In celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centenary (1918-2018), this recording features the composer’s complete solo piano works, plus, as special bonus, the witty and charming “Bridal Suite” for piano four-hands, heard here in its first complete recording. In addition to the better known “Anniversaries”, “Sonata for the Piano”, and “Touches”, Andrew Cooperstock has included Leonard Bernstein’s very first published work, the highly effective transcription of Aaron Copland’s orchestral tone poem “El Salón México”, together with the “Four Sabras”, “Non troppo presto”, and “Music for the Dance, No. II”. The recording encompasses music from the composer's teenage years through his last piano composition, “Touches”, and includes music Bernstein dedicated to friends and colleagues including Lukas Foss, Sergei Koussevitzky, William Schuman, William Kapell, and Stephen Sondheim. The distinguished pianist Andrew Cooperstock is Professor of Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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REVIEWS:
Superbly played by Andrew Cooperstock and with Bridge’s usual fine production standards this is a very fine collection of rarely heard works by one of the 20th century’s key musical figures.
– MusicWeb International
Bridal Suite (1960) was written to mark the marriage of the lyricist Adolph Green, one of his collaborators on On the Town and Wonderful Town, and the actress Phyllis Newman. The opening Prelude is a hoot, blending Ave Maria with ‘Just in time’ and Bach’s Prelude in C major. The collection is scored for piano four hands, which Cooperstock, brilliant and sensitive throughout the set, manages deftly.
