Searing, red-hot. More electric than the one Bernstein did with the New York Phil (on Sony). Could it be that his one and only time with this orchestra in Berlin, the former seat of anti-Semitic horror, was the subtext and that the players were giving their all for a Jewish conductor and, yes, a Jewish composer?

At the time he made this recording, Bernstein considered it the culmination of his work with the Vienna Philharmonic. One can hear why: the delicate finesse of a complete orchestral string section playing music originally written for only four players is phenomenal. (And, besides, I wrote the album notes.)

You have to buy an expensive five-volume package of historic broadcasts by the New York Philharmonic's to get this, but it's well worth it. This performance belies the myth that LB was unsympathetic to music of the Second Viennese School.

Bernstein, the consummate theater man, led (and preserved) far too few repertoire operas. You can count them on the fingers of one hand: Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Falstaff (delicious!), Tristan and Isolde--and this glorious document, which helped to remind the Viennese of their lost traditions.

LB believed in the original versions and never tampered with them, as have so many other conductors. His belief in the rightness of the orchestration is here for all to hear.

An early LP transferred to CD, but fascinating for its mix of the sacred and the profane.

The perfect music for long, sensuous weekends in countryside forests and pastures.

Bernstein / New York Philharmonic
DG 429234

Two cups of 'tschai' (Russian for 'tea') with literary sweeteners.

No one, but no one plays the Copland Sonata with so much insight. So why didn't LB also record Copland's Piano Variations, his so-called 'party piece'?

Fireworks, blazing brass, and 105 (perhaps more?) musicians playing as one.

Not successful on stage, this is haunting on disc. Obviously, you won't be distracted by the mise-en-scene, so you'll be able to concentrate only on the music. Superbly written for the voice, but perhaps over-orchestrated.

Roz Russell is a hoot as a zoot suiter! More spontaneous than the TV remake.

I much prefer Barbara Cook and Co. to any of the later versions.

Now if only the original Broadway cast of "West Side Story" (Lawrence, Rivera, Kert et al) could hook up with the orchestra of the so-called opera cast version. That would be an album to behold!

As for 'On the Town,' I look forward to the new Broadway production with the reworked, spiffy orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin. But, in the meantime, you might want to try DG's recording conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Swings like a jam session. While I prefer Simon Rattle's recording (no longer in print), you may want to try Bernstein's own version with the Vienna Philharmonic.

I am not crazy about LB's Candide Overture with the NY Phil. It's too frenetic. Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the forest for the trees. And Zinman delivers.

LB sometimes bemoaned the fact that others did not record his music because they figured: why bother. They were correct in this instance.

I consider this Bernstein's shining masterpiece, a perfect blend of intellect and emotion. I do wish, however, that Jonathan Sheffer's recent outing with the EOS Orchestra could be preserved.

It was hard to choose between this and the previous version with The New York Philharmonic, but these are the performances currently in print.