BERNS DIEIN TSE...tant elements of West Side Story, which is based ona conception of Jerome Robbins,...

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Transcript of BERNS DIEIN TSE...tant elements of West Side Story, which is based ona conception of Jerome Robbins,...

Page 1: BERNS DIEIN TSE...tant elements of West Side Story, which is based ona conception of Jerome Robbins, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen

BERNS DIEIN TSE

ROBERT. RUSSELL, BENNETT conducting the RCA Symphony Orchestra :

5 : 757: —<¢ ff se

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a oe ~~ - wo Please Bains

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=

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. | : oe em: "5 Sieh ‘ih; ane ‘esi: > tye tig ieee = :

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2 » rw 5

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Page 2: BERNS DIEIN TSE...tant elements of West Side Story, which is based ona conception of Jerome Robbins, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen

VICTROLA® STEREO RECORDS may be played on any modern phonograph with a lightweight tone arm. You will hear excellent sound reproduction on a mono player and full stereo sound on a stereo player.

Bernstein—Dances from WEST SIDE STORY

Stereo VICS-1491

Gershwin—PORGY AND BESS (A Symphonic Picture) Robert Russell Bennett conducting the RCA Symphony Orchestra

There is a vivid demonstration of American dra- ‘matic music in these orchestral recordings from the scores of Porgy and Bess and West Side Story. The former, first produced in 1936, is designated asa folk opera. The latter, which opened in September 1957, is characterized in the house program simply as “A New Musical.” However, the appeal of Porgy and Bess is much wider than that of most operas, folk or otherwise, and that of West Side Story extends far beyond the boundaries ordinarily indicated by the noun “musical” (or even by the adjective of the same name). Also, apart from the values of the music on stage, the Gershwin and Bernstein scores have had continuing careers of their own. In this album we hear excerpts from both works, with the orchestral treatments substantially as they appear in the ori- ginal scorings. The sound is remarkable—as written, as played, as reproduced. In many senses, this is the

sound of success!

The Jets and the Sharks, rival gangs on the West Side of New York City, and their friends are impor-

tant elements of West Side Story, which is based ona conception of Jerome Robbins, with book by Arthur

Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by

Stephen Sondheim. The story is one of neighbor-

hood clashes and romance, and the activities of the

youthful Jets and Sharks are both expressed and

preluded, in many instances, by dance patterns. It

is the dance element in the score that Mr. Bennett has emphasized in his choice of the present selec- tions, which might be characterized as a concert dance suite.

The Prologue serves as an introduction to the gang groups. The music has something expressively vital and yet furtive about it. The Dance Hall se- quence comprises several designs, among them a

blues, a bit of pasodoble, a mambo and a cha-cha

(the Maria Cha-Cha, named for the heroine).

Cool bears the instruction “solid and boppy” and

maintains that mood jauntily through the vanish- ing conclusion. Listeners who insist that all musical

indications must be written in traditional termi- nology are advised that the closing measures are marked dim. sempre. The Rumble is the gang fight

that ends the first act of West Side Story, developing into a vicious brawl that subsides only with the ap- proach of the police, the curtain falling as a chime

begins to strike the hour.

Ballet is built about a song, Somewhere, sung by

the lovers, Maria and Tony. The vocal elements are

played in this recording by a viola and a cello, and

this translation of voices to instruments is the only

editing done to the West Side Story orchestrations,

which were written by Mr. Bernstein with Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. (Incidentally, this is the

only viola music in any performance of West Side Story items, the original instrumentation not in-

cluding this member of the string family.) Ballet

ranges through a variety of moods, from the charm-

ingly lyrical to a dazzlingly nightmarish section.

Robert Russell Bennett’s concert arrangement of

music from Porgy and Bess was commissioned by

Fritz Reiner, who conducted the premiere of this

symphonic picture with the Pittsburgh Symphony

on February 5, 1943, and introduced it to New York

at Philharmonic Symphony concerts a few weeks later. It is now a staple of the orchestral repertoire.

Mr. Bennett recalls a post-luncheon conference in

Pittsburgh at which Dr. Reiner specified excerpts to

be included in the symphonic setting, the order of

the extracts and the general orchestral treatment.

The result pleased all involved, the audience being

happily involved, also. The program notes for the

first New York hearing quoted Mr. Bennett as saying

that he had “been careful to do what I knew—after many years of association with Gershwin—Gershwin would like as a symphonic version of his opera.”

The contribution of Mr. Bennett to this com-

position consists chiefly of short thematic passages which blend individual numbers, many of them established favorites, into a single continuity, along

with the adaptation of vocal lines for instruments

and the arranging of a concert finale. The orchestra-

tion, he points out, remains almost entirely Gersh-

win’s own, as he wrote it for the opera. Perhaps it

may be added that the completed symphonic story

is a tribute to the memory of a friend and colleague.

The opera Porgy and Bess is based on the play

Porgy by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, the opera

text being by Du Bose Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

The symphonic story makes no attempt to outline a

plot, but it has the effect of a narrative, even though

no story is actually being told. The sequence of the

music is: 1. Scene in Catfish Row (notice the ped- dlers’ calls!); 2. Act III Opening; 3. Act I Opening;

4. Summertime; 5. I Got Plenty of Nothin’; 6. Storm

music; 7. Bess, You Is My Woman Now; 8. The

Picnic Party; 9. There’s a Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon

for New York; 10. It Ain’t Necessarily So; 11. Finale:

I’m on My Way.

When you play these recordings you have opera, ballet, theater and all manner of drama—all played in music which is hugely satisfying on its own terms.

—Rosert A. SIMON

Other Victrola® recordings you will enjoy:

Bizet: “Carmen” for Orchestra MortontGoutd, Conductor = 530.n VICS-1445

Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite - Gershwin: An American in Paris Arthur Fiedler/ Boston POPs ...........+00..s000000+. VICS-1423

Offenbach: ‘‘Orpheus in Hades” and Other Favorites Arthur Fiedler / Boston Pops. .22...c0ssics ese VICS-1466

Rimsky-Korsakoff: Scheherazade MorionsGould,Gonductor nar ee VICS-1444

Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra Fritz Reiner/ Chicago Symphony ......-..2.....s0e000000 VICS-1265

Ravel: Bolero; La Valse - Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call) - Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun Charles Munch/Boston Symphony ..........00000000000--. VICS-1323

TC TFT eee

Library of Congress Card Numbers 70-751138 and 73-751139 apply to this recording. Cover art based on a photo by Fred Fehl

Timings: Side 1—23:32 * Side 2—24:34 (ASCAP)

TMK(S) ® by RCA Corporation

© 1959, RCA Records, New York, N.Y. © Printed in U.S.A.

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