麻豆约拍

Total Immersion Leonard Bernstein: to mark the centenary of the composer and conductor the 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican with conductor David Charles Abell in Songfest, plus the Serenade with violinist Vadim Gluzman.

Recorded at the Barbican Hall London on Saturday 27th January 2018
Presented by Andrew McGregor

Bernstein: Candide Overture; Serenade*

8.00pm
INTERVAL

8.20pm
Bernstein: Songfest#

Vadim Gluzman (violin)*
Sophia Burgos (soprano)#
Nicky Spence (tenor)#
J'Nai Bridges (mezzo-soprano)#
Fleur Barron (alto)#
Nmon Ford (baritone)#
Brandon Cedel (bass)#
麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra
David Charles Abell (conductor)

To mark the composer's centenary year, three very different faces of Leonard Bernstein in one concert. The overture to his opera Candide shows not just his virtuosity with the orchestra but his wit and knowledge of bel canto opera too - it's one of his most sparkling scores.
The Serenade, a philosophical reflection, is his violin concerto in all but name and has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Songfest, which Bernstein himself conducted at the 1988 麻豆约拍 Proms, is an orchestral song-cycle for six soloists and orchestra. It celebrates many of the things closest to his heart in a 13 beautifully chosen poems, ranging from Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe to Langston Hughes, June Jordan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gertrude Stein and EE Cummings. David Charles Abell, who worked with Bernstein during the 1980s, takes up the baton.