Bernstein
West Side Stories: The Making of a Classic, BBC TwoTuesday, 27 December 2016
The last time BBC TV headed over to West Side Story, it landed itself with a contradiction. Christopher Swann’s 1985 fly-on-the-wall documentary The Making of West Side Story – about Leonard Bernstein recording his celebrated score with a cast of... Read more... |
Marni Nixon: 'It ended up being totally my voice'Monday, 25 July 2016
Singin’ in the Rain made much of those people in the movies whose work you don’t know you know. Set at the dawn of the talkies, it told of a star of the silent screen with the voice of a foghorn who relied on the angelic pipes of a trained singer... Read more... |
Liu, RLPO, Iorio, Philharmonic Hall, LiverpoolSunday, 13 March 2016
A double dose of Einaudi may not be the best programming idea. A world premiere in the first half and then a UK premiere in the second part of the concert was, perhaps, overegging the musical recipe. But add to that some Respighi and some Bernstein... Read more... |
Benedetti, LSO, Gaffigan, BarbicanSaturday, 07 November 2015
A full house for a premiere performance: Wynton Marsalis bucks the trend in contemporary music. He’s an established name, more for his jazz than his classical work. But in recent years he has produced a substantial body of orchestral music, so the... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bernstein, Fučík, Wartime ConsolationsSaturday, 19 September 2015
Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 'Kaddish' Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop (Naxos)Technically this disc is superb. Claire Bloom's narration is beautifully assimilated into the sound picture. The orchestral playing is razor-sharp, the chorus... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bernstein, Carl Davis, Bruce LevingstonSaturday, 06 June 2015
Bernstein: On The Town (2014 Broadway Production) (PS Classics)West Side Story is a masterpiece, but its earnestness can become a little overbearing, so I retain a sneaky preference for Leonard Bernstein's 1944 musical On The Town. You may think you... Read more... |
Ceremony of Innocence/The Age of Anxiety/Aeternum, Royal BalletSaturday, 08 November 2014
English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet have staged programmes of war pieces already this year; now here's the Royal Ballet bringing up the rear in its own inimitable (and rather oblique) fashion with a triple bill that picks up on and... Read more... |
Forbidden Broadway, Vaudeville TheatreTuesday, 16 September 2014
“It takes a star to parody one,” wrote theartsdesk’s Edward Seckerson, nailing the essence of this immortal spoof-fest’s last incarnation at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Star quality was assured given the presence of Damian Humbley, peerless in... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bernstein, Donizetti, StravinskyFriday, 13 June 2014
Bernstein: West Side Story Alexandra Silber, Cheyenne Jackson, San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas (SFS Media)Bernstein's West Side Story has been patchily served on disc. The original cast version has the freshest vocals but is... Read more... |
Candide, Menier Chocolate FactoryTuesday, 03 December 2013
How do you solve a problem like...no, not Maria, Candide? Musicals are loved for their scores – and Leonard Bernstein’s one for this really is a cracker – but they’re held together by their books, i.e. the script/dramatic context that makes... Read more... |
The Swingle Singers, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Alsop, Royal Festival HallSaturday, 26 October 2013
Anyone who saw or attended this year’s Last Night of the Proms will know that Marin Alsop is a born communicator with a wry sense of humour. Another of those youthful crowds The Rest is Noise festival keeps attracting gave her a hero’s welcome last... Read more... |
Secret Voices of Hollywood, BBC FourMonday, 30 September 2013
They called Rita Moreno the triple threat – she could dance, act and sing. But even her spirited performance as Anita in West Side Story could not satisfy United Artists: the doomy low notes of "A Boy Like That" were considered out of her range, and... Read more... |
