Leonard Bernstein conducts Schumann and Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein conducted regularly in Munich from the 1980s onwards. It was then that he learned to appreciate and love the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in particular. In October 1976, Bernstein appeared with an all-Beethoven programme, and in 1983 he began a series of annual concerts with the orchestra. In November of that year, he rehearsed Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony and his own Divertimento (1980), which were performed in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. This BR-KLASSIK CD presents the live recording of that concert event.

Bernstein commendably championed Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony – a work from 1845 that was repeatedly perceived as still immature and in need of improvement, and which Schumann himself confessed to having written in poor health. The critic Joachim Kaiser picked up on both facts in his concert review for the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “So what did Bernstein do differently to silence this scholarly talk, at least for all those who were lucky enough to listen to his Schumann? (…) Bernstein believed not only in Schumann’s melodies – not difficult in itself – but also, and fervently, in the work’s great symphonic developmental arcs. And because he was able to inspire the musicians of the superbly organised Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in such a natural, free and yet highly differentiated way, the power of Schumann emerged!”

Bernstein’s Divertimento, composed in 1980 for the 100^th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, consists of eight miniatures developed from the semitone B-C. It begins with a fanfare and progresses through a waltz, a mazurka, a samba and a blues to a Radetzky-like march. The music is jazz-like, full of happy syncopation, unusual time signatures and dance-like verve. Bernstein also draws on memories of his first concerts – popular programmes that he attended as a child with his father in Boston’s Symphony Hall.

BR-KLASSIK CD 900226

Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C major, op. 61
Leonard Bernstein: Divertimento for Orchestra

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Leonard Bernstein conductor

Live recording: Munich, Herkulessaal der Residenz, 10./11.11.1983

Total Time: 56’34 min.