanfare for the Common Man" was not complete. On the other hand, we are now looking for that particular piece.

At their best no more "American Music" than Mozart or Dvorak are "European Music", Copland's mid-century masterpieces find their lushest expression in Bernstein's recording.

Fanfare for the Common Man is today such a TV-sports section cliche that you have to listen carefully to appreciate it; Bernstein and his orchestra, playing in 1966, just let it rip. "Billy the Kid" and "Rodeo" both benefit from extraordinarily clear and precise renderings. Bernstein pushes too fast through the latter's "Hoe-Down", but the "Corral Nocturne" is a langurous delight.

But the real treasure of this album is, of course, Appalachian Spring. When at age sixteen I first heard the opening three minutes of the piece, I determined to hunt it down. When I heard the first two movements together, I cried. Nothing describes the United States' desire for innocence and its ambition for good as perfectly as the 27 minutes of Copland's Pulitzer Prize-winning score. And no-one has matched the playing of the New York Philharmonic that day in Manhattan in 1961.

These works have long been consigned to a sort of ghetto for "frontier pieces". They're far more than that.

I believe that for a person not to have this CD in their collection woujld be a sign that they just do not know what great music is.

How people can buy Britney Spears music, and not buy this, is beyond me.

Get it if you don't have it, and share the joy.

These pieces are now availible on SACD, and as great as the CD is, the SACD version is breathtaking. I have owned these pieces on LP and cassette in my youth, but these works really "open up" in multichannel SACD with an extremely wide dynamic range and soundstage. Lenny was a personal friend of Copland and was a great admirer of his works. The performances here show his love and respect for these works. I have heard other conductors, but none come close to the exciting interpretations given here. Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony come a close second...but these are the definitive interps. The SACD multichannel version really out classes the CD version...but, alas, it doesn't seem to be offered on Amazon!

This is by far the definitive recording of Copland's most popular works. Every work is extremely well played and held together, recorded during the days when Lenny's conducting was, though still a spectacle, much more communicative and clear then his later recordings.

The Billy the Kid and Rodeo suites are quite wonderful and magical. My personal favorite in this set is the Appalachian Spring. I always prefer the full ballet versions of most works in lieu of suite reductions but Copland's suite is one exception. Bernstein is at his absolute best at interpreting his good friend Copland mostly because they understood and had a great respect for one another. The playing is clean and clear, the strings very lush, the winds precise and very smooth sounding, the tempos are dead-on, everything is wonderfully shaped--it's as perfect as Copland had intended.

I highly reccommend this recording for it's preciseness, thoughtfulness, virtuosity, and beauty, elicited by the late-great Leonard Bernstein.