The more time passes, the more Leonard Bernstein’s “Kaddish” symphony sounds like an important work. It certainly does in Gerard Schwarz’s hands, as he leads a stimulating and fully engrossing rendition with his assembled performers. He’s got Bernstein’s idiom down pat–almost as well as the composer himself–successfully conveying the work’s angry first half while giving equal measure to the remainder’s more serene and playful episodes. The Royal Liverpool Orchestra plays marvelously, fully capturing Bernstein’s sound world, with its unique instrumental effects (even if Bernstein’s Israel Philharmonic recording features more aggressively played percussion).
Baritone Willard White takes on the speaker’s role, and though he at first sounds a bit stiff and stentorian (especially compared to the suave-sounding Michael Wager for Bernstein), his increasingly grand and eloquent oratory makes it clear that he is speaking not for himself, but for all of humanity. Soprano Yvonne Kenny sings with a transcendent beauty that is wholly appropriate for the music. The well-prepared Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Choir tackles Bernstein’s complex rhythms and tricky syncopations with real gusto.
Rhythmic alacrity also is a main ingredient in Schwarz’s winning performance of Bernstein’s joyous Chichester Psalms, with excellent contributions from treble soloist Michael Small and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir. After all the excitement, Schwarz ideally evokes the quiet rapture of the work’s magical close. Naxos’ first-rate recording provides realistic presence and wide dynamic range. An excellent pairing, and a fabulous disc. [9/30/2005]
