Leonard Bernstein: Wonderful Town – Simon Rattle

   in Opera Now (Oct, 2018)
Bernstein’s Wonderful Town was premiered on Broadway in 1953, preceding the more popular West Side Story by four years. It is the tale of two sisters from Ohio who arrive in New York, Eileen (soprano) to become an actress, Ruth (mezzo), a writer, and it takes a large cast and enthusiastic chorus and orchestra with zing to spring to life. In this live recording from the Barbican (2017), it gets everything required. Simon Rattle conducts the LSO with snap, quick-fire changes of tempi, contrasting big band precision with some sassy blues. His chorus sounds as though it is having a ball. Danielle de Niese is a winning Eileen, sweet but …