Bernstein conducts Elgar - 'Nimrod' ("Enigma Variations") - BBC Symphony Orchestra (1982)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ต.ค. 2020
- In 1982, Leonard Bernstein visited London and gave a concert at the Royal Festival Hall which featured Elgar's "Enigma Variations." It is now known that he and the BBC Symphony Orchestra didn't exactly hit it off, while his reading of Elgar's work proved to be somewhat controversial. As an example, here is the "Nimrod" variation performed in what is believed to be its longest duration. The whole concert and the first rehearsal was issued by 'ICA Classics' on DVD (Catalogue No. ICAD 5098) from which this extract is taken.
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It's going to be played at Prince Philip's Funeral on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
The music is inspired and makes me tear up just listening to it.
Yes, this is why I'm here, listening to it for the 3rd time. Its very touching.
Same here. I think I heard it for the first time in London as I stood outside the palace on Remembrance Day. Gave me goosebumps.
@@chitsb I was Stationed at RAF Upper Heyford in the USAF/USAFE '77 to '86. I heard this at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day. I Attended 4 times while I was there. When I hear this my mind wanders to the Bowmen at Agincourt, the English Fleet sailing to meet the Armada, Nelson at Trafalgar, The Squares at Waterloo, The barrel roll of a Spitfire in the Battle of Britain! .... And I'm not British but an American!
Hauntly beautiful, the kind of of piece that moves your soul 😥😥
The Band did a fabulous job,,,marvelous arrangement. Truly heartrending!
In a world where everyone just plays faster and faster for whatever reason, this sticks out and calms down. Maybe he was ahead of his time already then
What the?!! Bernstein is the main culprit of conducting too fast. Listen to him doing the Shosta 5!
Shostakovich loved his interpretation
@@Deano12345ist No not in his latter years,he slowed a lot of pieces down especially this critically acclaimed rendition, and Sibelius symphonies,It really brought out the beauty and emotion in this Elgar this tempo was beautiful,Maestro Bernstein a "culprit" of conducting "too Fast" No.
I cry every time I watch this. Breathtaking. I was in the band in high school, played the clarinet. We played Enigma Variations for the State Finals. Our director read to us the meaning of Nimrod and of it being about two best friends. He really brought out the emotions in us all. We were all crying after we played it. Cherished memory forever.
What a wonderful story; what a wonderful memory 😢
Nice memory 😊
If this isn't played at my funeral I'm not going.
Copy cat :)
How original it's not like that same thing is the top comment of this nimrod recording.th-cam.com/video/sUgoBb8m1eE/w-d-xo.html
David Carroll Read this line on You tube under different names, the first was amusing but hate copycats.
The most beautiful piece of music ever written. If this does not bring out your emotions, I feel sorry for you. Bernstein was so great
I remember hearing this live at the TSO. Everyone was holding their breath at the “pianissimo”. Magnificent piece. We miss you Lenny!
Bellisimo ❤️
Che musica meravigliosa
I had never heard this, until I had to play it. It was an extremely moving experience.
Not sure from your comment but do you realise that he did not write this? Elgar did. Bernstein’s conducting is so slow it’s bordering on the ridiculous. The is no emotion in this interpretation, just lethargy.
Why rush? Do you gulp down fine wine? Try slow. This is some of the most beautiful music ever written!!!
Charles Martel I cannot for one moment tolerate critics of the tempo Maestro Bernstein really enhanced the beauty out of this masterpiece,and your comment about fine wine is entirely apt.
This is my favourite version. Deserves to be enjoyed slowly.
Quite something Mr Bernstein
I am a bit jealous of all the critics of this interpretation of Nimrod. I mean, to have had the opportunity to have been able to actually talk with Elgar himself and know what questions to ask so you were able to find out everything about how he wanted this piece played in every circumstance must have been amazing! Although I guess it would be a little frustrating to know that you are a better conductor than old Lenny Bernstein and then have to see him get all the fame. And on top of that, knowing you are 100% correct in your opinion but that there are people out there who have the audacity to disagree with you.
I think people often don't consider that when you see or hear a musician perform, you are seeing into their heart and soul. Look at Bernstein while he conducts; he is not there just to wave his arms for a few hours to get paid. He is fully invested in this performance and gives a glimpse into himself.
Everyone can, does, and should have opinions about music because it triggers such strong emotions in us; you like it one way, I prefer it another, and the person next to you prefers it still a different way. None of them are wrong because they are your feelings. Bernstein interpreted this work differently than we are used to and unfortunately, we can't ask him why he conducts this like he is. I'll leave it at saying that some of the comments below seem just plain mean. Next time we hear something played in a way we don't enjoy rather than closing our minds and passing judgment, how about "The orchestra played extremely well, but the tempo was just too slow for my personal taste." As the old saying goes, "if you can't say something nice, don't say something at all."
Great comments
I saw the rehearsal when the BBC originally screened it on television all those years ago. Whether you like or dislike Bernstein's interpretation of Nimrod, or indeed, the entire Enigma Variations, I think it was rather ungracious of the BBCSO to treat him as they did. He wasn't nasty to them or brutally didactic, he was merely interpreting the music in his own way, just as every other conductor does, and the open hostility was something the BBCSO should have been ashamed of. If memory serves, and it's been a very long time (!), Bernstein's reaction was, "What do people expect? I'm an American Jew conducting an English Roman Catholic's music!
I can understand people’s consternation about the slowness of this rendition .
However, I love this composition so much I wish it could go on for ever.
Beautiful.
This performance has showed me how to live my life. Keep it as Simple Noble and Pure as you can...
yes,you are right.I think so.too.
If you remember how England opened to others to live here. Our generosity, but sadness and the reality of ageing. The Cotswolds, where my Father lived, and my Mother who lived in Salcombe in Devon. Now impossible for me to live there now. However, the music of Elgar takes me back. Bernstein caught the times we lived they had in two wars. Now sadness and kindness come in these music waves.
Can't wait play this in our brass band on my trombone for armistice day. For my 3 brothers in arms who are no longer with us.
One of the few pieces of music that makes me cry EVERY TIME. Gorgeous.
Saw my dad out to this, rest in peace papa, we miss you so much😢
I watched this on BBC 2 in 1982, and even recorded it on my Betamax VCR (yeah, I know), so it's great to see it again. He had to work really hard in rehearsal to get the orchestra to accept his tempo, and you can tell they're still uncomfortable with it in the performance. The tension is spine-tingling. Superb piece of music.
I don't know what the orchestra's problem with it would be. All of the Italian markings I have seen on scores are Adagio, with metronome marking of 52 to a quarter note. I put a metronome to this performance and Bernstein is pretty close to that. I don't know if Elgar himself gave the metronome marking, but if he did Bernstein was faithful to it. The orchestra should realize it isn't about what they want, but what the composer wants.
@@ed-mo7ov ... The composer's own recording is here on TH-cam. 'Nimrod' starts at 12 minutes in and is considerably quicker than Bernstein, who starts very slowly but then moves along somewhat quicker as the piece progresses ...
th-cam.com/video/kaPtKoL-FsM/w-d-xo.html
Elgar also speeds up noticeably as he goes along, though whether this was to make sure he got it all onto a 78rpm side we don't know. It hardly qualifies as an 'adagio' tempo however.
@@adam28xx Thanks for the link, adam. Elgar's is the fastest tempo I have heard for Nimrod yet. lol.
Nimrod and Wagner's Tristan and Isolde Prelude never fail to lead me to tears
“We dance around in a ring and suppose, but the Secret sits in the middle and knows.” -Robert Frost
If this doesn’t lift your soul,nothing will. Stunning
You are so right
They played this at the Royal Albert Hall right after announcement Queen's passing. It is whole different meaning with the situation.
This is the piece I heard on Classical radio in Lee County Florida.
I was sitting in my car on a break listening to the channel when they played this music.
Being a part time musician myself but having to work odd jobs to survive this really caught my ear.
By the time I got to the middle of the piece I was already in awe of the structure and movements of the symphony.
The climax left me stunned at what I had just heard.
It gave me emotions that I had rarely experienced in other music.
Bernstein at his best because the slowness of the cadence gave it such a dynamic climax.
The orchestra was not happy about the tempo but he was a brilliant conductor who knew what he was doing.
To this day when I listen I still get the same emotion great music from Elgar and a great conductor in Bernstein. BRAVO
As as former classical pianist, I can tell you the hardest, hardest thing to do is sit on stage and play slowly. Memory lapses become much more likely, nerves have more of an opportunity to take over, and you're sure the audience is losing interest. Some of those factors are surely at play in this orchestra. Also, who is this Bernstein, this revolting ex-colonist, to come to England and tell them how to play their music? I love this interpretation, and it surely took a LOT of nerve and persuasiveness to achieve it.
This is not just music, this is a work of true one time art.
Like this yes maybe slower than Elgar intended but I'm glad that Bernstein and the BBCSO gave us this interpretation! 👍👍👍👍
That doesn't sound too slow at all. Bernstein recognises the pathos and passion of the piece and expresses it in the way it should be played. Most conductors are too fleeting with Nimrod..
I have always loved this variation, but the tempo at which it is usually taken always left me wanting more…like Elgar ended it too soon. That’s why I LOVE this tempo. And for all of the Lenny haters out there, this is an interpretation. A conductor brings their experience and skill to a work and brings to life the ink on the page in collaboration with the musicians they lead in an inimitable moment of time and space. “It is not the critic who counts.”
The immediate decrescendo near the end gives me goosebumps! Just my thoughts. United States Marine Band (retired).
Many of these musicians will have left us, but this music is eternal. Thanks
Can you give a list if other classics like this? Solemn majestic piece?
@@emmanuelchinedum6998 You may start with Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus
@@emmanuelchinedum6998 Pavane - Faure : Pavane : Ravel : The Lark Ascending: Vaughn Williams : Adagio : Bach
Contemplation, looking back and smile at life. One of the best of English music.
Bernstein was my mentor and teacher for about 3 years before he died. At times he was impossibly egotistical but, in my opinion, an absolute genius. Conductor, concert pianist, composer, lecturer, book writer (and brilliant at all of them) - the list goes on. I've seen this documentary where the orchestra thought they knew best (and no doubt knew of Bernstein's reputation!) and were incredibly rude and dismissive during rehearsals. I'd like to have seen them answer back to Karajan (not that he would have conducted them!). In my opinion it is the finest Nimrod I've ever heard, and I absolutely love the whole Enigma Variations that he recorded with the BBCSO. It's a bit marmite for most people but I know where I stand on it!
Couldn’t agree more. The most common criticism I read or hear is that it’s “too slow.” I think his gradual increase in tempo is brilliant.
Sounds about right.
It is incredibly slow, though…forget subdividing into 6, this almost subdivides into 18. There’s an inner logic to the lines and the voice-leading which I feel is lost in this performance.
Just finished listening to this @12.40 am
Happy birthday to me
What a wonderful way to start the day
Beautiful music
Happy birthday to you Lisa.
Happy birthday!
Thank you what a beautiful way to start the day
Happy birthday to you my dear
Lovely way to start the day
I think of my father each time I hear this who listened in silence each Remembrance Sunday alone with his thoughts of his war time comrades
This version of Nimrod is appropriate for today.
Went to the Proms tonight at Royal Albert Hall. The concert was cancelled but the Philadelphia Orchestra played the national anthem and The Nimrod for us and I suppose the late Queen.
It was absolutely beautiful.
Indeed.
You can like it or not, but you don't get to second-guess the supreme artistry of Maestro Bernstein. He is far above pretty much all of us in that regard.
Written by a Catholic who never felt entirely at home within the British Establishment, for his mentor and dearest friend, a German.
Neither Holts' "I vow to thee" nor Handel's "Zadok", powerful though they are, stir such deep emotions in the heart of any Englishman. They are each in their way an our expression of deep friendship and love of our ancient brethren.
Almost right. His mother was Jewish and his father Catholic.
His mother's parents were strictly against the marriage because his mother converted to the Catholic faith.
Who today or then feels comfortable in an establishment and is creatively motivated and finds peace in private?
When his beloved wife Carolin Alice died in 1920, Sir Edward William Elgar was broken. His support and love was no longer there.
He composed his best pieces when he had his wife at his side.
After 1920, the will to continue composing was no longer as strong as before 1920.
Where did you get the idea that Elgar’s mother was Jewish? She was Anglican and converted to Catholicism. Elgar’s father remained Protestant and was irked by the whole thing. Elgar did have a Jewish girlfriend at one point.
Do you mean Gustave Holst?
@@jimstokes6742 ... Or even Gustav Holst ... 😄
Hands down the best version on TH-cam! The climax at 4:45 where the drums quietly build into a thunder.. always makes the hairs on my neck stand up.. this piece is just so nostalgic and patriotic for us Brits..it makes me think of the birth and emergence of a tiny island into the world's greatest empire by the turn of the 20th century. Sir Edward Elgar at his finest!
I want to be buried with this hyper galactic masterpiece ..
I know most people find it too slow but I always loved Lenny’s interpretation.
Agreed 100%....The more you listen and importantly, accept, the better it becomes!!!
I agree. Leonard Slatkin also did a version longer than five minutes. The Lennies are right.
This is the version for me, even if people say it's too slow - it is one of the pieces which gets me to tears every single time.
I felt it was too slow and not as rousing as it should have been.
SPECTACULAR!
I play this piece on the organ. I am SO pleased to know that Maestro Bernstein agrees with my interpretation in tempo, and respect for musical markings; pppp ff ffff sfz 😊
Gorgeous! The soul of Elgar bared by this ode/elegy to his friend
This tempo is agogic, it is absolutely suspenseful. For the listener it is dramatic, and allows each chord and passing tone to become its own individual entity.
For the players... Friggin nightmare. Fine line between playable and suspenseful.
And, let's not forget, Bernstein called out Glenn Gould at a live performance (not exactly verbatim) "I highly disagree with Mr Gould's tempi and concepts. However, Gould is a valid artist and performer. And I feel it's my duty to allow his ideas to be presented to you"
le tempo très lent accentue la sensibilité de cette magnifique oeuvre son profond lyrisme !!!pour moi Bernstein et la BBC sont la référence des Variations Enigma
Musica celestiale. Mi vengono i brividi e le lacrime agli occhi.
Dla takiego wykonania chce się żyć, albo umrzec♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
I don't know why, but this piece always feels like a homecoming to me.
Sad to see the age old battle between spectators and musicians when it comes to disecteting patterns, crescendo, and passion. Just enjoy it. Thankful for this archive. Just support the arts education. It is so poorly lacking.
Well said, it seems the last remnant of civilization left currently.
Lenny, in his late career, was always accused of slowing tempos to a crawl.
Unpopular opinion, but this works.
Love it this slow. Bernstein knew what he was doing.
Danged right!
I don’t think Elgar would agree.
@@jimcrawford5039 We will never know.
Amen! But even better...one minute slower in the Rehearsal Video starting at the 18 minute 27 second spot.
Every conductor has his own "interpretation" of a musical piece and Bernstein is no different , additionally, his passion shows through in how the musicians deliver the composition !!
Interpretations can be incorrect. Bernstein was a mastermind, but this tempo is ridiculously slow.
Edward Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams - all British, all maestros.
This is my favorite version of this amazing piece. I can't say why but it seems more grand and sweeping than other versions, and more subtle in it's beauty.
A personal view but I feel Bernstein really understood this variation. It is sublime. Many versions are played too fast and miss the intended emotion within.
Exactly. This piece, in my humble opinion, does not carry the intended emotions when played too fast.
This version here is perfect, and I’m in tears because of it. 🥹
The first statement is a bit too slow....no line.....the second time around it is slow but within the parameters....Elgar does give a metronome marking for this...
It should be roughly the speed of an Anglican Church Hymn in my humble opinion....it sounds so "Cathedral"....
Elgar himself didn’t want this movement to be a dirge.
Good lord, this is such a beautiful rendition of Nimrod. If I get the choice, I would like this to be the last piece of music I hear as I leave this life.
The tempo he left beautifully behind in this piece he more than made up for in the Shostakovich Fifth final movement, both pressing the orchestra’s and our limits
As a music-loving layman my reaction is one of utteradmiration,appreciation and respect for composer ,conductor and orchestra.I consider myself fortunate to be so moved without the shackles of technical perfection..
Can you give a list if other classics like this? Solemn majestic piece?
I think I may have already suggested this here before but in any case, "Nimrod" is marked 'Adagio' in the score. For those of you who find Bernstein too slow, click the link below and hear Constantin Silvestri with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Bernstein's timing for "Nimrod" is nearly 6 minutes but Silvestri get through the piece in about half that time, at 2-and-a-half minutes. I wonder if his non-'Adagio' approach will appeal more than Bernstein's does? ...
th-cam.com/video/hzwbcCg80u0/w-d-xo.html
Yes, I did find Bernstein too slow, but Silvestri was too fast!.
Wonderful . Sends shivers down my spine every time.
Only Lennie could stick by his guns and take it this slow.Best ever.Pete Law x Royal Marines Band.
Stunning piece of music used over last 3 years for both my step dad and mums funeral and is on the playlist for mine and my eldest son. So emotional
I'm so looking forward to your funeral! Just advise me in advance, please. I've got other services planned...
One can almost hear every breath. Superb.
I don't know if I herd Bernstein's first, but whenever I hear Nimrod performed faster than this I find it almost disrespectful!
I feel exactly the same.
My house has a very close connection to Elgar. Its a slightly odd feeling to to be sat by a fireplace where he would have sat, my feet on the floor boards that he walked on listening to music he composed.
I know many readers are not from the UK and every country has a song or a piece of music that embodies the nation and if you want to understand what it is to be English just listen to Nimrod (and Jerusalem which Elgar also did the orchestration for).
Echoes to walk and dream through...enjoy your home. Diana
What is the connection?? Fascinating...
Elgar's arrangement of Parry's "Jerusalem" is pure genius, and the score is a required study for anyone who seriously aspires to orchestrate or arrange.
I’ve always loved Enigma Variations but I never really made the connection of it with English Patriotism (other than knowing Elgar was British) until I watched Dunkirk where they used bits and pieces of Nimrod. I understood it’s significance after that.
Beautiful and so appropriate for this day of her Majesty's funeral 💔
One of the most brilliant directors. - One of the most brilliant Composers. Bernstein - Elgar. - Very high european Spirit.
Brian Wolfman Very high European spirit?? Who, Bernstein? Ahahahahahah
The faster tempo has a heroic quality to it. The slower tempo destroys that heroism and replaces it with depth and pathos, perhaps even heartfelt resignation. It seems more accepting and forgiving of our human striving and frailty without begrudging the heroism we are sometimes able to wring out of it. I prefer it.
I agree with you on this but it is totally part of the human nature to have endless feelings and ways to interpret the same things... That's the magic of freedom and life: Every soul is unique.
Thanks Bernstein for this unique version... it's the best ❤️
Exquisite❤
I love this performance
I believe this variation is marked "adagio," and, you know. some people like their adagio adagio. I can't find any other version of this that's this slow. Bernstein saw that it needed to be slowed down for the suspensions and resolutions to be exploited to the max. I love it and now I can't really listen to faster versions.
Ditto!!!
But where does it say, in the score, to play ever faster?
The greatest piece of music. Made even better by the greatest ever conductor.
Surprisingly, this feels more apt for Elgar’s great threnody. I can see why the British might interpret the languor as sentimentalism, but, well, indulge us soft-hearted Yankees. We’ll always be there for you, handkerchiefs by the boatload.
Well , I'm British and I like it. Variety is the spice of life.
I AM BRITISH AND ADORE MAESTRO BERNSTEINS "LANGOUR" IN THIS VITAL COMPOSITION.
Love this piece
The passion in this is fantastic and Elgar would have loved it. We tend to reject things because we are not used to the tempo or sound - just suspend disbelief and enjoy it..... oh and for the a'tempo detractors - the tempo DOES change. Just saying :)
I agree that changing tempos is ok as long as it doesn't affect the effect of the piece which it unfortunately does in this case.
It was a very different take, for sure. But wow. This *felt* real. It's my favorite of the handful of versions I've heard.
For those who think Bernstein's "Nimrod" is too slow, I've uploaded Constantin Silvestri's reading. He takes it twice as fast as Bernstein, even though the tempo marking in the score is 'Adagio', and ends up with a timing of just under 3 minutes. I wonder how many listeners will prefer this? ... th-cam.com/video/hzwbcCg80u0/w-d-xo.html
That is supposed to be an elegy? I think not. Thanks for the link.
Love the pace…it oozes out the sublime joy
Beautiful!!!!
The Malvern hills, late summers evening. The sunsets over the distant Welsh mountains, this is 🇬🇧 at its finest 👌 🎶
🎶🎵 unequivocal.
I did not mind this, slower than I have heard it but my favourite is the Sir Adrian Boult recording of 1971 with the LSO. Cheers from Australia.
Forgot to say, Sir Yehudi Menuhin has a lovely version of Enigma as well, from 1985. He & Boult knew Elgar very well and how he should be played.
You can see the concert master fighting the tempo at 3:55
Possibly he most beautiful song I ever heard.
It is not a song.
Bernstein extracts every ounce of emotion in this masterpiece........like no other!
He took it all out of the piece.
I absolutely love this performance by LB very moving. Relax and enjoy Elgars brilliant composition.
Thank you for posting this video. Wonderful to see Bernstein performing this in England. I hope the orchestra had inner joy, because its not showing externally.
In fact, Bernstein and the orchestra didn't hit it off at all. They didn't like the way he conducted Elgar and he found them unresponsive. The first rehearsal was filmed and there were many moments when the players resented his approach. Here is one example ... th-cam.com/video/F-Zfhk22-_M/w-d-xo.html
I close my eyes and think I’m watching the Inspector Morse series. This is what Beauty is. ❤️
Semplicemente musica divina.
Really sad the audio quality is very distorted, this performance is out of this world.
Too many people take this movement too fast and sacrifice the ponderous elegance of this piece. Even Elgar himself took it too fast from the recording I've heard of him conducting. Slatkin and Bernstein take it at the proper tempo to let the piece fully expand.
An exquisite observation. Thank you.
". . . to let the piece fully expand." You captured it perfectly.
So Elgar didn't know the correct tempo for his own music? Got it!
@@foddyfoddyComposers are often terrible interpreters of their own music, absolutely.
d.harrison 1570 You have got it YES ABSOLUTELY!
Amazing
maravilloso
Bernstein was the best conductor ever. Nobody understood the music better than him. This is how Nimrod SHOULD be played.
He was an amazing musician. We all have our views on the "best" conductor. He was certainly brilliant. I love and admire so much of his work, But this was quite self-indulgent, and sad to say, distant from the music itself. It's one of his very rare mis-readings. Let't not dwell on this musical hiccup, but revere his brilliance in pretty much most else of what he did.
Elgar understood it better: listen to his recording. Bernstein was just being Bernstein.
Awful. Sentimental and indulgent. This is absolutely how Nimrod should not be played.
HERBERT VON KARAJAN
Meraviglioso!!!!
You guys are all wrong about the tempo, its beauty is transcendent at its slow pace. It may have been intended by the composer to be a certain way, but that does not have to be the ONLY way it is played
This song is the most moving piece I've ever heard. been trying to find the name for so long after seeing a Princess Diana programme and it was used to remember her. A very emotional moment
It is NOT a song it is part of the Enigma Variations by Elgar......
I am in tears......
Absolutely beautiful
Beautiful love Bernstein’s slower version
Have always loved this!
enfin un tempo idéal pour cette oeuvre magnifique de spiritualité qui nous fait toujours chaud au coeur 🥰🥰 magnifique merci au grand Léo
MÁGICO, TRANSCENDENTAL, ELEVADO, ESPIRITUAL....🙏
Perfect in every respect, including he stately tempo.
Is there another piece of music that captures profound sorrow so well? Profound melancholy.
the, not "he", to correct my typographical error.
Yes. Barber's Adagio for Strings is certainly its equal in profoundly capturing melancholy. Both are sublime.
Brilliant! Brilliant!