Opening Night at Carnegie Hall 2008
Performers: San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas; with Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Christine Ebersole
Program: West Side Story: Symphonic Dances; Gee Officer Krupke; A Quiet Place & Trouble in Tahiti: selections; On the Town: I Can Cook Too; Ya Got Me; Mass: Meditation No. 1; Songfest: To What You Said…; Fancy Free: Danzon
Studio: SFS Media [sfsymphony.org]
Video: 16:9 color
Audio: DD 5.1, PCM Stereo
No regional coding
Extras: Michael Tilson Thomas interviews Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw
Length: 84:13
Rating: *****
Taped live in Carnegie Hall, this is a superb program of music and information about the genius of Leonard Bernstein. While the selections of music were not all what I would have chosen (no Age of Anxiety, Candide or Serenade) I was introduced to selections from two of his chamber operas which were new to me. Tilson Thomas is most appropriate for his role here since he was a protégé of Bernstein’s and comes from a similar New York Jewish background. The guest soloists are all uniformly fine, with Christine Ebersole a standout as the plucky singer of two tunes from the musical On the Town. The staging and performance of Gee Officer Krupke seems even more fun than it was in the film version of West Side Story.
The longest work is the opening Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and though I didn’t get it out to compare, I think it surpasses the classic DGG LP with Ozawa conducting the San Francisco Symphony, in addition to exciting hi-def video coverage. The shots include some extreme closeups that are very effective, yet you never feel “why are we zeroing in on this single instrument when I’m hearing so many?” The introductions from the stage by Tilson Thomas are just right, and in the everyone-joins-in finale he is even one of the vocalists from the podium! Altogether a magnificent concert event that is worth a place in every music video collection.
– John Sunier
