Leonard Bernstein - Serenade, William Schuman Violin Concerto / American Classics / Robert McDuffie - Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra - Leonard Slatkin / Emi Classics

Audio CD 2008

STEREO / DDD

UPC 5099920661120

MADE IN THE EU

TOTAL TIME: 64:02

William Schuman: Violin Concerto. Leonard Bernstein: Serenade for Violin, Strings and Percussion (Robert McDuffie, violin; St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, cond.; EMI Angel).

These two violin concerti rank very high, not only in their respective composers` outputs, but in the American repertory generally; both,

interestingly enough, have Isaac Stern as their musical godfather.

Schuman`s twice-revised concerto (1959) is undoubtedly a masterpiece to rank with his Third Symphony, one that reconciles his driving, muscular manner with a vein of serene lyricism; its first appearance on CD should bring it the wider recognition it deserves.

Bernstein wrote few more endearing concert works than this 1954 Serenade, with its now-jazzy, now-lyrical musings on Plato`s ''Symposium.'' McDuffie is consistently slower than Gidon Kremer in his DG recording under the composer`s direction, and I find the latter performance not only tighter but more characterful.

Similarly, McDuffie and Slatkin, good as they are in the Schuman concerto, must take a back seat to Paul Zukofsky and Michael Tilson Thomas, whose intensely felt collaboration with the Boston Symphony on a long-deleted DG black disc really should be restored to the catalogue. Still, since it`s unlikely that that recording (which also held a superb performance of Walter Piston`s Second Symphony) will soon be reissued, collectors should not hesitate to acquire the new one. The EMI recording is low-level, the soloist rather too closely miked in relation to the orchestra. (Reviewed on CD.)

Tracklist:

1. Concerto for Violin & Orchestra: I. Allegro risoluto - Molto tranquillo - Tempo primo - Cadenza - Agitato, fervente
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Richard Holmes/Robert McDuffie
    
2. Concerto for Violin & Orchestra: II. Introdozione (Adagio Quasi cadenza) - Presto leggiero - Allegretto - Adagretto - Poco a poco accelerando al allegro vivo
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Richard Holmes/Robert McDuffie
    
3. Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp & Percussion. (After Plato's "Symposium"): I. Phaedrus: Pausanias (Lento - Allegro marcato)
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/John Sant'Ambrogio/Robert McDuffie
 
4. Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp & Percussion. (After Plato's "Symposium"): II. Aristophanes (Allegretto)
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/John Sant'Ambrogio/Robert McDuffie
 
5. Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp & Percussion. (After Plato's "Symposium"): III. Eryximachus (Presto)
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/John Sant'Ambrogio/Robert McDuffie
   
6. Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp & Percussion. (After Plato's "Symposium"): IV. Agathon (Adagio)
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/John Sant'Ambrogio/Robert McDuffie
 
7. Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp & Percussion. (After Plato's "Symposium"): V. Socrates: Alcibiades (Molto tenuto - Adagio - Allegro molto vivace)
by Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/John Sant'Ambrogio/Robert McDuffie

Robert McDuffie violin

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Leonard Slatkin