The Best Leonard Bernstein Recordings

[@martinturner2309]

Really appreciate your calm and informative manner Gil , these channels are very important to me as I love classical music and spend all my time listening and trying to learn. As an autistic person I need to only buy one composers music at a time so can watch all your videos on Sibelius which is what I am collecting at present. Thankyou for all your hard work and information , I appreciate it.

[@brtherjohn]

To play Schumann well, it takes "a Bernstein", with his infectious and engaging push-and-pull of the composer's textures and rhythms to bring all off convincingly! By the way, I own both the Sony and DG cycles and they are excellent.

[@libor4128]

Great video, many thanks. May I add a few Bernstein favs of mine? Tchaikovsky 6, Copland 3, Ives 2, Mendelssohn 3, all on DGG. I also adore his recording of the orchestral version of two Beethoven’s late string quartets with Vienna Phil - apparently the recording he valued most of all those he made in Vienna. I saw him do Beethoven 9 with Czech Phil in Prague, just a few months before he died. It was incredibly grand and beautiful. What a genius!

[@williamdirks5805]

Some good choices, especially the Sibelius 5th.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I'll weigh in on this: -Anything Ives and Copland -All Schumann symphonies, both NYPO and DG-era remakes -The eccentric and slow Dvorak 9 and Tchaikovsky 6; controversial selections, not for all tastes but I like them (BUT his DG Tchaik 5 is undoubtedly bad) -Ravel Concerto in G with Orchestre National de France in 1975. Lenny is far from perfect in the piano part but the drive is infectious. -Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 with NYPO -Wagner Tristan und Isolde, though honestly I hardly ever listen to it; still it has to be recommended -Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue/American in Paris, 1959, though by now there's plenty of equal competition so that these are now alternatives. -Any Mahler with NYPO or later on DG. Some people make exceptions but I'm less critical. -Milhaud, La Création Du Monde & Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit w/Orchestre National de France, 1977. (though I like these works to be a little sharper and swifter, these are good "big band" readings). -Beethoven Symphony No. 3, NYPO (as textbook and solid an Eroica as you're going to find). -Bizet Symphony and Prokofiev Sy No. 1, NYPO (I think these have been surpassed by others but I have fondness for them due to early exposure). -Sibelius 5, kudos on that. I like all of Lenny's Sibelius (more or less) whether 1960s or 1980s. -Roy Harris and William Schuman (American) Symphonies Nos. 3 on DG w/ NYPO. -Any disc of Bernstein doing sniglets like his Candide Overture or other self-penned works . -There's a really nifty disc of complete Bernstein piano solo works played by pianist James Tocco with the approval of Bernstein on the Pro-Arte label from the 1980s that deserves an honorable mention and is highly recommended. This disc has long been a fave of mine. -Most other common recommendations such as Shostakovich 5 or Elgar Enigma or Stravinsky's Rite are worth hearing but Bernstein's are not my favorite recordings of these works. -I find his Haydn, Mozart and Brahms to be a mixed bag (in earlier works, HIP has made me prefer slightly less luxurious conceptions) and Lenny is usually not my go-to choice. Always listen and decide for yourselves, obviously.

[@leestamm3187]

@@OuterGalaxyLounge That Tocco Bernstein piano works collection is definitely nifty. Aided by the inimitable sound of that Bösendorfer he plays them on.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

@@leestamm3187 Wonderful instrument. Nice sound quality too.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I also meant to mention the Berlioz Harold in Italy w/Wm Lincer, viola, NYPO 1960s.

[@petertaplin4365]

I'd also add the blazing Shostakovich 5th with the New York Phil from 1959. Astonishing!

[@leestamm3187]

Good recommendations. I generally prefer his NYPO Mahler (the 3rd in particular) to the later recordings, excepting that great Vienna 6th that you noted. As an addendum, fans of Mahler lieder may enjoy the wonderful 1972 recordings accompanying Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

Good recs.

[@EE-gg3xf]

Lenny’s 2nd recording of Mahler’s 5th with the VPO on DG is also far superior to his first with the NYPO

[@marcomarco6123]

Hi, just curious, what is your stereo system?

[@GilZilkha]

Klipsch

[@leestamm3187]

@@GilZilkha I might have known. :)