LEONARD BERNSTEIN

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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.

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.

"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.

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

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

Kaddish is my personal favorite of his classical work.