All of
Leonard Bernstein's published works for solo piano happily fit on one CD, here performed by
Thomas Lanners.
Bernstein's piano compositions are virtually unknown, and perhaps that is because most of them are much more personal in nature than his other compositions. These are his small tributes to family members and close friends, his Anniversaries, so called because most of them commemorate birthdays. They are brief, generally consonant or mildly atonal, and represent different ideas, such as his interpretation of fellow composers' styles, the nature of the person, or his feelings for the person.
Lanners brings out that personal, intimate side of these pieces wonderfully. Even in those like the one for
Aaron Copland, that uses broad, open spaces, or the one for
William Kapell, where the briefness and energy represent the pianist's short life, there is a feeling of closeness, as if
Lanners expects no audience other than himself. Touches, an atonal piece that was meant to have an audience, sounds just as personal as the Anniversaries.
Bernstein wrote it as a test piece for the
Van Cliburn Competition, and each variation in it works like a miniature etude, emphasizing different attacks and/or pedaling. With all the contrasts in the nine-minute work, it never really gets loud or grand, even in rhythmically percussive or heavily pedaled passages. The final work on the disc is
Bernstein's transcription of
Copland's El Salon Mexico. While
Lanners gives it some lovely lyrical moments and sensitive shadings, it is shy of being as brightly sunny as a Mexican beach. It is not that the sound of the recording or the piano is dull, just that a little extra sharpness in attack would make it brilliant and vivid.
Lanners makes a greater impression with the original
Bernstein works, making them as personal to himself as they were to
Bernstein.