Customer Reviews

Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 ("Kaddish"); Chichester Psalms

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony is a powerful mass reflected on a Jewish background. With both the composer who is a Jewish American, and the first Cathloic president John F. Kennedy, whom Bernstein dedicated the music to after the tragic assisination, being pious believers of heritage, it's partly fit to empasize and create this "requiem" based on the pure Jewish heritage.

Bernstein's Kaddish is an incredibly powerful piece. Although it's hard to understand the Jewish words sung by the choir, the music itself shows its emotions of savagry, pain, and lament, and to top it off, the narrating voice of the music, played by Bernstin's wife, is more than enough to give importance to the "deep sense of kinship and loss that Bernstein felt" after the president had died. The words can show how remorseful Bernstein, and his wife, must have been.

Regardless of the mediocre technology of digital recording on this performance, this music is a definite buy for those who want anything about Bernstein, or wants to give into an American Tragedy. I don't care how great other performances may be; Bernstein's performance is enough for me.

On the other hand, Chichester Psalms, like the Kaddish Symphony, has no specific story, being based, this time, on Psalms 2, 23, 100, 108, 131, and 133. The first movement is joyous, the second movement is a sort of a 'hymn' sung by a male solo high as a boy would sing, and the third movement closes peacefully. I was especially moved by the third movement. The melancholy sounds of the strings in the beginning of the movement reminded me of the grim, dark lifestyles during the Jewish Halocaust, even though the subject might not have been intended in the music. I can consider the words and the sentiment in the movement to be a song of resettlement after the Nazi's attempted genocide of the Jews.

This performance with the New York Phil too, despite its recording technology, is absolutly unmatched. The only other recording I would listen is the one Bernstein performed with the Isreal Phil on Grammophon during his later years of conducting. By noticing the recognizable use of energy of Bernstein's youthful earlier performance, though, I would recommened this performance than the latter.

Generally, the two pieces are magnificently performed, showing how great Bernstein was. Unless you want really cle-e-e-an recordings, you won't be dissapointed.

I was not alive when President Kennedy was asassinated, but the dramatic lyrics of the Kaddish helps me to understand and appreciate the tragedy in a way I have never felt. Likewise, The Chichester Psalms are done extremely well. I would recomend this cd to anyone that can appreciate good music. It is truly pure heaven.

Although at first listen this piece is full of screeching and wailing, it is definitively Bernstein. The syncopated rhythms, odd time signatures, nods to American popular, blues and jazz idioms, as well as the explosive dynamics of this piece make it a fascinating listen. WHat I didn't like about this particular recording, led by the Maestro himself, is that one cannot understand much of the text. It is mushily inarticulated. The orchestra, however, is superb, especially the percussion, and the dynamics on this recording are well differentiated. The boy soprano in the 2nd movement(emulating boy David with his harp)sings gorgeously, but one can't understand a word of the Hebrew text of the 23rd Psalm, too bad.If only Bernstein had paid as much attention to the choir as he did to the orchestra, this would be a fabulous recording of a distinctive work.

Over the years I have shared the Kaddish Symphony with many friends and students. They are always impressed with and deeply moved by this work. Integral to the performance of this music is the spellbinding speaking/acting of Felicia Montealegre and the sensitive singing of Jennie Tourel. The recording of the revised version of this work with the male speaker was a total disappointment to me. I did not know until this moment that my old LP (which is now cracked!) is no longer necessary. I'm ordering this one at once. Paired with the "Psalms" this is a wonderful reissue.

This CD has Bernstein's two major works written during the '60s, both pieces that dabble somewhat with 12-tone and "modernist" techniques but end up as tonal Bernstein. Both compositions also share the common thread of being (more or less) prayers for peace. Most all of Bernstein's serious music is critically dismissed for (at least to me) inexplicable reasons, and these two works show a composer at his best. Kaddish, dedicated to JFK, was later heavily revised, but it's a treat to hear Felicia Bernstein (the composer's wife) as the narrator and listen to the maestro's original ideas for the piece. Chichester Psalms can well be considered LB's masterpiece; it's an affirmation of original tonality, celebrating the Psalms. It's one of the most melodic, rhythmic, beautiful things to come out of this century and Lenny's genius is on full display. With Kosovo, Littleton and all that's happened just this year, the final prayer for peace is just as applicable now as it was during Vietnam.

This recording is a digital remastering of the two works, as originally recorded and issued on Columbia records. I listened to my old, now broken-down vinyl copies again and again, and am very pleased to have the works on CD. The performances are stunning and authoritative; the singing and the playing, exquisite; and the music, electrifyingly dramatic. This album is well worth owning!

I actually performed this when I was in high school. I have never heard anything as hauntingly beautiful as the Chichester Psalms. I highly, highly recommend it. The complexity of the harmony and beauty of the words make this well worth your time.

It's a piece that most Americans probably haven't heard (it's in Hebrew and the orchestrations are a bit challenging), but it's well worth it.

I have memorized all 3 movements of the Chichester Psalms in three weeks. I love this cd!

This is NOT a complete recording of the Chichester Psalms. I downloaded it for the Chichester Psalms, and the "Chichester Psalms" track is nowhere near the length of the full three-movement piece. I love, love, love Bernstein but am annoyed that the title is incomplete and misleading.