Leonard Bernstein (20th Century Composers) - Softcover

Myers, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714837016 ISBN 13: 9780714837017

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2000

Synopsis

Leonard Bernstein (1918–90), creator of the Broadway masterpiece, West Side Story, was the best loved and most successful conductor of his generation. He inspired fellow American musicians, being the first native American to direct a major American orchestra, and the first to conquer Europe. This biography covers all aspects of Bernstein’s career, from his extraordinary early rise to fame as a conductor to his work as a world-famous composer, including his musicals and the score for On the Waterfront. It examines the paradoxes of a man who was brilliant, articulate, witty and charming but could also be vain, egocentric and demanding.

About this title

Review:

"Paul Myers writes concisely and entertainingly... Will make readers long to hear the music."―Times Literary Supplement

On the 20th Century Composers Series

"As a series, Phaidon's 20th Century Composers has brought remarkable variety and a welter of information, both necessary and delightfully trivial. Intended both for the general reader and for the more enthusiastically musical."―The Scotsman

Synopsis:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0714837016
• ISBN 13: 9780714837017
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240