Bernstein: West Side Story

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If the job of a 'crossover' record is to shatter preconceptions on both sides of any musical fence, then this is the greatest ever. Not all the aficionados of Broadway musicals are going to warm... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 10th Aug 1998
Catalogue No: 4571992
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 76 minutes

Bernstein: West Side Story

Work length1:16:28

$29.70

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Nina Bernstein (speaker), Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), Angelina Reaux (soprano), Marilyn Horne (mezzo-soprano), Kurt Ollmann (baritone), José Carreras (tenor), Alexander Bernstein (speaker), Stella Zambalis (mezzo-soprano), Stephen Bogardus (singer), Tatiana Troyanos (alto), Peter Thom (singer), Richard Harrell (singer), Todd Lester (singer), Marty Nelson (singer), Louise Edeiken (mezzo-soprano), Luise Edeiken (soprano), Tatiana Troyanos (mezzo-soprano), David Livingston (singer)
Leonard Bernstein Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein
Recorded: 1984-09-07
Recording Venue: RCA, Studio A, New York

I. Prologue

Track length4:07

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II. Jet Song

Track length3:12

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III. Something's Coming

Track length2:35

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: a. Blues

Track length1:46

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: b. Promenade

Track length0:27

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: c. Mambo

Track length2:22

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: d. Cha-Cha

Track length0:53

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: e. Meeting Scene

Track length1:26

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IV. The Dance at the Gym: f. Jump

Track length0:50

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V. Maria

Track length2:57

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VI. Tonight - Balcony Scene

Track length7:33

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VII. America

Track length4:49

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VIII. Cool

Track length4:40

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IX. One Hand, One Heart

Track length5:40

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X. Tonight (Ensemble)

Track length3:43

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XI. The Rumble

Track length3:03

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XII. I Feel Pretty

Track length3:25

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XIIIa. Ballet Sequence. Beginning

Track length1:05

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XIIIb. Transition to Scherzo

Track length0:37

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XIIIc. Scherzo

Track length1:31

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XIIId. Somewhere

Track length2:37

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XIIIe. Procession And Nightmare

Track length3:14

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XIV. Gee, Officer Krupke

Track length4:20

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XVa. A Boy Like That

Track length2:06

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XVb. I Have a Love

Track length3:29

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XVI. Taunting Scene

Track length1:25

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XVII. Finale

Track length2:36

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Reviews
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Reviews

2010

If the job of a 'crossover' record is to shatter preconceptions on both sides of any musical fence, then this is the greatest ever. Not all the aficionados of Broadway musicals are going to warm to de facto operatic treatment of West SideStory: not all opera-lovers or devotees of Bern- stein as star conductor are going to rate WestSide Story as an equivalent to opera. But any listener who keeps any sort of open mind, forgetting the constriction of barriers, must recognise this historic disc as superb entertainment and great music-making on every level, with an emotional impact closely akin to that of a Puccini opera. That of course is the doing of Leonard Bernstein as conductor as well as composer. It's astonishing that before this recording he had never conducted his most famous work.
Te Kanawa may not be a soprano you'd cast as Maria on stage, yet the beauty of the voice, its combination of richness, delicacy and purity, brings out the musical strengths of Bernstein's inspiration. Similarly, with Carreras as Tony, it's self-evident to point out how such a voice brings out the pure beauty of the big melodies like 'Maria' or 'Tonight', but even a sharp number like his first solo, 'Something's coming', with floated pianissimos and subtly graded crescendos allied to sharp rhythms, makes it more clearly a questionmark song, full of expectation, more than just a point number. Marilyn Horne is in glorious voice, while Tatiana Troyanos will surprise you as Anita with the way she could switch her naturally beautiful operatic voice into a New York throaty snarl.
Troyanos, it appears, was brought up in exactly the area of the West Side, where the story is supposed to be set, which makes her natural affinity with the idiom less surprising. Kurt Ollmann, American too, as Riff equally finds a very confident balance between the traditions of opera and those of the musical. Diction may not always be so clear as with less rich-toned singers, but Carreras manages a very passable American accent and Dame Kiri a creditable Spanish-American one.
The speed with which the piece moves is astounding, not just as superb entertainment but as a Shakespearean tragedy modernised and intensified.

2011 edition

the great vocal melodies are worthy of voices of the highest calibre...[Troyanos] spans the stylistic dichotomy to perfection in a superb portrayal of Anita. Moreover Bernstein's sons and daughter speak the dialogue most affectingly....the power of the music is greatly enhanced by the spectacularly wide dynamic range of the recording.

Bernstein: West Side Story

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