Copland: Rodeo; The Red Pony; Prairie Journal; Letter from Home

This attractive anthology represents Copland the Populist, to quote the title of Tilson Thomas's stunning RCA disc of all three ballets with the San Francisco Symphony. There are two suites, one from film and one from ballet, plus a couple of less familiar short pieces written for radio.

The least recorded of these is Prairie Journal, which had an odd genesis. It was commissioned by CBS Radio in 1936, premiered simply as Music for Radio, and their massive audience was invited to send in suggestions for a better title. A thousand people responded and Copland chose Saga of the Prairie - even at this stage listeners thought his music evoked the Western scene.

Copland changed the title much later. In both this piece and Letter from Home - as he admitted, a slightly sentimental picture of our boys at the front receiving mail in 1944 - he was taking the mass medium of radio seriously.

He did the same with films, as The Red Pony shows. The suite was performed in 1948 before the Steinbeck film was released. It's full of diatonic tunes you think you've known all your life, pure triads and Copland's characteristic snappy scoring.

These are lively performances in the Copland tradition, although Letter from Home seems fast and at times the orchestra lacks finesse.

These may not be the finest recordings of Copland's orchestral works ever committed to disc -- after all, they have competition from Bernstein, Slatkin and, of course, Copland himself -- but for listeners who love the music, they will still provide a thrill and a chill. The twenty first century Buffalo Philharmonic is not the same orchestra it was when Michael Tilson Thomas ran it 40 years earlier -- with smooth strings, warm winds, bold brass, and powerful percussion, it's much better. And while music director JoAnn Falletta may not be in the same class as Tilson Thomas, much less Bernstein or Slatkin, she is clearly as fond of the music as the composer and does everything to give the best possible performances. Her Rodeo may lack some of the pizzazz of Bernstein's, but it still has plenty of pop and fizz, and her Suite from The Red Pony may lack some of the warmth of Slatkin's, but it still has plenty of heart. In the shorter Prairie Journal and Letter from Home, Falletta and the Buffalo's performance nearly equals Copland's in emotional impact and surely surpasses his in technical polish. While those who love the music will not want to give up their Bernstein, Slatkin, and Copland recordings, they may want to check these recordings out anyway. Naxos' sound is cool, deep, and clear.