Product Description

Audio CD

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Product Details

Publisher	Sony
Number Of Discs	1
Format	Audio CD
Creator	Leonard Bernstein Aaron Copland Igor Stravinsky Morton Gould Bela Bartok Columbia Symphony Orchestra Béla Bartók
EAN	0074644222722
UPC	074644222722
Label	Sony
Studio	Sony
Title	Benny Goodman Collector's Edition
Release Date	1990-10-25
Manufacturer	Sony

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Customer Reviews

Landmark Recording

Review by Althea Waites-Hayes, 2010-04-29

This Collector's Edition CD should be an essential item for classical music lovers. I also think that it's most important for people to know that Benny Goodman was recognized not only for his brilliant work as a jazz clarinetist,but also for classical works which were written for and dedicated to him by leading composers of the 2oth century such as Bela Bartok and Aaron Copland.
This is an excellent recording that I would highly recommend.

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learned his style

Review by Wei Chu, 2009-10-24

He is one of the best jazz clarinet players. I learned his style through this CD.

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Not My Style

Review by Koz, 2009-09-30

If you like Big Band or traditional classical music leave this one alone. Benny Goodman is brilliant in his playing, but the subject is completely undecipherable to my ears. To me, this music is only fit for mathematicians who like patterns rather than "music". Very unnerving.

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Great Introduction to 20th Century Music

Review by Joe Anthony (a.k.a. JAG 1), 2009-01-28

This CD is a great introduction to 20th Century Classical music. Though it features the artistry of Benny Goodman, don't expect to hear him wail like he did with Lionel Hampton and Gene Krupa playing "Four Once More". No, this CD reflects Goodman's talent as a classical musician. For even though some of these pieces are jazz-inspired, they are all written by classical composers in a classical format. It's a different side of Benny Goodman that is a testimony to the notion that the "King of Swing" could have had just as lucrative a carer as a clarinet virtuoso in the classical style and could have moved on to being a great American composer and/or conductor for symphony orchestras. Probably, there was a lot more money to made, and a better chance of becoming famous, in the world of jazz.

In any case this CD features four 20th century classical works for clarinet, and orchestra and one 20th century chamber work. Each piece also features the composer as conductor, except for the chamber work which features the Bela Bartok on piano. Indeed, it is an all-star summit meeting of some the greatest 20th composers, namely Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Morton Gould, and Bela Bartok.

The Bernstein, Stravinsky and Gould pieces are the ones which are jazz-inspired, albeit they are really not jazz any more than the folk-inspired symphonic music of Dvorak is authentic Czech folk music as played by a band of Czech street musicians. As Dvorak did with folk music, Bernstein, Stravinsky and Gould take jazz rhythms and other characteristics of jazz and replicate that feeling within a classical framework.

Bernstein's "Fugue and Riffs", however, sustains a certain aura of jazz authenticy. For even though Bernstein was a classical composer and conductor, his occaisional crossovers into Broadway and his New Yorker status make for something of a modified reworking of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"; you can feel in "Fugue and Riffs" the sights, sounds and smells of the busy New York City traffic. It's quite nice.

Stravinsky's "Ebony Concerto" is probably the most masterful piece in this whole collection. I am not a huge enthusiast of Stravinsky, but I admire this concerto as it weds beautifully the classical European concerto form with the jazz style. Even though Stravinsky is difficult and cerebral, you know that when you hear his music and witness his perfect craftsmanship, that you are in the presence of greatness.

The music by Morton Gould is the weakest of the jazz-inspired pieces here, as it sounds the most contrived; however, it is still good enough to have some fun with.

The Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra by Aaron Copland is an outstanding work that reflects Copland's tender and elegant side (not like his "rootin-tootin" "Rodeo" or "Billy the Kid" Suites). The Clarinet Concerto is rather a more quiet piece of work (Like parts of "Appalacian Spring"). The concerto is subtle and gentle in it's beauty and it is lightly tinged by just a hint of South American influence. It is another masterful work by an 20th Century master.

The final piece is Bartok's Trio for Violin, Piano and Clarinet. It features Goodman, Joseph Szigeti, and the composer on the piano. It has Bartok's characteristic Hungarian flavor cloaked in a mysterious and ultra-modern tapestry. It's also quite nice.

If you are a fan of classical music, but have yet to venture into the seemingly harsh world of twentieth century music, this makes for an excellent sampler. Benny Goodman plays in a full bright, expressive and masterful tone. If you are used to classical music of the more popular variety (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky etc.), this CD may be challenging at first; but given an even chance you may like it. I first bought these recordings on vynal years ago. It was one of my first introductions to 20th century or "Modern" classical music. I am glad to have upgraded to conveniant CD form.

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A must have

Review by D. B. R. Hall, 2008-08-16

BG will always be the master of all clarinetists in Big Band era, but if you enjoy Classical Music, although it's not a German-Stile precission play (Leister....) you will enjoy the emotion of hearing Copland's Concert by the man it was intended to sound....among other contemporary music.

You will enjoy it, if not, at least, you will find it very interesting if you are a clarinetist and you are looking for a piece of your instrument's music.

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