Copland: Appalachian Spring; Rodeo; Billy the Kid; Fanfare for the Common Man

For his whole career, Bernstein was a devoted advocate for the music of Copland, and his friend until the composer's death. With his natural bent for the dramatic, Bernstein also gave more vivid and colorful performances of Copland's orchestral works than the composer himself. Curiously, none of the music on this collection is performed in its original version: we get the orchestral expansion (but with a scene cut) of Appalachian Spring, Copland's suites from Rodeo and Billy the Kid, and the revision of Fanfare for the Common Man after Copland had incorporated it into his Third Symphony. The performances of the latter three works have a rhythmic acuteness and dynamic breadth unequaled by most other conductors, much less by Copland's own recordings (though Copland's mono Appalachian Spring has many other merits to recommend it). The gunfight in Billy the Kid has never been more thrilling. The high drama Lenny brings to Appalachian Spring may be more nerve-wracking at a few points than some listeners will be prepared for, but there's no question it's the best of its kind. This edition of Fanfare doesn't stand on its own as well as the original, but Bernstein makes the best case for it. There's no better introduction to Copland's ballet music than this album.

With the possible exception of Sergey Koussevitsky, who introduced his music to the world, Aaron Copland had no greater supporter than Leonard Bernstein. More than any other conductor, Bernstein strenuously campaigned for Copland's work and generously helped secure the composer's enormous and lasting popularity. One may still find Bernstein's bravura interpretations less than satisfying, for they are brusque and a little hurried, and the New York Philharmonic is at times too scrappy and pugnacious, even for these rugged pieces of Americana. Yet the four dances from Rodeo, the suite from Billy the Kid, and Fanfare for the Common Man (extracted from the Symphony No. 3) are hard to imagine without some populist roughness around the edges, and any lack of subtlety is compensated by the performers' abundant enthusiasm. Nowhere is their gusto more apparent than in "Hoe-Down," one of the highlights of this disc. However, Appalachian Spring, a tender and evocative work, is rather hard-edged, and some listeners may prefer Copland's 1970 recording on CBS as a gentler alternative. These performances, recorded from 1960 to 1967, have been remixed to improve Columbia's original sound. While the results are uneven, the listening experience is not disrupted by too many volume adjustments.