Album

Anyone who loves Leonard Bernstein will have to hear every performance in this six-disc, all-Beethoven program. Included herein is a blazing Missa Solemnis, a pair of searing late String Quartet arrangements, a host of bracing overtures, two famous complete live performances plus an elegiac Seventh Symphony from Bernstein's last concert. Because of the range of orchestras and recording dates, perhaps the most interesting part of these performances for devoted Bernstein fans will be the ways in which the different orchestras respond to the conductor and the ways the conductor reacts to the orchestras.

At first, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks seems uncertain how to react in the 1976 concert for Amnesty International. Its attacks are rough in the Leonore No. 3 Overture and the support is erratic in the following Piano Concerto No. 4 with Claudio Arrau. But by the finale of the concluding Fifth Symphony, Bernstein and the Bavarians are totally together, charging forward with irresistible gusto. The Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, on the other hand, acts like kids let out of school in the live 1978 recording of the Missa Solemnis. Under Bernstein's ebullient direction, the enthusiasm of its playing added to the star power of the soloists and the stamina of the Dutch chorus create a performance that fairly glows with energy.

The overtures and string quartet arrangements recorded between 1977 and 1989 outline the relationship between Bernstein and the Wiener Philharmoniker. Though tentative at the start, as the Viennese musicians learned to read Bernstein's beat and interpret his gestures, their performances grew in sympathy and strength until they reached the final artistic symbiosis in the hushed intensity of Lento assai e cantante tranquillo of the last quartet.

The Ninth included here is a special case. Recorded on Christmas Day 1989 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus plus members of the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Orchestre de Paris as well as members of the Rundfunkchor Berlin and the Dresden Philharmonic Children's Chorus, this Ninth was given in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. For the occasion, Bernstein changed the Ode to Joy to an Ode to Freedom by switching the word "Freude" with "Freiheit." Although this alteration marks the recording as a one-off, the ecstatic release of the performance renders criticism silent.

The Seventh is an even more special case. Performed by the Boston Symphony at the Tangelwood Music Center less than two months before the conductor's death, the performance is understandably slow and lethargic. But the obvious warmth and affection of the Boston musicians make any complaints seem trivial. Though the quality of the recordings varies with time and location, Deutsche Grammophon's overall sound is typically clean, bright, and deep.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Leonora Overture No.2, Op.72a Work Recorded 1976 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Conductor
1	Leonora Overture No.2, Op.72a	14:25			$2.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58 Work Recorded 1976 35:46 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Claudio Arrau Piano
2	1.Allegro moderato	20:00			$3.49
3	2.Andante con moto	5:39			$0.99
4	3.Rondo: Vivace	10:07			$1.99
CD 2 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.5 in C-, Op.67 Work Recorded 1976 35:01 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Conductor
1	1.Allegro con brio	8:05			$1.49
2	2.Andante con moto	10:25			$1.99
3	3.Scherzo: Allegro	5:17			$0.99
4	4.Allegro	11:14			$1.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92 Work Recorded 1990 45:11 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Boston Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
5	1.Poco sostenuto. Vivace	16:20			$2.99
6	2.Allegretto	9:48			$1.49
7	3.Scherzo: Presto	10:25			$1.99
8	4.Finale: Allegro con brio	8:38			$1.49
CD 3 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43 (ballet)...Act 1 Work Recorded 1978 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Overture: Adagio. Allegro molto con brio	5:00			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Egmont (incidental music, after Goethe's play), Op.84 Work Recorded 1981 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
2	1.Overture: Sostenuto, ma non troppo. Allegro	8:58			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Coriolan Overture, Op.62 Work Recorded 1981 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
3	Coriolan Overture, Op.62	8:57			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer King Stephen (incidental music), Op.117 Work Recorded 1978 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
4	1.Overture	6:51			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Fidelio Overture, Op.72c Work Recorded 1978 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
5	Fidelio Overture, Op.72c	7:14			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Leonore Overture No.3 in C, Op.72b Work Recorded 1978 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
6	Leonore Overture No.3 in C, Op.72b	15:07			$2.49
CD 4 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.14 in C#-, Op.131 Work Recorded 1977 45:52 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo	8:45			$1.49
2	2.Allegro molto vivace	3:14			$0.99
3	3.Allegro moderato	0:54			$0.49
4	4.Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile	17:15			$2.99
5	5.Presto	6:02			$0.99
6	6.Adagio quasi un poco andante	2:44			$0.99
7	7.Allegro	6:58			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.16 in F, Op.135 Work Recorded 1989 31:24 Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
8	1.Allegretto	7:16			$1.49
9	2.Vivace	3:28			$0.99
10	3.Lento assai e cantante tranquillo	10:01			$1.99
11	4.Der schwer gefasste Entschluß: Grave ma non troppo tratto. Allegro	10:39			$1.99
CD 5 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Mass in D, Op.123 (a4, 'Missa Solemnis') Work Recorded 1978 1:21:05 Kurt Moll Bass, René Kollo Tenor, Bernard Bartelink Organ, Hilversum Radio Symphony Chorus Chorus/Choir, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra, Edda Moser Soprano, Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Hanna Schwarz Contralto, Meindert Boekel Chorus/Choir Director, Herman Krebbers Violin
1	1a.Kyrie (Assai sostenuto): Kyrie eleison 1	3:53			$0.99
2	1b.Kyrie (Assai sostenuto): Christe eleison	2:01			$0.99
3	1c.Kyrie (Assai sostenuto): Kyrie eleison 2	4:21			$0.99
4	2a.Gloria (Allegro vivace): Gloria in excelsis Deo	4:48			$0.99
5	2b.Gloria (Allegro vivace): Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis	6:28			$0.99
6	2c.Gloria (Allegro vivace): Quoniam tu solus sanctus	1:13			$0.49
7	2d.Gloria (Allegro vivace): In gloria Dei Patris. Amen	2:55			$0.99
8	2e.Gloria (Allegro vivace): Amen, Amen, in gloria Dei Patris. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus	2:22			$0.99
9	3a.Credo (Allegro ma non troppo): Credo in unum Deum	4:08			$0.99
10	3.Credo (Allegro ma non troppo)	5:57			$0.99
11	3c.Credo (Allegro ma non troppo): Et ascendit in coelum	5:20			$0.99
12	3d.Credo (Allegro ma non troppo): Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen	1:41			$0.49
13	3e.Credo (Allegro ma non troppo): Amen, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen	3:13			$0.99
14	4a.Sanctus (Adagio): Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus, Deus Sabaoth	2:57			$0.99
15	4b.Sanctus (Adagio): Pleni sunt coeli et terra	1:06			$0.49
16	4c.Sanctus (Adagio): Praeludium	2:13			$0.99
17	4d.Sanctus (Adagio): Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini	10:34			$1.99
18	5a.Agnus Dei (Adagio): Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi	6:52			$0.99
19	5b.Agnus Dei (Adagio): Dona nobis pacem	2:10			$0.99
20	5c.Agnus Dei (Adagio): Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi	3:00			$0.99
21	5d.Agnus Dei (Presto): Dona nobis pacem 2	3:53			$0.99
CD 6 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.9 in D-, Op.125 ('Choral') Work Recorded 1989 1:17:59 New York Philharmonic (members of) Orchestra, Leningrad Kirov Theater Orchestra (members of) Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Children's Chorus Chorus/Choir, Sarah Walker Mezzo-Soprano, Rundfunkchor Berlin (Members of) Chorus/Choir, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Klaus Konig Tenor, Wolfgang Seeliger Children's Choirmaster, Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Bavarian Radio Chorus Chorus/Choir, London Symphony Orchestra (members of) Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris (members of) Orchestra, Jan-Hendrik Rootering Bass, June Anderson Soprano
1	1.Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso	18:04			$2.99
2	2.Scherzo: Molto vivace. Presto	10:44			$1.99
3	3.Adagio molto e cantabile	20:14			$3.49
4	4.Presto. Allegro assai ('Ode to Joy'; complete)	28:57			$3.99