Leonard Bernstein (20th Century Composers)
by Paul Myers
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Book Summary Information
Author: Paul MyersEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-03-26
ISBN: 0714837016
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Book Reviews of Leonard Bernstein (20th Century Composers)
Book Review: "Leonard Bernstein" - not just a West Side Story
Summary: 4 Stars
This brief biography of the life of Leonard Bernstein captivated me. I am very familiar with the music of Bernstein, but never got to know him the way my parent's generation did. Bernstein was ever in the forefront of music both popular, and classical. His "Young People's Concerts" made him, and a great deal of classical music, a houshold name. I was too young to enjoy these, however they are now being re-broadcast on cable television for a whole new generation to enjoy.
Although I was captivated by the music of Bernstein long before I ever read this chronology, I understand the music of Bernstein much better now. It is interesting to look at this life from several perspectives- Bernstein as conductor, Bernstein as composer, Bernstein as father, Bernstein as husband. Most interesting is the fact that Bernstein spent his whole life in search of creating the "flagship" compostion that would secure his place in the books.
Meyers has done a fine job at relaying the "self-illustrated" life of Bernstein. It is an honest book, too, detailing Bernstein's affairs, and tantrums.
Meyers shows us an amazing composer, a respected conductor, and a very colorful reflection of 20th century America via the life of Leonard Bernstein.
Summary of Leonard Bernstein (20th Century Composers)
This is an illustrated biography of the American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. Despite international fame and success, he was a man constantly struggling with inner conflicts. The best loved and most successful conductor of his generation, also a virtuoso pianist, he was adored by an international public, but suffered years of hostile criticism from the New York press. An inspiration to fellow American musicians, he was the first native American to direct a major American orchestra, and the first to conquer Europe (conducting the Vienna Philharmonic and at La Scala, Milan). His conducting style was famously flamboyant, yet he possessed a rare ability to communicate his music to the listener, who was often held spellbound. But Bernstein often dismissed conducting for its "temporary" character, and declared himself to be primarily a composer. Among other musicals, Bernstein wrote the world-famous "West Side Story" (1957), and the moving score to the film "On the Waterfront", but he never enjoyed unanimous critical acclaim for his "serious" classical works, such as "Chichester Psalms" and "Mass". In later years he feared that he would be remembered solely for his musicals. His private life was equally ambivalent. He regularly occupied the psychiatrist's couch, frequently switching from one "shrink" to the next; he was a bisexual who adored his wife and children but engaged almost constantly in homosexual liaisons. Brilliant, articulate, witty, charming and generous, he could equally be vain, egocentric, arrogant and demanding, sometimes distressing his most loyal supporters, especially in his later years, with drunken outbursts and wilful behaviour. In spite of these paradoxes, Bernstein is still one of the most important musical figures of the second half of the 20th century, and a major influence on musical life in Europe and America. This book chronicles his extraordinary rise to fame, and presents an account - from first-hand experience - of Bernstein's triumphs and his disappointments. This text is part of the 20th-century composers series, examining composers in a biographical context, and offering a comprehensive study of key figures in the creation of 20th-century music. None of the books in the series presume a knowledge of specialized terms or musical notation. Each book in the series features a list of works, a bibliography, and a discography.Leonard Bernstein, the latest in Phaidon Books's 20th Century Composers series, continues this workmanlike, readable collection of modern biographies, designed to fit all the essentials into fewer than 250 pages each. Author Paul Myers, a former record producer for Decca, Columbia, and Naxos, has composed a fond but clear-eyed look at this prodigal talent with the prodigal lifestyle. His excesses as well as his triumphs are examined, and his homosexuality is candidly discussed, but the book never descends to the tabloid-like depths of some other biographies of the composer of West Side Story, Candide, Trouble in Tahiti, and other works, both serious and less than serious. Myers himself seems to belong to the camp that holds that Bernstein deserved recognition primarily as a composer of important works, as opposed to mere entertainments. He is, moreover, perhaps too generous in his examination of such things as Mass, which was performed at the opening of the Kennedy Center, and is very much a souvenir of its time (the early 1970s) and place (the world of fashionable liberalism), and hard to listen to today as a result. But he discusses both Bernstein's triumphs as a conductor and composer and his failures in work and life fairly. This is a good, readable biography, a worthwhile introduction to Bernstein's life, and a good starting place for those who want more details. --Sarah Bryan Miller
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