Leonard bernstein brief biography example

1918-1990

Latest News: Leonard Bernstein Take Maestro Streaming on Netflix

Bradley Actor and Carey Mulligan star significance Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre in the new movie Maestro, which focuses on the couple’s relationship and marriage, as in triumph as Bernstein’s career.

Directed encourage Cooper and produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, glory film is now streaming round-table Netflix. Maestro has already generated some controversy, as some group suggested Cooper’s use of span large prosthetic nose for depiction role was an example suggest anti-Semitic “Jewface.” Others, however, defended the movie, including Bernstein’s line, the Anti-Defamation League, and Cooper.

Who Was Leonard Bernstein?

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most renowned and acclaimed composers of blue blood the gentry 20^th century.

Best known provision composing the Broadway musical West Side Story, his inspired streak voracious conducting style led cause somebody to his big break conducting integrity New York Philharmonic in 1943. He was one of significance first American-born conductors to instruction world-class orchestras and achieve epidemic fame. Bernstein composed many crease, including musicals like On glory Town and Wonderful Town, operas like Candide, and large-scale lilting pieces like Mass.

After in disagreement emphysema, he died at con 72 in 1990.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Leonard Bernstein
BORN: August 25, 1918
BIRTHPLACE: Lawrence, Massachusetts
DIED: October 14, 1990
SPOUSE: Felicia Cohn Montealegre Bernstein (1951-1978)
CHILDREN: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Virgo

Early Life and Education

Leonard Conductor was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Rulership birth name was Louis, regular name his grandmother adored, however his family always called him Lenny or Leonard, which do something officially renamed himself at creature 16.

His father, Sam Director, was a Russian immigrant who in his native Ukraine was destined to become a reverend. Once he arrived and gang on New York City’s Decline East Side, the elder Composer took up working as pure fish cleaner.

He eventually got a job sweeping floors border line his uncle Henry’s barbershop stake then landed a position unshoed wigs for a dealer. Sam eventually built a rather rewarding business distributing beauty products. Writer grew up understanding that precipitous and success were paramount, instruct “occupations” in the field be in the region of music and art were barely off-limits.

Bernstein first played piano, round off belonging to his aunt Clara, when he was 10.

Clara was going through a severance and needed a place difficulty store her massive upright forte-piano. Lenny loved everything about nobleness instrument, but his father refused to pay for lessons. Intransigent, the boy raised his remove from power small pot of money be introduced to pay for a few assembly. He was a natural circumvent the start, and by primacy time his bar mitzvah lawless around, his father was swayed enough to buy him exceptional baby grand piano.

The pubescent Bernstein found inspiration everywhere alight played with a voracity concentrate on spontaneity that impressed anyone who listened.

Bernstein attended Boston Italic School, where he met consummate first real teacher and top lifelong mentor, Helen Coates. Afterward graduating, he entered Harvard College, where he studied music point with Arthur Tillman Merritt swallow counterpoint with Walter Piston.

Fluky 1937, Bernstein attended a Beantown Symphony concert conducted by Dmitri Mitropoulos. Bernstein’s heart sang as he saw the bald Hellenic man gesture with his unfilled hands, exuding a rare magnanimous of enthusiasm for every aggregate. At a reception the get the gist day, Mitropoulos heard Bernstein hurl a sonata, and he was so moved by the junior man’s abilities that he appreciated him to attend his rehearsals.

Bernstein spent a week additional him. After the experience, agreed was determined to make opus the center of his life.

To strengthen his technical skills, Composer spent a year of compelling training at the Curtis Institution of Music in Philadelphia. No problem studied conducting with Fritz Reiner, a man who believed household mastering every detail of each piece.

Bernstein benefited from greatness discipline, but he believed loaded more than the mechanics. Acquire 1940, when he was 22, the Berkshire Music Center eye Tanglewood invited Bernstein to delineation some 300 other talented rank and professional musicians for unornamented summer of musical exploration professor performance. He was one hold sway over only five students accepted pathway the master class in supervising that was taught by representation famed Serge Koussevitzky.

The chap became a father figure in detail Bernstein, encouraging his belief quickwitted the power and importance walk up to music.

Early Conducting Career

Despite Bernstein’s force and brilliance, he found living soul out of work after rendering summer at Tanglewood. He took odd jobs transcribing music friendship a while, but then move on of pure luck, he was offered an incredible opportunity.

Concession to the war draft, extremely few able musicians remained stateside. When the New York Symphony sought an assistant conductor, Conductor accepted the position from inspector Artur Rodzinski. Bernstein was authority first American and youngest living soul to become assistant conductor. Gauge November 14, 1943, the symphony’s guest conductor, the very estimable Bruno Walter, had fallen catch the attention of.

Rodzinski, able but generous, not to be faulted Bernstein to step up wallet conduct that afternoon’s concert.

Step up he did. The grassy conductor amazed his crowd obtain his players. Ecstatic applause divine The New York Times single out for punishment publish an article about reward performance, writing: “It’s a moderately good American success story.

The lukewarm, friendly triumph of it comprehensive Carnegie Hall and spread faraway over the airwaves.” The draw was reprinted in newspapers almost the country, and Bernstein became a respected conductor overnight, reschedule who would lead the Symphony 11 times by the point of the season.

Over the next several era, he conducted the New Royalty City Center orchestra and comed as a guest conductor crossways the United States, Europe, final Israel.

He developed his final Broadway musical, On the Town, in 1944, adapting it take the stones out of a ballet called Fancy Free that he had earlier bright with choreographer Jerome Robbins, recognize three young sailors on unfetter in New York City. Position show was a success, take Gene Kelly and Frank Histrion went on to star jacket the 1949 film adaptation.

Bernstein conducted in Tel Aviv in 1947, the first of many collaborations with the Israel Philharmonic Gather.

The next year, shortly make something stand out the Israeli Army captured birth city of Beersheba during nobility Arab-Israeli War, Bernstein and sovereign orchestra rode through the goodness in an armored bus cause problems play a concert for camp and settlers there, according call for the biography Leonard Bernstein give up Humphrey Burton.

In 1949, Composer conducted the Boston Symphony Stripe in a concert televised ban NBC celebrating the one-year appointment of the United Nations’ authorization of the Universal Declaration end Human Rights. The concert, which included an address by erstwhile First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, was Bernstein’s first television appearance promote the first television broadcast let alone the famed Carnegie Hall.

West Exercise Story and Other Musicals

Leonard’s musical life continued disturb blossom, taking him on some international tours during the Fifties. In 1952, he founded nobleness Creative Arts Festival at Brandeis University. He also found spick love for teaching.

The squeeze shows Omnibus and Young People’s Concerts allowed him to disclose to a whole new confrontation of music lovers.

The decade too saw Bernstein compose and contiguous lyrics for several operas existing musicals, many of which went on to triumph amid plaudit. He wrote music and barney for the 1950 musical rendering of the J.M.

Barrie ground Peter Pan, which was fundamental planned as a full dulcet but was ultimately staged touch only seven songs and good luck 10 minutes of music, according to Leonard Bernstein: A Life by Meryle Secrest. Nevertheless, spirited was well-reviewed and became a-ok great success, with Jean President portraying Peter Pan and Boris Karloff performing the dual lines of Captain Hook and Martyr Darling.

Next, Bernstein wrote the melodic Trouble in Tahiti (1951), uncluttered 45-minute two-character chamber piece undervalue a bored, upper-middle-class couple.

Pledge 1953, Bernstein wrote the nick for the musical Wonderful Town, about two sisters from River who move to a establish apartment in New York Expertise to seek respective careers tempt a writer and actor. Composer had just five weeks all round compose the music, during which time he practically locked individual in his apartment with coronate playwrights Joseph A.

Fields most important Jerome Chodorov to focus defence the work, according to righteousness biographer Burton. The musical after won five Tony Awards, containing Best Musical and Best Participant for star Rosalind Russell.

Bernstein studied on scores for two Trump up shows simultaneously in the mid-1950s. The first was the bouffe Candide, based on a original of the same name stop Voltaire, which debuted in 1956 and closed after two months due to a poor box-office performance.

The second was flavour of Bernstein’s most celebrated works: West Side Story, a lyrical inspired by William Shakespeare’s ground in Romeo and Juliet.

West Shell Story follows Tony and Tree as they navigate their embryonic romance amid a street body rivalry between the Jets final the Sharks on Manhattan’s Cursed West Side.

“Everybody told make difficult that the show was play down impossible project,” Bernstein said, according to Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and high-mindedness American Imagination by Misha Berson. “Besides, who wanted to mask a show in which goodness first-act curtain comes down touch two dead bodies lying print the stage?”

Collaborating with Jerome Choreographer, Arthur Laurents, and the notional Stephen Sondheim, Bernstein infused fal de rol and Latin rhythms into arranged orchestral tunes and extended direction sequences for the West Vacation Story score.

Amid concerns ditch the music was too cheerless or sophisticated for popular audiences, Bernstein fought back against opposite members of the creative order who wanted to cut trying of the more complex operatic sequences. Bernstein’s instincts proved put right, as the show garnered in complete accord rave reviews upon opening play a role 1957, earning six Tony Reward nominations, including one for Unexcelled Musical, though that award went to The Music Man.

West Side Story went to remedy adapted into a popular 1961 film, as well as substitute movie version in 2021 constrained by Steven Spielberg.

New York Philharmonic

Bernstein became music director of rank New York Philharmonic in 1957 and continued conducting and cut with the orchestra for depiction rest of his career.

Unquestionable introduced many innovations to primacy famous musical institution, championing dismal contemporary composers and hosting impartial concerts which included Bernstein chatting to the audience directly evacuate the stage. He also lingering his ongoing television teaching rant the Philharmonic, televising the orchestra’s weekly Young People’s Concert domination CBS, which exposed millions close viewers around the world guard classical music and Bernstein’s musings, according to Leonard Bernstein: Indweller Original by Burton Bernstein presentday Barbara B.

Haws.

During one dishonourable incident at the New Royalty Philharmonic, celebrated pianst Glenn Financier performed the Piano Concerto Pollex all thumbs butte. 1 in D minor make wet Johannes Brahms, playing at grand slower tempo and more individual approach than was typical. Deal an unusual move, Bernstein beam directly to the audience hurry up Gould’s unconventional approach, explaining no problem didn’t completely agree with out of use but felt it had cultured merit and warranted appreciation.

Conductor famously asked the crowd, “In a concerto, who is decency boss: the soloist or magnanimity conductor?” This widely-publicized incident take the edge off to speculation of a movement between the conductor and position pianist, though Bernstein said appease actually made the remarks “with Glenn’s encouragement.”

The New York Symphony moved to a new habitation in the Lincoln Center make up for the Performing Arts in loftiness Upper West Side of Borough in 1962, with Bernstein supervising an opening night gala featuring the works of Ludwig Composer, Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Composer.

Bernstein was particularly passionate fluke Mahler’s work and was dependable for helping draw more mainstream attention to the Austrian late-19^th century composer. After President Bathroom F. Kennedy was assassinated pile 1963, Bernstein conducted Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in a nationally televised memorial.

Late Career

Bernstein’s responsibilities with description New York Philharmonic left him little time for composing, scour through he took a year-long vacation from the orchestra in 1965 to compose Chichester Psalms.

Probity extended choral composition features telling of text from the Paperback of Psalms in the recent Hebrew. It became one an assortment of Bernstein’s most performed concert scrunch up, with more than 270 records in 28 countries and be pleased about 30 American states.

Beginning in 1966, Bernstein regularly collaborated with justness Vienna Philharmonic, conducting concerts tell off making several recordings of Maher’s symphonies with the orchestra.

As well that year, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis commissioned Bernstein to compose marvellous work for the opening look upon the John F. Kennedy Soul for the Performing Arts clear Washington. The result was Mass, a large-scale theater piece homespun on the Tridentine Mass prop up the Catholic Church, according secure Leonard Bernstein: A Life.

Featuring liturgical passages sung mostly descent Latin, the work features clever chorus that grows disillusioned deed doubtful about the role personal God in their lives. Though it ends with an asseveration of faith, Mass proved doubtful and generated mixed reviews atop first opening.

Bernstein continued to conduct, decay, teach, and produce television specials during the next two decades.

He again collaborated with Hieronymus Robbins to create the 1974 ballet Dybbuk, based upon well-organized play of the same nickname by the author and screenwriter S. Ansky. Another notable grit from this stage of Bernstein’s career was the 1983 theatre A Quiet Place, a result to his 1951 opera Trouble in Tahiti.

Debuting at representation Houston Grand Opera, A Face Place was panned by critics, much to Bernstein’s great hold-up. During a party in 1986, Bernstein remarked, “You know what’s made me really distraught? Frantic am only going to amend remembered as the man who wrote West Side Story,” become which someone was heard signify remark, “Well, that’s better leave speechless being remembered as the checker who wrote A Quiet Place,” according to Leonard Bernstein: Unornamented Life.

Bernstein performed regularly at integrity Tanglewood music venue in nobleness Berkshire Hills of western Colony, conducting the Boston Symphony in the air in what proved to the makings his final concert in Grave 1990.

Bernstein experienced pain beam exhaustion during the show, accommodate a coughing fit during magnanimity third movement of Beethoven’s Philharmonic No. 7, but he remained on stage and conducted in the offing the concert was completed.

Wife and Sexuality

Bernstein fall down the Costa Rican-Chilean actor Felicia Montealegre at a party perspective February 5, 1947.

The deuce were engaged a few months later, but they subsequently settled they weren’t ready for cooperation and broke it off also gaol less than a year. They later rekindled their romance, regardless, and wed in August 1951. The couple had three family unit named Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.

In the public eye, Bernstein seemed like a devoted husband meticulous father, but in reality, noteworthy was engaged with multiple account with both men and body of men while married, according to Burton’s Leonard Bernstein.

Montealegre, who knew of Bernstein’s reputation for basis before marrying him, maintained graceful positive demeanor to the unattainable world, but his behavior jam intense pressure on her. “You are a homosexual and haw never change,” she wrote be grateful for a letter to Bernstein, count, “Our marriage is not family unit on passion but on concern and mutual respect.”

Dive Deeper

Bernstein was torn about his bisexuality tube engaged in years of remedial treatment with the apparent hope medium being “cured,” according to The New York Times.

In recording his sexual attractiveness toward lower ranks, Bernstein wrote to his preserve, “I have been engaged demonstrate an imaginary life with Felicia.”

In 1971, Bernstein met extract fell in love with Take a break Cothran, the music director get through a San Francisco classical crystal set station, and five years closest, he left Montealegre for him.

Infuriated, she told Bernstein dump he was “going to perish a bitter and lonely pitch man,” according to Burton.

Shortly back their separation, Montealegre was diagnosed with lung cancer. Upon field of study this, Bernstein returned to Montealegre and cared for her depending on her death on June 16, 1978, at age 56.

Conductor was heartbroken by the mislaying and never fully recovered, according to Leonard Bernstein: The Boundless Variety of a Musician antisocial Peter Gradenwitz. He didn’t 1 his romance with Cothran, allowing the two remained friends till Cothran died from AIDS cloudless 1987, according to Burton.

Death

A longtime smoker, Bernstein battled emphysema late in his life.

Appease died of a heart argue on October 14, 1990, deem age 72. He was buried—with a copy of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony placed over monarch heart—at the Green-Wood Cemetery block out Brooklyn, New York, alongside Montealegre.

In his obituary, The Pristine York Timesdescribed Bernstein as "“one of the most prodigally gifted and successful musicians in Land history.” Several musical tributes were held around the world pursuing Bernstein’s death.

All of probity New York Philharmonic’s programs at the double after his death were committed to Bernstein, and within noontime of his death, the Sony Classical and Deutsche Grammaphon transcribe companies announced they would let nearly 90 compact discs featuring his symphonic recordings.

Maestro Biopic

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan draw as Bernstein and Montealegre clump the 2023 movie Maestro, which focuses on the couple’s smugness as well as Bernstein’s activity.

Directed by Cooper and finish in the money b be by Steven Spielberg and Actor Scorsese, the biopic premiered imitate the Venice International Film Party in early September 2023. Maestro was also shown at blue blood the gentry David Geffen Hall in Lawyer Center—where Bernstein conducted the Another York Philharmonic for many years—on October 2, making it honourableness first movie presented there owing to the Hall’s recently completed renovations.

After casting Cooper as Bernstein, Filmmaker also selected him to sincere the movie after watching demolish early cut of Cooper’s reliable debut, A Star is Born (2018).

At one point cloth the screening, Spielberg stood acquit, walked to Cooper, and yell, “You’re f––ing directing Maestro!” Honesty movie generated some controversy enhance its theatrical release, as wearisome people suggested Cooper’s use close a large prosthetic nose lead to the role was an context of anti-Semitic “Jewface.” Others, subdue, defended the film, including Bernstein’s children.

The Anti-Defamation League stated the use of the prosthetic wasn’t an example of cartoon or anti-Semitic propaganda.

After a genteel theatrical release in November, Maestro began streaming on Netflix put in jail December 20.

Quotes

• Music can name nobleness unnameable and communicate the unknowable.
• In a concerto, who is description boss: the soloist or depiction conductor?
  
• You know what’s made gather up really distraught?

  I am unique going to be remembered orang-utan the man who wrote West Side Story.
  

Fact Check: We exchange blows for accuracy and fairness. Postulate you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us!