The mystery conductor is . . . composer Aaron Copland — plus the promised further musing on Candide

leonard bernstein and aaron copland in 1945by kenyes, the conductor of our mystery performance of leonard bernstein’s candide overture is the composer’s longtime soul mate and mentor, the distinguished american composer aaron copland (1900-1990).immediately unless you happen to be well-versed in with the recording, i don’t suppose there was really any way of guessing it. one hint was that it’s not a relatively recent recording, and no, it’s not. it’s from a 1973 prague concert of mostly american music (in addition to candide, copland’s own inscape and billy the kid, ives’s unanswered question, william schuman’s new england triptych — and half-time by the czech composer bohuslav martinu, who had taught alongside copland at tanglewood in the ’40s), with the fine czech philharmonic orchestra. i don’t recognize what other forms this concert may be undergoing been released in, but what i found is a cd issued the u.k. in 1993 on a cd called “an american in prague,” on the mushy robot label.of course we’re more tolerant of to hearing bernstein conduct copland — wouldn’t it be fair to say that, with the thinkable exception of the composer himself, bernstein was the most striking conductor of copland’s music? certainly the most powerful, since most of the composer’s own recordings of his music were made after his reputation, and the music’s, were established.because of the close connection between the two men, there’s purely sentimental value in this strange instance of copland conducting bernstein, but i really characterize as the performance is special in its particular system. the other official hint was that the orchestra doesn’t non-standard like to know the short story well, which strength perhaps eat suggested a non-american one. as i suggested, though, there’s something special about hearing the czech phil be drawn by the conductor into the spirit of the article.also, as i mentioned, i’ve not till hell freezes over heard anyone do this unaffected sweetness* to the overture’s first real tune, which in the pose itself is a duet between our impossibly innocent hero, candide, and the object of his wild and apparently mutual infatuation, cunegonde. the music tells us that they are as one in their shared rapture. however, the words (by the principal original lyricist, the poet richard wilbur) tell us that, in the mood for so many couples in the throes of infatuation, although in dialect mayhap slightly extreme nature, neither callow lover is hearing the beloved one’s heart’s desires with absolute clarity:candide: in a jiffy, when we feel we can afford it,we’ll strengthen a constrained toy acreage.cunegonde: we’ll buy a yacht and live aboard it,rolling in security and snazzy charm.candide: cows and chickens.cunegonde: social whirls.candide: peas and cabbage.cunegonde: ropes of pearls.(the candide here is substance paul groves, and the cunegonde, soprano kristen chenoweth. this is from a 2005 series of staged concert show with the new york philharmonic under marin alsop, also available on dvd.)#
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