Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and Lukas Foss were prodigiously talented and highly influential composers, each embodying the 'American Dream' in their own way.
Album & Artwork
This album, titled 'The American Album', pays tribute to the greatest composers of Itzhak Perlman's adopted country.
Composer Biography
All three composers featured on this album — Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and Lukas Foss — were star students at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute.
Performer Biography
Itzhak Perlman, the violinist on this album, has explored classical, romantic, contemporary, jazz, and klezmer violin repertoire.
Notable Performances
The premiere of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto was given by American violinist Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, on February 7, 1941.
Composition History
Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, his first concerto of any kind, was commissioned for the young prodigy Iso Briselli, who deemed it unplayable.
Recording & Production
This recording of Lukas Foss's Three American Pieces marks the world premiere recording of its orchestral version, which Itzhak Perlman requested the composer to create.
You might also enjoy...
Bernstein: Serenade - Barber: Violin Concerto - Foss: Three American Pieces
Coleridge-Taylor, Dvořák, Stewart
Barber: Violin Concerto / Korngold: Violin Concerto; Much Ado About Nothing
Margola: Music for Violin, Piano & Orchestra
Liebermann: Violin Concerto, 2 Chamber Concertos, Air
