This is a spectacular recording of an unjustly lesser known Bernstein masterpiece. It doesn’t have the familiar Broadway inflections found in much of his work but it is a solidly serious symphony/concerto which demonstrates an aspect of the composer’s wide range of compositional ability.

Bernstein wrote only three symphonies (the third and last written in 1963 in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy) but all deserve attention and this may very well be the best of the three. Is is the only one without a vocal part.

In many ways it is similar to his “Plato’s Symposium” (1945) in that it has an obligato solo part but is not identified as a Concerto. That said, the solo part is substantial and the fine pianist Krystian Zimmerman needed to come to terms with this spectacular work. It is indeed not a Concerto. The piano solo is more like a character in dialogue with the instruments of the orchestra, an analogy for the events of Auden’s Pulitzer Prize winning long poem of 1947 from which it gets its title. It was dedicated to Bernstein’s teacher Serge Koussevitsky who conducted the premiere with the composer at the piano.

Simon Rattle clearly has a grasp of Bernstein’s early symphonic style (he also gets jazz and later Bernstein more readily than most European conductors. I must admit only a passing familiarity with this work but this recording has definitely rekindled my interest and it will likely have that effect on subsequent listeners.

Beautiful performance and recording. Seek this one out. You won’t be disappointed.