The original soundtrack recording is a classic. Marni Nixon, in particular, sounds fabulous as ghost singer for Natalie Wood (Maria). However, the orchestral playing by the NY Philharmonic on the new Spielberg film is in another league entirely. The orchestra sounds fabulous. On “Mambo” especially the percussion section is absolutely on fire and brings an element of Latin authenticity and swagger missing from the original. Recorded beautifully too. The singing is also very good.
Btw, while Bernstein did conduct a recording of the music from WSS, the conductor of the original film soundtrack was Johnny Green, not Bernstein.