Leonard Bernstein

If there is one Broadway song that personifies vivacity, vocal virtuosity, and exuberance, it is surely this one.  And, indeed, some may recognize the melody of the over-the-top song for coloratura soprano (think of the young Barbara Cook or Madeline Kahn), “Glitter and Be Gay,” from its use as a theme for the Dick Cavett television show. Candide was originally conceived by Broadway...

If there is one Broadway song that personifies vivacity, vocal virtuosity, and exuberance, it is surely this one.  And, indeed, some may recognize the melody of the over-the-top song for coloratura soprano (think of the young Barbara Cook or Madeline Kahn), “Glitter and Be Gay,” from its use as a theme for the Dick Cavett television show. Candide was originally conceived by Broadway...

Bernstein’s position as one of the great conductors of the twentieth century, his facility as teacher, skill as a pianist, charm as a television personality, and, of course as a wonderful composer, left behind a legacy equaled by few.  And while he worked assiduously as a composer of  “serious” music, there is no doubt that his greatest compositions were in American popular...

Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy.  What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors.  Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical theatre and “serious works,”...

On the Waterfront (1954) is easily one of the most important of American films.  Directed by the great—and controversial—Elia Kazan, with a screenplay by Budd Schulberg, and an all-star cast of Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint, it just doesn’t get much better than this in cinema.  It won eight Academy Awards (but not one for the music!), and is...

Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy.  What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors.  Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical theatre and “serious works,”...

Bernstein was capable of composing some of the most scintillating, brilliant, joyous, and happy music of our time.  This overture is all of that and more.  It was composed in 1977 upon the occasion of the great Russian violoncello virtuoso, Mstislav Rostropovich, becoming the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, in Washington, DC.  Rostropovich’s nickname was “Slava,” and...

Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy. What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors. Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical theatre and “serious works,”...

There is infinitely more to Bernstein than the bright and gay.   All his life, he aspired equally to serious composition, and the Symphony No. 1 is a very early example—premièred in 1944 when he was twenty-five, in the youthful flush of success. His ascent to national acclaim was the success borne by his substitute appearance as conductor at the last minute before the New York...

Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy.  What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors.  Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical theatre and “serious works,”...