Customer Reviews

Leonard Bernstein: The Americans: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon

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This is yet another superb box set of Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon recordings, emphasizing his strong affinity and interest in the work of such great American composers like Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and William Schuman. The best recordings are those with The New York Philharmonic of Charles Ives's orchestral works and Aaron Copland's Third Symphony, "Quiet City" suite for horn and strings, and the El Salon de Mexico ballet suite. But I also admire Bernstein's recordings with the Los Angeles Philharmonic of Gershwin's great classical/jazz orchestral works like "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris", and the recordings of several other Copland scores, most notably, "Appalachian Spring". Like virtually all of the other recordings in Deutsche Grammophon's "Collector's Edition" series of Leonard Bernstein, these were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in the 1980s, often during live concert performances held in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, and New York City (Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall). While some may prefer Bernstein's classic recordings of Copland and Ives for CBS Masterworks (now Sony) in the late 1950s and 1960s, these have the benefit of being digital recordings made by Deutsche Grammophon's then state-0f-the-art recording processes. Without question, anyone who is a fan of Copland's, Gershwin's or Ives' scores and of Leonard Bernstein will surely cherish this fine 6 CD box set.

I miss Leonard Bernstein. Lenny could generate excitement for music like few others (Stokowski could) and his advocacy for American music propelled awareness for our great composers. Of course, there have been advocates of American music since Lenny's passion and much of it has been quite good, but no one touches Bernstein's enthusiasm, consummate skill and color palette.

This collection, unfortunately oop, is essential and a dream come true. It is available, at last look, on Amazon.co.uk and is heartily recommended.

One can easily visualize the great American landscapes while absorbed in Lenny's edifying performances of Copland, Harris, Schuman, Rorem, Barber, etc. Those landscapes encompass the traditional West (Copland), the modern west (Harris), rural America (Schuman), dissonant America (Ives) and Jewish America (Bloch). This is Americana at its most beautifully diverse.

You will not find a better performance of Copland's "Appalachian Spring" or "Symphony No. 3" which, for once, sounds like a masterpiece. Lenny recorded most of these works with the New York Philharmonic many years earlier on the Sony label, but, with the exception of Roy Harris' monumental and influential "Symphony 3" he tops those earlier performances (The DG Harris is still superb). If only Lenny were alive to be championing new, home grown music today. Of the DG Complete Recording sets, this is the most valuable, and that is saying quite a bit (The Mahler set is just as essential and still has yet to be topped in sheer musical intuition and passion).

Lose yourself.

I am a long time subscriber to the LA Phil, and I attend 4 or 5 concerts a year. However, I am no expert on Classical music. But to me, this bargain set of American music conducted by Bernstein is excellent. I have enjoyed each disc on multiple listens. I would highly recommend it.

Sweet Amazon, how we love you! But you MUST put the composers' names with their works!! How else can anyone tell who composed this particular "Symphony No. 1", for instance. In the meanwhile, let me say how I appreciate your new product. What a wonderful idea! Spiff it up, and then, Good Job!!