West Side Story

Sunday Concerts

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Gulbenkian Orchestra
Lorenzo Viotti Conductor
Telmo Costa* Clarinet
Maja Plüddemann Commentator

Leonard Bernstein
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (arr. Eric Crees)
Prologue –
Somewhere –
Scherzo –
Mambo –
Cha-Cha –
Meeting Scene –
“Cool” Fugue –
Rumble –
Finale

Leonard Bernstein
Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
for clarinet and jazz ensemble
Prelude – Fugue – Riffs

*Due to reasons of force majeure, Andreas Ottensamer will be replaced by Telmo Costa.


The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us at [email protected].

The musical West Side Story premiered with great success on Broadway in 1957. Its immense popularity would lead to a film version in 1961. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the plot nevertheless fits into the American reality of the time. In the musical structure, Bernstein introduced several dance numbers that, going beyond the conventions of musical comedy, use rich and diversified orchestral effects, as well as elements of jazz and Latin rhythms. This fusion between classical and jazz is the main feature of Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1949), originally composed for a jazz band with solo clarinet.

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