The View from Home

The View from Home

Track Listings

1. Blackberry Blossom

2. St. Anne's Reel

3. Golden Slippers

4. Black Jack Davey

5. Liberty

6. Satisfied Mind

7. Red Haired Boy

8. Walkin' in Jerusalem

9. Rights of Man

10. Simple Gifts

11. Fisher's Hornpipe

12. Gold Watch and Chain

13. View from Home

Customer Reviews:

It's wonderful to have Bernstein back, but the performances fall short.......2006-11-26

These 1953 mono recordings catch Bernstein a decade after his famous debut with the NY Phil. and five years before he became their youngest-ever condcutor. It's great to hear that warm, comforting voice again, although his analyses--especially the longest one devoted to the Brahms Fourth--aren't as polished as they would become. He gets pedagogical at times and runs us through a rote example-and-explanation formula. Even then, howeer, colorful Bernstein touches peek out, and we are reminded of the man who taught an entire generation to venerate classical music.

For me, the performances themselves fall short. They were often recorded in a rush, sometimes late at night after a summer concert. I know that the Stadium Sym. is actually the NY Phil., but they don't sound particularly fine, and Bernstein's interpreatations, though vigorous, often border on the slapdash. Plowing through Beethoven's 3rd, Dvorak's 9th, Schumann's 2nd, Brahms' 4th and Tchaikovsky's 6th, I found few sparks of originaity, much less genius. This is a tough admission from one of LB's geat admirers, but there you are. The original recorded sound is also a bit thin and harsh.

Come back Lennie, we need you.......2006-02-22

This box is worth its price just for the five talks. Bernstein at this stage had a teaching style rather more stilted than the chatty sage of later years, but the combination of authority, insight and infectious enthusiasm is unique. Entertainingly offhand about the New World, he's at his best on the music he reveres most, i.e. Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, the first movement of whose Fourth Symphony gets a particularly in-depth analysis that left me yearning for more. Practically anyone could enjoy and learn from these talks - they're fascinating fun without a whiff of down-dumbing. When the classical and the popular cross over nowadays, the results are usually compromised and crass, but with Bernstein there doesn't even seem to be a gap to be crossed over - just a passion to share these wonders with as many people as possible. We need his all-embracing talent and vision today more than ever.

Then there are the performances. I'm not the biggest fan of mono symphonic recordings, but these positively leap down your ears, unmannered, committed and electric. It's hard to believe what was achieved under the hasty recording conditions described in the booklet. The sound is a little fierce, but good enough to make this set a wonderful gift for any open-minded but symphonically ignorant acquaintance. I can easily imagine it turning someone on to classical music.

For Bernstein enthusiasts, it's like owning a gold mine.......2005-06-19

This new album set is something that I had heard of, but never dared to hope would be released on CD. It consists of Leonard Bernstein's very first recordings of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (the "Eroica"), Dvorak's "New World Symphony", Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Brahms' Fourth Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony. They are all conducted by Bernstein and played beautifully by an orchestra which bills itself as the New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, but which is really the great New York Philharmonic, using the name that they gave themselves during summer concerts.

The performances are a revelation, because they demonstrate conclusively that Bernstein did not always "exaggerate" or "overinterpret" great music, as critics frequently claim. His performances here are very, very direct and straightforward, more like Fritz Reiner or Toscanini than like Bernstein.

If this album contained only Bernstein's early performances of these symphonies, it would be interesting, but it might not really attract that much attention, since he re-recorded all of these pieces in stereo in later years, and with the same orchestra.

What makes this set so valuable is that it contains his long out-of-print lectures on these symphonies, and far from what the previous reviewer claims, they never become boring and monotonous. No musician in our time, or maybe even in the history of music, was a better or more articulate and sensitive lecturer on music than Leonard Bernstein. His legendary appearances on the "Young People's Concerts" did more for the appreciation of classical music than all the "Beethoven's Wig" albums combined. (If you don't know what "Beethoven's Wig" is, check it out and shudder at how far music appreciation has fallen since Bernstein's death.)

Bernstein had a unique ability to make classical music accessible to everybody, without ever condescending to the listener or cheapening the music. His lectures on this album, previously only available to 1950's Book of the Month Subscribers (except for part of the Beethoven lecture, which is the only one that Bernstein did re-record in stereo), are invaluable both to music students and to those who are willing to listen. All of the lectures included cover all four movements of the symphonies discussed, except for the Brahms; that one is just as extensive as the others, but it covers only the first movement of the symphony.

However--be warned, the lectures do have a flaw that the symphonies themselves do not, and that is why I have subtracted one star.

The symphony recordings are obviously remastered from magnetic tape, but the lectures have been transferred from LP's. Thus, you will be able to hear an occasional click or pop from time to time, and there is a clearly audible "skip" on the Brahms lecture. It is NOT the CD being defective, or the laser beam on your player skipping; it is clearly the lecture recordings themselves. Deutsche Grammophon, which released this CD set, is very honest about the source of the transfers to compact disc, and is to be commended for this. (They mention it in the last page of the accompanying booklet.) But this shouldn't deter anybody from buying this enormously important Bernstein set.

Bernstein's Early American Recordings.......2005-04-02

The most recent batch of DG's "Original Masters" box sets boasts several titles that will leave classical collectors rejoicing, "Leonard Bernstein: The 1953 American Decca Recordings" foremost among them. This 5CD set features Lenny in his earliest recorded performances of some of his trademark works -- Beethoven's 3rd, Dvorak's 9th, Schumann's 2nd, Brahms' 4th and Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphonies. Bernstein would later re-record all of five these symphonies with the NYPO (btw, the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York IS the NYPO) to greater acclaim for Columbia, but these early accounts capture a brilliant young conductor at the threshold of greatness. Also after each performance, Bernstein offers a musical analysis, simplifying what the listener just heard as only he could, which is again something the conductor would become famous for in years to come. Well then, if this is such a great set, why the four-star rating? First, while the performances sound very good, these are 1953 mono recordings and the casual fan needs to be aware that analog and digital stereo recordings of these works by the conductor do exist, and are generally preferable. Second, the musical analysis is a nice touch, but certainly does not warrant repeated listenings, as does the music. In fact, nearly half of the contents of these five discs is LB talking, and it could have been filled with music instead, or simply sold as a less expensive 3CD set. However, these shortcomings aside, "Leonard Bernstein: The 1953 American Decca Recordings" is another outstanding release in a fine series.

Average customer rating:

Spell-binding music that comes alive on the autoharp!
Return to an Old favorite
excellent auto harp muscian

The View from Home
Bryan Bowers
Manufacturer: Flying Fish Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Old-Time Country | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Country | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Home, Home on the Road
By Heart
Friend for Life
For You
Bryan Bowers' Autoharp Techniques - Developing Your Skills

ASIN: B000000MDW
Release Date: 1992-09-29

Tracks:

Blackberry Blossom
St. Anne's Reel
Golden Slippers
Black Jack Davey
Liberty
Satisfied Mind
Red Haired Boy
Walkin' In Jerusalem
Rights Of Man
Simple Gifts
Fisher's Hornpipe
Gold Watch & Chain
The View From Home

Customer Reviews:

Spell-binding music that comes alive on the autoharp!.......2005-04-22

I attended a Bryan Bower performance in Provo, Utah, in April, 2005, and was _totally_ blown away by the virtuosity of Bower's skill, combined with his passion for the autoharp. I've heard autoharpists before but none compare to Bowers. This guy is legendary on this amazing acoustical instrument. I purchased "The View From Home" and "Friends for Life" CDs after Bower's performance and our family will probably wear them out before we tire of this classic American folk genre. If you like Blue Grass or American folk music, Bower is for you. Moreover, if you ever get a chance to see Bower in concert, don't miss it. His story telling and ability to involve the audience is truly captivating.

Return to an Old favorite.......1999-12-24

One of the joys of CD re-releases is to obtain classic music like Bryan Bowers. I was given one of his tapes (View from Home) in 1982 and have been searching for it ever since. It's on the caliber of Dave Grisman but with an autoharp. It's an excellent piece of work for anyone liking bluegrass at all. Don't pass this one up !

excellent auto harp muscian.......1998-08-07

I went to Bryan Bowers concerts during the '80s in Kansas and was amazed with his skills in playing the auto harp. He is a truly gifted musicin

The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 1

Average customer rating:

The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 2
The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 3
The Complete Songs, Vol. 4
Charles Ives: Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five Take-offs; Hallowe'en; Sunrise
Susan Graham - Songs of Ned Rorem

ASIN: B0000049MK
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

Slow March
There Is A Certain Garden
In Autumn
Friendship
A Song For Anything
Canon
Rock Of Ages
Ballad From Rosamund
At Parting
Circus Band
When Stars Are In The Quiet Skies (Country Celestial)
Mirage
An Old Flame
Qu'il m'irait bien
Chanson de Florian
My Native Land
World's Wanderers
Abide With Me
Christmas Carol
Scotch Lullaby
Through Night And Day
A Perfect Day
A Night Song
In The Alley
My Lou Jennine
William Will
From 'Amphion'
Nature's Way
Far From My Heavenly Home
Ein Ton
Marie
Song
Memories
Waltz
Songs My Mother Taught Me
Son Of A Gambolier

Average customer rating:

View From Your New Home
The Mitgang Audio
Manufacturer: Suction Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000JILA98

Product Description

Solo project of Ray Sweeten known for his musical contributions to the Sesame Street program + as member of NYC synthpop/multi- media band The Plantains. A collection of music as diverse as influences: Ultravox, Wendy Carlos, Alexander Robotnik, and Thomas Tallis.

Average customer rating:

View from 10000 Days

Manufacturer: Fitzpatrick
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA7O52
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Average customer rating:

Silly Joe Sings Silly Songs

Manufacturer: Silly Joe
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAD5UU
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Average customer rating:

The View From Home
Evan Carawan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0007NKTRE

Product Description

Traditional music... featuring the hammer dulcimer

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Recommended Music:

Bounce Back [CD-single]

In Opera & Song

Josquin Desprez: Missa "La Sol Fa Re Mi"; Inviolata

Music: Wild Swans

Live & Direct: Acoustic Roots [Live]

Numb/Encore [CD-single] [Import]

Long Time Comin'

Masters of Rock: Ramones [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Les Plus Belles Chansons De... [Import]

Janacek: String Quartets

Great Sax

Exitos Eternos [Enhanced]

Life Is...Too Short [Clean]

Ear to the Street

Dreamgirls (1982 Original Broadway Cast)