Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story
Studio album by
Leonard Bernstein, Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne, pick-up orchestra
Released1985 (1985)
Recorded1984 (1984)
StudiosEmil Berliner Studios, Berlin;
RCA Studios New York[1]
LabelDeutsche Grammophon
ProducerJohn McClure

Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story,[2][1] or simply West Side Story, is a 1985 album containing an "operatic"[3][4] production of the musical West Side Story as orchestrated and conducted by Leonard Bernstein for the Deutsche Grammophon record label,[2][5][6] with Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras in the leading parts.[5][7] It was the first time that Bernstein conducted a complete performance of that work.

Background

Bernstein recalled to his biographer, Humphrey Burton: "l'd always thought of West Side Story in terms of teenagers and there are no teenage opera singers, it's just a contradiction in terms. But this is a recording and people don't have to look 16, they don't have to be able to dance or act a rather difficult play eight times a week. And therefore, we took this rather unorthodox step of casting number-one world-class opera singers. I suppose the only foreseeable problem was that they might sound too old – but they don't, they just sound marvellous!”.[8]

Recording

The album was produced by John McClure.[2]

The recording was made by Deutsche Grammophon in 1984 at the Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin[1] and the RCA Studios New York.[8][9]

The Making of West Side Story

The BBC filmed the recording sessions, and Deutsche Grammophon released it on DVD.[10] The documentary is known under the titles Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story: The Making of the Recording[11][12][13] and The Making of West Side Story.[8] PBS showed it on Great Performances.[14] Several unreleased clips show Carreras struggling with the score and Bernstein's frustration.[8][15]

Cast

The production featured Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony, Tatiana Troyanos as Anita , Kurt Ollmann as Riff, and a pick-up orchestra. Marilyn Horne sang the off-stage voice in "Somewhere".[5]

Other roles:

  • Rosalia – Louise Edeiken
  • Francisco – Angelina Reaux
  • Consuela – Stella Zambalis
  • Action – David Livingston
  • Diesel – Marty Nelson
  • Baby John – Stephen Bogardus
  • A-rab – Peter Thom
  • Snowboy – Todd Lester
  • Bernardo – Richard Harrell
  • Dialogue: Nina Bernstein (Maria), Alexander Bernstein (Tony)[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[1]

Thor Eckert Jr. of The Christian Science Monitor found that the British accent of Maria, a Puerto Rican, and the Spanish accent of Tony, who is American, is blurring the drama at the centre of the story.[3] AllMusic rates the album four stars on a scale of five.[1]

Chart performance

The album became the first to top the "Classical" half of the newly established Billboard's Top Compact Discs chart on June 1, 1985.[7]

Track listing

2 × LP – Deutsche Grammophon 415 253

Side 1
No.TitleLength
1."No. 1 Prologue"4:05
2."No. 2 Jet Song"3:11
3."No. 3 Something's Coming"2:32
4."No. 4 The dance at the gym: Blues – Promenade – Mambo – Cha-Cha; Meeting scene, Jump"7:45
Side 2
No.TitleLength
1."No. 5 Maria"15:19
2."No. 6 Balcony scene – Tonight"7:29
3."No. 7 America"4:48
Side 3
No.TitleLength
1."No. 8 Cool; Fugue"4:36
2."No. 9 One Hand, One Heart"5:38
3."No. 10 Tonight"3:40
4."No. 11 The rumble"3:03
Side 4
No.TitleLength
1."No. 12 I Feel Pretty"3:21
2."No. 13 Ballet sequence – Scherzo – Somewhere – Procession and nightmare"9:04
3."No. 14 Gee, Officer Krupke"4:20
4."No. 15 A Boy like That / I Have a Love"5:36
5."No. 16 Taunting scene"1:26
6."No. 17 Finale"2:36

Charts

Chart (1985–1986) Peak
position
US Billboard Top Compact Discs – Classical[7] 1
US Billboard Top Crossover Albums[17][18] 8

Highlights version

Chart (1986) Peak
position
US Billboard Top Crossover Albums[18] 5

Awards

Year Award type Categories Results Ref.
1986 Grammy Awards Best Cast Show Album Won

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Leonard Bernstein conducts West Side Story at AllMusic
  2. 1 2 3 The albums's cover and labels
  3. 1 2 Thor Eckert Jr. (August 29, 1095). "Bernstein's new recording of West Side Story has split personality". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved July 26, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Classics reconsidered: Leonard Bernstein's 1984 DG recording of West Side Story". Gramophone. April 17, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Wlaschin, Ken (October 16, 2024). Encyclopedia of American Opera. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1238-6.
  6. ↑ Laird, Paul R.; Lin, Hsun (July 31, 2019). Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-22489-1.
  7. 1 2 3 "Top Compact Discs – Classical" (PDF). Billboard. June 1, 1985. pp. 3, 23 – via worldradiohistory.com.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Maddy Shaw Roberts (December 9, 2021). "Star tenor relentlessly corrected by Leonard Bernstein in excruciating rehearsal". Classic FM. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Bernstein's West Side Story". Gramophone. August 26, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Leonard Bernstein conducts West Side Story – The Making of the Recording (DG DVD 073 017-9)", review by Gary Dalkin (April 2002), musicweb-international.com
  11. ↑ "Shakespeare-Jahrbuch". 1995.
  12. ↑ "Opera". 1994.
  13. ↑ Laird, Paul (June 5, 2015). Leonard Bernstein: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-43043-8.
  14. ↑ "Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story: The Making of the Recording", in West Side Story: Birth of a Classic – The Legacy of West Side Story, Library of Congress exhibition
  15. ↑ Maestro Bernstein vs José Carreras (1984) on YouTube; Making of West Side Story – Leonard Bernstein's anger with Carreras on YouTube
  16. ↑ "West Side Story (1957)", leonardbernstein.com
  17. ↑ "Top Crossover Albums". Billboard. September 13, 1986.
  18. 1 2 "Top Crossover Albums". Billboard. October 25, 1986.
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