Posted on 08/25/2018 10:23:26 AM PDT by EveningStar
Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of the great musician, Leonard Bernstein.
From Wikipedia:
Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the US to receive worldwide acclaim. According to music critic Donal Henahan, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."Other articles:
His fame derived from his long tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, from his conducting of concerts with most of the world's leading orchestras, and from his music for West Side Story, Peter Pan, Candide, Wonderful Town, On the Town, On the Waterfront, his Mass, and a range of other compositions, including three symphonies and many shorter chamber and solo works.
Bernstein was the first conductor to give a series of television lectures on classical music, starting in 1954 and continuing until his death. He was a skilled pianist, often conducting piano concertos from the keyboard. He was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of Gustav Mahler, the composer he was most passionately interested in.
As a composer he wrote in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of his works are regularly performed around the world, although none has matched the tremendous popular and critical success of West Side Story.
At 100, West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein is still brilliant
Beyond West Side Story: 5 of Leonard Bernstein’s musical masterpieces
Life With Leonard Bernstein: The composer's daughter talks frankly about her new memoir
Google Doodle Celebrates Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday: Watch
Leonard Bernstein at 100: The Week in Classical Music
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Don’t forget his work on Broadway.
Don’t forget his work on Broadway.
Mr.Bernstein and I have the same birthday!
Lenny was lucky to live in the times when it was permissible for, if not expected of, famous genius faggots to screw little boys.
When I watch him on youtube conducting the Vienna Philharmonic I am in awe.
One of the great PERFORMERS of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDXWK3W477w
Take the time to watch Beethoven’s OTHER 5th.
I really love the music of Leonard and his brother Elmer Bernstein.
American Genius!
Not related, although they were friends.
Yeah, being silly. Check out the tag line...
Picking up rent boys?
I can’t read.
Talented but liked to hobnob with racist and marxist radicals.
Today is Carroll Baker Day on TCM but Leonard Bernstein Day was several days ago. Go figure.
He was a brilliant musician, did an enormous amount to expose people to great music - in fact, in my NYC public school, I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to one of the special open rehearsals that he held. Afterwards, he talked to us about the pieces and he was wonderful.
He was also a brilliant composer; West Side Story and Candide, I think, will eventually be considered major contributions to the US operatic repertoire. And On the Town and the others were also great comic operas. (In an opera, theoretically, all dialogue is sung, which is why most musicals don’t make it into that category, but I think that may have to change in the future.)
His politics stank and he got sold on his own legend. And he was always wanting to be in with the in crowd, so when it suddenly became in to be gay, he went that way too. I will say, however, that he did come back to take care of his wife, a brilliant Chilean singer with whom he had two children, when she developed cancer after she left him during the gay phase. I always thought that the trendy 60s and 70s left so much human wreckage in their wake that we will never be able to fully comprehend it. And he was part of that wreckage.
Tchaikovsky too.
You knew about this event I assume.
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