{"id":120,"date":"2018-07-08T06:51:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T20:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/?p=120"},"modified":"2018-07-08T06:51:26","modified_gmt":"2018-07-07T20:51:26","slug":"the-best-of-bernstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/the-best-of-bernstein\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best of Bernstein"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>W.A. Symphony Orchestra<\/h2>\n<h2>Perth Concert Hall<\/h2>\n<h3>reviewed by Neville Cohn<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"121\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/the-best-of-bernstein\/leonard-bernstein_5\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"4000,2854\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Leonard Bernstein_5\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5-1024x731.jpg\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-121\" src=\"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5-300x214.jpg\" alt=\"Leonard Bernstein\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leonard-Bernstein_5-1024x731.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>If, as a result of unavoidable circumstances, \u00a0I\u2019d come very late to the WASO\u2019s concert at the weekend and managed to listen to only the last work on the program, I\u2019d have gone home well satisfied. Leonard Bernstein\u2019s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story was a sonically incandescent offering with irresistible rhythms, thrilling responses from the brass players and with those in the WASO\u2019s bustling \u201ckitchen department\u201d in particular. delivering a sizzlingly effective conclusion to the evening. This was the orchestra at its focussed best.<\/p>\n<p>This was particularly welcome because the evening\u2019s curtainraiser \u2013 the overture to Candide \u2013 was disappointingly routine. Three Dance Episodes from On the Town came across in a more spirited fashion. The brass section was splendidly effective in The Great Lover &#8211; and a beautifully considered woodwind introduction to Lonely Town, that splendid pas de deux, fell pleasingly on the ear\u00a0 Here, hushed notes from Brent Grapes on trumpet were spot-on as were contributions from flute and oboe. And I very much liked the verve with which Times Square 1944 came across.<\/p>\n<p>Peak of the first half was a thrillingly intense and focussed account of a suite from Bernstein\u2019s music for the 1954 movie On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando. Like the movie, the music is the very essence of threatened and actual physical violence. Its undercurrents, in turn threatening and sinister, reinforced by emphatic drumming, make for hackle-raising listening. Conductor Benjamin Northey and the WASO sounded as one here.<\/p>\n<p>During the intermission, I overheard an elderly man stating emphatically that he did not approve of a Jew setting psalms for use in a Christian church. I wondered whether he\u2019d also have been upset had he been told that Franz Schubert, a Catholic, was commissioned by the cantor of a synagogue in Vienna to make a choral setting of Psalm 92 from the Old Testament!<\/p>\n<p>Countertenor Nicholas Tolputt sang Psalm 23 in Bernstein\u2019s Chichester Psalms, bringing to this much loved text an almost eerie beauty. It was sung in the original Hebrew.\u00a0 An in-form WASO Chorus sang beautifully, bringing a gentle, lyrical \u00a0&#8211; and reverential &#8211; quality to the setting of Psalm 131, especially while singing the words which in English read:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSurely I have calmed<\/p>\n<p>And quieted myself,<\/p>\n<p>As a child that is weaned of his mother&#8230;&#8230;.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And in \u201cWhy do the nations rage\u201d from Psalm 2, both chorus and orchestra brought point and meaning to the powerful text. But rather more care might have been expended on the pronunciation of the Hebrew text.\u00a0 And, surely, a WASO audience which almost invariably applauds only at appropriate moments, could have done better and restrained itself from clapping loudly and intrusively between sections of the work. It well-intentioned response to a fine performance effectively demolished the mood so painstakingly built up during each section of the work.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>W.A. Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn &nbsp; If, as a result of unavoidable circumstances, \u00a0I\u2019d come very late to the WASO\u2019s concert at the weekend and managed to listen to only the last work on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[180,18,17,8],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-performance","tag-bernstein","tag-chon","tag-cohn","tag-waso"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Yv33-1W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":0},"title":"W.A. Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"October 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn \u00a0 Vaughan Williams\u2019 Fifth Symphony is seldom heard in this neck of the woods. Prior to the weekend, its most recent performance here was as far back as 1999 when Vernon Handley presided over events. It\u2019s a very welcome return. In less than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/concert-814336__340-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wasos-festival-of-chamber-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":1},"title":"WASO\u2019s Festival of Chamber Music","author":"reviewer","date":"March 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Government House Ballroom reviewed by Neville Cohn Even in so zany and improbable a treatment of Bach originals as Luther Henderson\u2019s arrangements for brass ensemble of some of the Master\u2019s Preludes and Fugues from the \u201c48\u201d, \u00a0the sheer power and universality of the great composer\u2019s musical ideas are wondrously apparent.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":2},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn At the weekend, a thrilling concerto performance that brought many in the audience to their feet - and a dance score given magical treatment that reached for, and touched, the stars - \u00a0were presented for concertgoers who filled almost every corner of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/a-night-in-vienna\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":3},"title":"A Night in Vienna","author":"reviewer","date":"July 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn A Night in Vienna was made memorable by Asher Fisch\u2019s gratifyingly meaningful direction as his forces, much on their musical toes, served up memorable moments from Richard Strauss\u2019 Der Rosenkavalier. I savoured every moment of this magical music given point and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":4},"title":"W.A. Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"March 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall review by Neville Cohn \u00a0 I was surprised to read in the printed program that the WASO\u2019s performance at the weekend of Beethoven\u2019s Choral Fantasy was the first time it has been played since 1972. Perhaps one of the reasons for this near-half century absence from its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WA Symphony Orchestra","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newozartsreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/west-australian-symphony-orchestra-1-1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":225,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":120,"position":5},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"February 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn Over the decades, I have lost count of the number of times I\u2019ve listened to Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue. Many of these performances were impressive \u2013 but Shuan Hern Lee\u2019s account of the much loved Rhapsody was in a class of its own:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Live Performance&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lee","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}