Still the Kaddish of choice, probably
Anyone of a certain age can remember the flap caused by the premiere of Bernstein's Sym. #3 "Kaddish," which contains the composer's personal argument with God, as narrated by his wife, Felicia Montelegre. The text is full of ego and blather, and it created the first huge embarrassment for a beloved icon of American music. He would go on the decline as a composer and a public figure soon thereafter, with even more embarrassment over Mass, his ecumenical-hippie memorial to John F. Kennedy.

HOw does Kaddish sound in retrospect? It's still full of ego and blather, but that's part of LB's legacy. His estate has tried to soften the Lenny-give-it-to-God aspect by approving several revisions of the text, one of which LB himself conducts on DG. But why? The original is a rip-roaring show, and LB condeucts as if the world were coming to an end. The music in his first two symphonies is better by far, but Kaddish remains worthwhile. Chichester Psalms is a piece that has survived better, even if it is a direct imitation of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. The composer's recording is more or less definitive. I am giving 5 stars to the performances--you'll have to assess the music on your own.

Bernstein at His Best
This recording is a digital remastering of the two works, as originally recorded and issued on Columbia records. I listened to my old, now broken-down vinyl copies again and again, and am very pleased to have the works on CD. The performances are stunning and authoritative; the singing and the playing, exquisite; and the music, electrifyingly dramatic. This album is well worth owning!

Magnificently Performed
Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony is a powerful mass reflected on a Jewish background. With both the composer who is a Jewish American, and the first Cathloic president John F. Kennedy, whom Bernstein dedicated the music to after the tragic assisination, being pious believers of heritage, it's partly fit to empasize and create this "requiem" based on the pure Jewish heritage.

Bernstein's Kaddish is an incredibly powerful piece. Although it's hard to understand the Jewish words sung by the choir, the music itself shows its emotions of savagry, pain, and lament, and to top it off, the narrating voice of the music, played by Bernstin's wife, is more than enough to give importance to the "deep sense of kinship and loss that Bernstein felt" after the president had died. The words can show how remorseful Bernstein, and his wife, must have been.

Regardless of the mediocre technology of digital recording on this performance, this music is a definite buy for those who want anything about Bernstein, or wants to give into an American Tragedy. I don't care how great other performances may be; Bernstein's performance is enough for me.

On the other hand, Chichester Psalms, like the Kaddish Symphony, has no specific story, being based, this time, on Psalms 2, 23, 100, 108, 131, and 133. The first movement is joyous, the second movement is a sort of a 'hymn' sung by a male solo high as a boy would sing, and the third movement closes peacefully. I was especially moved by the third movement. The melancholy sounds of the strings in the beginning of the movement reminded me of the grim, dark lifestyles during the Jewish Halocaust, even though the subject might not have been intended in the music. I can consider the words and the sentiment in the movement to be a song of resettlement after the Nazi's attempted genocide of the Jews.

This performance with the New York Phil too, despite its recording technology, is absolutly unmatched. The only other recording I would listen is the one Bernstein performed with the Isreal Phil on Grammophon during his later years of conducting. By noticing the recognizable use of energy of Bernstein's youthful earlier performance, though, I would recommened this performance than the latter.

Generally, the two pieces are magnificently performed, showing how great Bernstein was. Unless you want really cle-e-e-an recordings, you won't be dissapointed.

ChichesterPsalms-A choral work or an orchestral work?
Although at first listen this piece is full of screeching and wailing, it is definitively Bernstein. The syncopated rhythms, odd time signatures, nods to American popular, blues and jazz idioms, as well as the explosive dynamics of this piece make it a fascinating listen. WHat I didn't like about this particular recording, led by the Maestro himself, is that one cannot understand much of the text. It is mushily inarticulated. The orchestra, however, is superb, especially the percussion, and the dynamics on this recording are well differentiated. The boy soprano in the 2nd movement(emulating boy David with his harp)sings gorgeously, but one can't understand a word of the Hebrew text of the 23rd Psalm, too bad.If only Bernstein had paid as much attention to the choir as he did to the orchestra, this would be a fabulous recording of a distinctive work.

Breathtaking!
I was not alive when President Kennedy was asassinated, but the dramatic lyrics of the Kaddish helps me to understand and appreciate the tragedy in a way I have never felt. Likewise, The Chichester Psalms are done extremely well. I would recomend this cd to anyone that can appreciate good music. It is truly pure heaven.