The Whole Music Experience

Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu Bernstein, Gershwin, Novacek, D’Rivera American Music for Clarinet and Piano Harmonia Mundi The clarinet either rubs people the wrong way or in the right hands, enchants its listeners. The reed instrument finds itself in the right hands with Jon Manasse when he pairs up with pianist John Nakamatsu, performing compositions by Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, John Novacek and Paquito d’Rivera. On the recording, American Music for Clarinet and Piano , listeners (even those who don’t enjoy the clarinet), find themselves immersed in a diverse range of musical genres, from blues to nuevo tango, jazz, and of course, American classical. Bernstein and Gershwin of course need no introduction unless you’re reading this review from a remote part of the world. But outside of Pan-Latin jazz, Paquito d’Rivera might be new to listeners’ ears (though hardly new to mine), and John Novacek (the youngest composer on the recording, in his 40s), actually waxes...

London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet LSO I discovered Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet while I was researching one of the composer’s piano concertos for an article. I was immediately captivated by the composer’s musical themes, his edgy orchestration and accessibility. London Symphony Orchestra’s (led by Valery Gergiev) live recording of Romeo and Juliet marks also my second listen to this phenomenal work. The live performance does the incidental music justice, though I would still love to see dancers performing the ballet to this score. When I listen to classical works I have this tendency to search for influences or for possible disciples (informal or formal) of the composer. The question in my mind while I listened to this version of the ballet score revolved around Leonard Bernstein’s score to Westside Story . As you know, Westside Story based itself on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well, though only ...