COMPOSERS: Bernstein
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Trouble in Tahiti; Facsimile
PERFORMER: Nancy Williams, Julian Patrick, Antonia Butler, Michael Clarke, Mark Brown; Columbia Wind Ensemble, New York PO/Leonard Bernstein
CATALOGUE NO: SMK 60969 ADD Reissue (1966)
Bernstein's 1952 exploration of a dysfunctional marriage contains much personal payback that is well covered in Humphrey Burton's biography of the composer. More importantly, it boasts a wealth of fine music in both the tenderly lyrical and rip-roaring, high-energy veins that make it immediately recognisable and, for me, constantly surprising that it isn't better known. The wife's tour-de-force 'What a Movie' is as exhilarating (and funny) as anything in On The Town or Candide and the poignant number which speaks of a 'quiet place' (the title, of course, of the 1980s opera in which Bernstein felt compelled to revisit the material) is a genuine tear-jerker. Performances are as idiomatic as you could want and the remastered sound appropriately upfront. Highly recommended. David Wilkins
Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti; Facsimile
Bernstein's 1952 exploration of a dysfunctional marriage contains much personal payback that is well covered in Humphrey Burton's biography of the composer. More importantly, it boasts a wealth of fine music in both the tenderly lyrical and rip-roaring, high-energy veins that make it immediately recognisable and, for me, constantly surprising that it isn't better known.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:17 pm