Leonard Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Performed by the New York Philharmonic.
The first music I ever heard performed by an orchestra was “America” from “West Side Story” by the SNO at the Kelvin Hall. I was a kid, I was in tears of beauty and the excitement of the brass and percussion. Made A Big Impact. Will always have a soft spot for WSS and Leonard Bernstein.
Saw the beautifully restored 50th anniversary version at the GFT not long ago and it was absolutely fabulous to see it on the big screen for the first time. 50 years since it was first released and in my own city youngsters today are still dying in knife-crime incidents in Glasgow gang fights, seemed as though the story of the film hadn’t dated at all. I cry buckets (again) at that long section with Maria at the end, ah, gad, excruciating in a beautiful way.
Leonard Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (performed by the New York Philharmonic)
The musical West Side Story was composed principally in the late 50s but in early 1961, Bernstein assembled portions of its score into the Symphonic Dances, overseeing the orchestration for this version as it was carried out by Sid Ramin & Irwin Kostal.
Leonard Bernstein, Philharmonic Hall, New York, 1968 by Arnold Newman
