Leonard Bernstein unquestionably was one of the most astonishing and dazzling personalities in the world of classical music. He bestrode the musical scene in the second half of the 20th century like few others: Composer, conductor, pianist, educator; but it as a great communicator – of music and through music – that every facet of his life and legacy is bound together. He was a Renaissance man, a multifaceted genius, but it was his career as a composer that meant the very most to him. At the heart of DG’s Bernstein 100 project is Bernstein: Complete Works – The first complete edition of recordings of Bernstein’s published works, making available less familiar pieces such as his chamber music or his song cycles alongside West Side Story and the Chichester Psalms. It also includes a number of new recordings made expressly for this edition.Bernstein: The Complete Works celebrates him as a singular compositional voice of the 20th century, whose notes laid a path for composers in the 21st century. Was he a symphonic composer? A Broadway composer? A composer of operas? Film scores? Ballets? Chamber? Bernstein’s determination to write “his” music inspired new generations of composers to break free of academic constraints, inspiring them to compose using all the styles and genres that comprise our musical language. While Bernstein conducts many of the recordings in this set, he would be overjoyed to discover all the new recordings of his works by artists of later generations. With every passing year, his legacy grows stronger.• Leonard Bernstein’s complete published works collected together for the first time, including his music for ballet, opera and musicals, his incidental music, scores for film, orchestra and chamber ensembles, vocal scores and piano music• The Complete Works is as complete a set as it is currently possible to assemble• 100th Anniversary Edition assembled with the full support of the Leonard Bernstein Estate• 140-page book (in E/F/G) with extensive documentationHighlights:• Bernstein conducting Bernstein: including Symphonies 1-3 · Dybbuk: Suites 1 & 2 · Facsimile · Fancy Free · Candide · West Side Story · A Quiet Place · Songfest · and more• A number of new recordings, made expressly for this edition include:1. A recording of Mass with no less than three choirs and a line-up of no fewer than nineteen vocal soloists, and the Philadelphia Orchestra directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (this will also be released as a standalone album)2. American pianist Katie Mahan’s survey of his piano music, from the early Sonata (1938) through to Thirteen Anniversaries (1988)3. Chamber music for brass & wind ensembles with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra4. Variations on an Octatonic Scale with Lucie Horsch, recorder and Kian Soltani, cello.5. Songs with Angela Brower, mezzo-soprano and Katie Mahan, piano.• Live recordings include: Symphonies 1 & 2 · On the Waterfront · Prelude, Fugue and Riffs · Facsimile · Fancy Free · On The Town · A Quiet Place · A White House Cantata · Chichester Psalms · and moreThree DVDs:1. A video-taped live recording of Bernstein conducting Candide, drawn from two London Barbican performances in December 1989. Bernstein also gives an amusing and thoughtful five minute introduction to the work immediately before the video-taped performance and a short afterword2. The acclaimed behind-the-scenes story of the recording of West Side Story, with all its triumphs and tribulations3. An intimate documentary (1993) illustrating why Bernstein’s status as our most gifted and charismatic music communicator has yet to be challenged. With archival footage from every aspect and phase of his extraordinary career – as conductor, composer, pianist, teacher, and humanitarian
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