Discover the genius of Bernstein on stage and in the concert hall with music from Candide and West Side Story, and his Age of Anxiety symphony.
For most of us, Leonard Bernstein’s genius lives on the stage – in the dazzling optimism of his music for Candide and the urban cool of West Side Story.
But there’s another side to Lenny: the “serious” composer who wanted to write the Great American Symphony. So how did he go? The Age of Anxiety gives a clue: it’s called a symphony but it looks like a piano concerto and its narrative structure is set by Auden’s poem.
This is a symphony that encompasses a quest for identity and the glitter of the jazz age. Lenny was no ordinary musician, and in this concert David Robertson gives us the best of all possible Bernstein.
BERNSTEIN
Candide: Overture and Suite
The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No.2)
West Side Story: Suite for voices and orchestra
David Robertson conductor
Orli Shaham piano and a cast of singers
Pre-concert talk by Robert Murray at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer.