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Published on 11/14/08
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Feel the Bern
Leonard Bernstein was this city. A new fest proves he was a whole lot more, too.
By Steve Smith
Though he was born just north of Boston, Leonard Bernstein became the quintessential New York artist: a conductor, composer, pianist and pedagogue who made classical music cool without pandering. He was charming and erudite, complex and direct, cultured and radical—and the original crossover artist, penning hit songs and timeless musicals (including one of the greatest, West Side Story).
This fall, Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic—two institutions with which Bernstein was indelibly linked—are marking what would have been his 90th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as music director of the Phil with “Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds,” a cross-disciplinary festival meant to illuminate the many facets of this singular artist. Which of his personalities will show up? TONY takes a look.
What’s here?
THE TUNESMITH
Michael Tilson Thomas, a Bernstein protégé, leads an opening-night gala chock-full of killer hooks, including selections from West Side Story, On the Town and Trouble in Tahiti. San Francisco Symphony, Carnegie Hall, Sept 24
THE SERIOUS COMPOSER
Lorin Maazel examines Bernstein’s dual role as music director and composer, conducting the Symphony No. 2 (“The Age of Anxiety”) alongside pieces by fellow New York Phil conductors Mahler, Boulez and Maazel himself. New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, Sept 25–27
THE SHOWMAN
Prominent jazz and cabaret artists apply their talents to a Bernstein hit parade, featuring tunes from Wonderful Town, West Side Story and Peter Pan. New York Pops, Carnegie Hall, Oct 17
THE MAN OF FAITH
Marin Alsop, another Bernstein acolyte, helms “The Bernstein Mass Project,” in which hundreds of local students will explore and perform Bernstein’s Mass, a still-controversial statement of faith and tolerance. Zankel Hall, Oct 19; United Palace, Oct 25
THE NATIVE SON
David Robertson celebrates Bernstein’s devotion to boosting for American music, matching the Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”) with works by Copland, Elliott Carter and Christopher Rouse. Avery Fisher Hall, Oct 30–Nov 1
THE YOUNG AMERICAN
Bernstein made his worldwide splash on November 14, 1943, at Carnegie Hall, stepping in at the last minute to conduct the New York Philharmonic. Exactly 65 years later, young music director–designate Alan Gilbert leads an all-Bernstein bill. Carnegie Hall, Nov 14
What’s missing?
THE RAKE
Let’s really bring out the flamboyance, melancholy and intimacy of Bernstein’s songs: Rufus Wainwright singing “100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man,” and k.d. lang doing “I Feel Pretty” would be our dream bill. Or vice versa!
THE RADICAL
Like many of his peers, Bernstein mingled with Black Panthers and other rabble-rousers. What might today’s socially aware artists like Nas, Wyclef Jean or the Roots make of his tunes?
THE ECLECTIC
Imagine the kind of wildly multifaceted bill producer Hal Willner might have mined from Bernstein’s eclectic musical juxtapositions…say, Lou Reed, Van Dyke Parks, Joe Jackson, Rubén Blades and Fiona Apple?
More in Classical
Bring the noise! | Feel the Bern | The Odds
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Bob
Thu, Aug 28, at 02:11pm
I think you mean probabilities, not odds. Odds (in favor of an event) are a ratio of the probability of success over the probability of failure of an event. So, as written, it's about 49% likely that the little old couple will leave, when we all know that, as described, Oresteia will clear them out.
