Shostakovich 7-Ending- Chicago Symphony Orchestra-Leonard Bernstein

[cobaltsls]

Chicago brass in their heyday......plus Bernstein drawing everthing out of them and rest of orchestra.....doen't get much better ....being a trumpet player I of course gear towards

Bud Herseth....but all involved in this recording are immortals in my book! thanks for posting!

[025thebear]

God Charlie Vernon is so freaking epic!

[patrahilevlampiev]

0:52 - 1:02 - tuba of course.



[thesandycan]

Trombone, Trumpet, Trumpet, Trombone

[bnaveenk16]

Okay, I play violin, but I have trouble differentiating the sound of brass instruments. What is the main brass instrument playing from 0:54-1:02? 1:03-1:26? 2:02-2:27? 2:36-3:10?

Could someone let me know? I really want to know these differences so that next time I know what particular brass instrument is playing in another score. 

[025thebear]

@bnaveenk16 The low brass ostinato underneath the high brass is bass trombone and tuba. in 0:52 to 1:02. Beefy, I know. The high brass searing notes that come in on beat 3 (I believe they are 2 sixteenths followed by a half note or something like that) are french horns being extremely epic. They can play very dark, and also very bright. The other brass component that you hear (quarter note followed by a half note going up chromatically) is trumpets and tenor trombones. Helpful?

[jltrbn]

Oh, and the story about Jacobs is true!

[jltrbn]

Yes, this was definitely a live recording. I was in the trombone section. And yes that is Charlie that you hear at that incredible entrance. Playing under Bernstein with the CSO remains one of the highlights of my musical career. One of the most incredible things about this recording is the sound that Bernstein got from the string section. It was truly otherworldly, specially in the slow movement. Swiftybone, I sat by your dad!!! We were right behind Gail Williams' bell. AMAZING.

[ilmaestro18]

@jltrbn: Do you happen to have any inside information as to why this was Leonard Bernstein's only appearance with the Chicago Symphony? Was there a specific reason why Sir Georg Solti didn't invite him to conduct earlier?

[jtp225]

I was present when this music was played and recorded live at Orchestra Hall that warm summer night, June 21st, 1988. It remains the most memorable experience I have ever had at a classical music performance. The ovation that followed was as thunderous as this music and lasted a long while! Maestro Bernstein, spent and crying, hugged nearly everyone in the orchestra-- everyone knew something special has just occurred. The brass were absolutely amazing and unbelievably loud.

[Maazel456]

@jtp225 My dad, bass trombonist, had such a blast playing this concert :)

[SaxAlberca]

DVD?????

[ilmaestro18]

This was, I think, the only time that Leonard Bernstein conducted the Chicago Symphony. What was the reason that he never conducted them earlier? Was there tension between Solti and Bernstein?

[cobaltsls]

@ilmaestro18

same reason Lenny only recorded with Berlin Phil just once.....record label politics....

Solti had Decca w/CSO locked up and Karajan and Lenny were fighting it out at DG

pity really....just think of what have might have been if they just let the music speak for itself :(

[ilmaestro18]

@cobaltsls: That definitely explains why he got to record with the Chicago Symphony only once. But I'm still curious as to why he never guest-conducted the Chicago Symphony before this concert, and why Solti, who premiered and frequently performed a ton of American music, never once conducted a Bernstein piece during his tenure there.

[SomethingOOReviews]

I'm a Euphonium player, that double bass-bone, this recording makes me want to sell my Euphonium and be a Bass Trombonist full time......

[efmusic5]

Supposedly the tuba player was so old in this recording, that he could not see Bernstein; he was playing entirely by ear. Can someone confirm this?

[Maazel456]

@efmusic5 I told my dad this, and he just laughed slightly and replied "When Bernstein got up to give hugs to all the principal players, he exclamed to Jacobs (the tubist) "You're too good, you can't go!" Jacobs replied "But I can't see anymore, I have to." Arnold Jacobs did have sight problems, and he was quite old, but he was not blind and he most definitely did not play by ear.

[efmusic5]

@Maazel456 Ok. Still over-the-top incredible.

[bene951]

@Maazel456 but certainly charlie vernon must have been on this recording too...

[Maazel456]

@bene951 He was, this piece requires 6 trombones.

[swiftybone]

Is your dad Charlie Vernon or Harold van Schaik....? I believe that is who is on this recording (which is not live).

[MrGustavthedog]

@swiftybone Yo Dillon dis recording is live dood

[swiftybone]

@MrGustavthedog Where's the applause? I've never heard a live recording without applause, I guess you could be right but I find that strange. I've also talked someone who was on this recording and they didn't mention it being live, but I guess that doesn't mean it's not true. I still doubt it though.

[worldviolist]

@swiftybone Most of Bernstein's last recordings are live, and none of them that I've heard have applause at the end.

[dvorak20012000]

@swiftybone I own this recording, and it does claim on the back (in very small print), to be a live recording. But you're right, it's odd that they don't include applause for a concert album, and I don't hear any audience noise at any time throughout the piece.

[Maazel456]

@swiftybone My father is Jeff Taylor. My dad was a substitute bass trombonist, although Charlie Vernon was one of his teachers.. (Along with Edward Kleinhammer, Arnold Jacobs..)

[ronhardin]

Please tell you Dad it was this recording that made me sell my tenor trombone and never look back. I had to buy a second copy of this CD, as I wore out this exact clip on my first copy.

[Maazel456]

My father was the bass trombonist on this recording.. he said it was a great experience to have Leonard Bernstein as a conductor.

[trumpetman923]

@Maazel456

I bet your Dad must have loved to play 0:55