Comparing back and forth the Bernstein and Vienna Symphony of the Randall Thompson - of course the Bernstein is in stereo and I was wrong in the notes - it does have very good and crisp sound, whereas the Bay Cities sounds like crap (not our fault - the recording is terrible) - interestingly, the Bernstein has always felt ponderous in its opening minutes, so I was surprised to see the Bernstein is only two seconds longer - but analyzing them carefully, while he begins much too ponderously with no sense of urgency or excitement, he then picks up the tempo about ninety seconds in and finds at least something approximating the urgency and excitement - it's better than I said in the notes, although the NY Phil is, for me, not at its best here - nothing terrible, just a bit ragged at times, probably due to Mr. Bernstein. But this symphony is so brilliantly melodic and American in feel (but not Copland-esque), it's absolutely worth getting - the music is glorious. I think the CD can be had very cheaply.
