LEONARD BERNSTEIN

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:04pm

With the revival of WONDERFUL TOWN to open soon, it might be nice to look at the career of Leonard Bernstein. In my opinion, he comes very close second to Richard Rodgers in sheer musical talent, While he did not produce the amount of works that Rodgers did, his body of work very much towers above many others. Probably many don't realsize that WONDERFUL TOWN is a very sophisticated piece of work. Written as a romp in record breakng time, the music represents a very sophisticated, erudite, comical and sensitive mind. And his CANDIDE is probably the opera that Stravinsky wanted to write, but never could. The only work of his that I saw of his on Broadway was the original ON THE TOWN. My friend Roberta attended the original show also where, at one performance, Bernstein appeared as Madame Dilly! I'll bet he was spectacular in that part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miriam

Updated On: 11/11/03 at 04:04 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:11pm

Really, in terms of musical ability, Bernstein buries Rodgers. No competition. Rodgers is historically important to musical theater but his work doesn't mean much of anything anywhere else.

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:27pm

BERNSTEIN was so gifted in so many areas that it was astonishing.

A great Symphonic Conductor.

A great Opera Conductor.

A prolific writer and speaker.

A magnificent composer for the Theater.

A fantastic composer for Film.

Handsome and magnetic.

Married a gorgeous woman, had a gaggle of kids while bedding some of the most famous men of the century.

Could probably dance a mean cha-cha as well .

What he was not was a great classical music composer and unfortunately that’s what he wanted to be more than anything else.

His lack of recognition by critics and audiences as a "Legitamate" composer had a profound effect on him.

His classical stuff is interesting, at times even involving but no more than that and he knew it.

He was quite frankly one of the most fascinating men of the last 100 years.
Updated On: 11/11/03 at 04:27 PM

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:30pm

wholeheartedly agree with ANTH, but need to say i admire TROUBLE IN TAHITI and A QUIET PLACE as operas. And let's not forget Bernstein's contributions to arts education through the televised "Omnibus" specials.

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:36pm

Your right add:

World renown esteemed educator of music

to the list above

Txtwostep did you notice you used the word "admire" to describe his operas..

Not "love"!

I love "Norma", "Ann Bolena", 'Tosca", "La Traviata"...!

I admire "Trouble in Tahiti"!

Huge Difference!

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 4:48pm

don't hit me, but i don't love any operas. There are many i admire. But it's not my favorite form, so "love" is a bit strong.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 5:42pm

To me, Bernstein sounds progressively LESS important and/or significant with each passing year. In terms of musical ability, he can't hold a candle to Rogers. Or Gershwin. Or Arlen.

Bernstien was very talented. But JohnPapa, Richard Rogers was a genius.

Updated On: 11/11/03 at 05:42 PM

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 6:11pm

again with the hierarchies. Are they really useful? i love Arlen and Gershwin and Rodgers and Bernstein. They inspire different singers or directors or choreographers in different ways. i just wish i had a smidgen of the talent they all shared with the world.

Updated On: 11/11/03 at 06:11 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 6:28pm

Rodgers wasn't a musical genius, his work doesn't hold up to much musiacl scrutiny, whereas Bernstein's does. Rodgers was certainly popular and successful but he was a pretty light writer. It was Hammerstein and Hart that pushed his work toward being art.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/11/03 at 6:58pm

Guess I need to actually pull out his biography & actually read it

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:13am

Comparing Bernstein and Rodgers is rather like comparing Sondheim and Herman. All did what they did best in very different ways. All have wonderful cannons to leave behind. All will be remembered as invaluable to the history of American Musical Theatre.

[LouW95]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:16am

If you are a Bernstein fan, you might wish to visit his grave in the Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. Many other famous people are buried there and walking tours are often conducted.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:21am

Oh, and Anthony, it is a bit disconcerting to see you posting about serious opera with that HORRIBLE picture of whatshername as your avitar.

Oh, Lordy, who am I kidding? Look at my picture.

Love ya.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:26am

I agree whole-heartedly with Miriam and voiceanth. Bernstein was a genius. I think comparing Rodgers and Bernstein is like comparing Bonnie Franklin and Chita Rivera. Rodgers was definitely "for the masses" (and nothing wrong with that!), while Bernstein was for the classes.

I don't know alot of the WONDERFUL TOWN score (except, of course, "Little Bit In Love", "100 Easy Ways", and "Ohio") but after hearing "Wrong Note Rag" on the Jason Graae LIVE AT THE CINEGRILLE cd, I'm awe-struck at the difficulty of that number. Talk about atonal masquerading as a pop song! I can't imagine trying to learn that -- the intervals are so random.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:51am

"Rodgers was definitely "for the masses" (and nothing wrong with that!), while Bernstein was for the classes."

That was Bernstein's problem. As long as he stuck to Broadway, he was brilliant. But when he tried to go for "Serious Art", the results were often pretty dreadful. MASS, anyone?! Oy.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:52am

Though Bernstein is my sun and moon, I disagree about your estimation of Rodgers, JohnPopa. Granted, his musical vocabulary and structures are not as complex or "moderne" as Bernstein's. But it doesn't automatically follow that Bernstein's music is "better" or more valid. Is Stravinsky "better" than Mozart because his is a more dense and complex (some might say complicated) art? Rodgers most certainly is responsible for developing and extending the light classic style of popular song originated by Kern and others in the early part of the century as well. His seemingly endless gift for striking melody, extremely sophisticated and immediately distinctive harmonic progressions and, most importantly, his pioneering efforts in integrating story and song in the musical in innovative and progressive ways ensure his place in history. He wasn't just a tunesmith but an insightful dramatist of the first order (for example, it was his suggestion that Maria live at the end of West Side Story because "she's dead already") who, with his collaborators, was responsible for the legitimization of the American musical theatre as an art form. Finally, to claim that Rodgers work "doesn't mean much of anything anywhere else" is absurd. According to statistics, Rodgers' songs are among the most perfomed IN THE WORLD as are his shows, with current productions as far flung as Vienna and Japan. If that isn't some kind of genius, I don't know what is.

Posted: 11/12/03 at 9:57am

SueleenGay my goal is to have Jesssica pose in an exact replica of your icon....Would'nt Jessica look great!???

I think Bernstein would be the first to agree that comparing composers is really not a great idea.

Remember this was a man who would conduct Stravinsky at Lincoln Center and when it was over head to the East Village to catch a Patti Smith concert or go to the Continental Baths to hear Bette Midler or go to Studio 54 to dance.

He would'nt understand anyone comparing him to Rodgers because he was able to see why all kinds of music never mind composers, should exsist happily together...

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 10:02am

"According to statistics, Rodgers' songs are among the most perfomed IN THE WORLD as are his shows, with current productions as far flung as Vienna and Japan. If that isn't some kind of genius, I don't know what is."

I hear the same argument from Andrew Lloyd Webber fans.

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 10:02am

I sould have said that both Brnstein and Rodgers contributed to the greatness of musical theatre. Rodgers more than Bernstein, to be sure. I wish that Bernstein would have written more for the musical stage. But being busy in so many other area, he never had time!

Miriam

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 6:13pm

i really do like the Bernstein canon. And i even like sections of MASS, and love "Simple Song"...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 6:20pm

I agree, Tex. I love a lot of MASS. I also love the way it opened the Kennedy Center with all those Kennedys sitting in the audience. But Simple Song is beautiful.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 7:12pm

MASS is magnificent. As is just about everything from the pen (and heart and soul) of Leonard Bernstein.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 7:17pm

Although I really enjoy all of Bernstein's musical theater scores, I really love ON THE TOWN. It comes very close to being operatic and some of its choral harmonies are ravishing.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 11/13/03 at 11:22am

Kaddish is my personal favorite of his classical work.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/13/03 at 11:59am

Oh, my God, yes, especially the recording with Felicia Montealgre.