Make no mistake, I think Perlman a superb violinist, a musician who deserves almost all the praise he gets. My questions are genuine. He has obviously put in more hours on his Tchaikovsky than on his Bernstein. In fact, I'd go so far to contend he's probably put in the same amount of effort into the repertory on this disc as anyone else. I suspect less of a difference among the violinists and more among the conductors, orchestras, and ensemble between soloist and orchestra.
Many composers lurk in Bernstein's music.
Hindemith crops up in the Clarinet Sonata. Copland's jazz period informs On the Town. Bernstein sends a valentine to Viennese operetta in Candide. Trouble in Tahiti is one of Marc Blitzstein's better works. I mean no disparagement.