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Robert ChestermanThis is Robert Chesterman's second collection of exclusive interviews with renowned conductors of the world's pre-eminent symphony orchestras, transcribed from recordings he made over the years as a talented CBC producer. Engaging, exciting, pithy and profound words of wisdom from these acknowledged "geniuses" of the Classical genre - often veering away from music into unexpected yet surprisingly relevant territory - create a powerful impression
Conductors Interviewed:
CONDUCTORS IN CONVERSATION: Herbert Von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, James Levine
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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
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Robert ChestermanLIST OF CONDUCTORS: Bruno Walter, Sir Adrian Boult, Leonard Bernstein, Otto Klemperer, Ernest Ansermet, Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Rafael Kubelik, Leopold Stokowski
Thanks Bently,This looks great. I will add this to my to read list.
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[image error] http://www.therestisnoise.com/2010/07...
Earlier this summer, Charles Mackerras died. He was a great conductor who made a lot of great recordings. His Brahms, Dvorak, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Janacek, Suk, and Shostakovich recordings were celebrated.
http://www.classicstoday.com/digest/p...
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[image error] Conductor, composer, Grammy winning pianist, André Previn works in the musical worlds of classical, opera, and jazz. He has also done stage musicals and film scores.
He is probably best known today as a conductor . He has also composed numerous award winning film scores, played jazz piano with some of the worlds best jazz musicians, hosted fascinating TV shows and accompanied some of the worlds greatest singers. He is also an author.
Andre Previnwiki
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message 12:
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André, Honorary Contributor - EMERITUS - Music
(last edited Sep 12, 2011 02:14PM)
(new)
The life story of one of the great modern conductors, Zubin Mehta.Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life
by Zubin Mehta (no photo)Synopsis:
Zubin Mehta has created a body of work with the world's greatest orchestras, including the Vienna, Berlin, Los Angeles, and New York Philharmonics. Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life is a frank and direct account of Mehta's entire musical life. From his childhood days in Bombay to his journey to Vienna to study music at the age of 18, on through his entire professional career, he shares with us an insider's view.
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The video link below is 26 minutes long and shows Mehta and the LA Philharmonic rehearsing and discussing the upcoming performance. The last 10 minutes are the actual performance of the incomparable Bolero by Ravel. It is well worth watching.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klQB14...
It takes more than talent to gain world-wide fame as a conductor. This book explains some of the issues that make or break fame.The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power
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Norman LebrechtSynopsis:
Almost ten years after its original publication, The Maestro Myth continues to enthrall readers with its insightful look into the lives and careers of the world's most celebrated conductors.Rich in historical and biographical texture, Lebrecht's masterful chronicle considers the clout and character of every famous conductor from Richard Strauss to Herbert von Karajan to Leonard Bernstein to Simon Rattle. And in portraying the politics and inflated economics surrounding the podiums of today's international classical music scene, the author investigates the awesome power of superagents, the obstacles faced by blacks, women, and gays, and the mounting crisis in a profession where genuine talent grows ever scarcer.
A biography of one the the giants in the field of classical music.Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere
by Erik Ryding(no photo)Synopsis:
Bruno Walter, one of the greatest conductors in the twentieth century, lived a fascinating life in difficult times. This engrossing book is the first full-length biography of Walter to appear in English.Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky describe Walter's early years in Germany, where his successes in provincial theaters led to positions at the Berlin State Opera and the Vienna State Opera. They then tell of his decade-long term as Bavarian music director and his romantic involvement with the soprano Delia Reinhardt; his other positions in the musical community until he was ousted from Germany when the Nazi Party came to power in 1933; and his return to Vienna, where he was artistic director of the Opera House until he was again forced out by the Nazis. Finally they trace his career in the United States, where he led the New York Philharmonic and other orchestras and in his last years made numerous recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble created especially for him. Ryding and Pechefsky are the first biographers to make extensive use of the thousands of unpublished letters in the Bruno Walter Papers, now in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. In addition to interviewing more than sixty people who knew Walter, they examined countless reviews to assess the popular and critical impact he had on his times. Authoritative and even-handed, this biography sheds new light on Walter, one of the great formative influences in musical interpretation.
The first of a two volume set on the life of the great German conductor who fled Germany when the Nazis came to power.Otto Klemperer
by Peter Heyworth (no photo)Synopsis
Otto Klemperer was one of the great conductors of the century, best known in the last years of his life for his performances and recordings of the classical symphonic repertory from Mozart to Mahler. Volume 1 of Peter Heyworth's biography follows the conductor's career from early days in Prague through the innovative period of the Weimar Republic and his appointment as director of the Kroll Opera in Berlin to his abrupt departure from Germany in 1933. This book has become established as a classic account of one of the crucial figures in the musical life of the early twentieth century. With the publication of the long-awaited sequel covering the subsequent years from 1933–1973, this widely acclaimed first volume is now made available in a newly designed format as a companion to volume 2.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUmuQ...
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1958 - 1961). Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini, Piano parts performed by John(ny) Williams. (great)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSkH-...
Other:
http://www.henrymancini.com
Henry: A Personal Perspective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bskh...
Sir Thomas Beecham
Born: April 29, 1879 - St. Helens, near Liverpool, England
Died: March 8, 1961 - London, England
The celebrated English conductor, Thomas Beecham, was born to a father, Sir Joseph Beecham, a man of great wealth, derived from the manufacture of the once-famous Beecham pills. Thanks to them, young Beecham could engage in life's pleasures without troublesome regard for economic limitations. He had his first music lessons from a rural organist. From 1892 to 1897 he attended the Rossall School at Lancashire, and later went to Wadham College, Oxford. He did not have any formal music school. Musically he was an autodidact and taught himself everything. Later on he studied composition in London with Charles Wood and in Paris with Muszkowski.
In 1899 Thomas Beecham organised, mainly for his own delectation, an amateur ensemble, the St. Helen's Orchestral Society. Also in 1899 he conducted a performance with the prestigious Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. In 1902 he became conductor of K. Trueman's travelling opera company, which gave him valuable practical experience with theater music. He led this ensemble until 1904. In 1905 he gave his first professional symphonic concert in London, with members of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. In 1906 he became conductor of the New Symphony Orchestra, which he led until 1908. Then formed a group in his own name, the Beecham Symphony Orchestra, which presented its first concert in London in February 1909.
In 1910, financially backed by his family, Thomas Beecham took over the creative and business management of Covent Garden in London. In subsequent seasons conducted there and at other London theatres. He was the first in England to perform The Mastersingers of Nüremberg by R. Wagner, Elektra and Salome by R. Strauss and thus enriched the musical life of the English capital. He invited Fyodor Shalyapin, the Ballets Russes, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, in other words everyone of repute, to give guest performances in London. In 1915, during World War I, he organised the Beecham Opera Company by which time his reputation as a forceful and charismatic conductor was securely established in England. His audiences grew; the critics, impressed by his imperious ways and his unquestioned ability to bring out spectacular operatic productions, sang his praise; however, some commentators found much to criticise in his somewhat cavalier treatment of the classics.
In appreciation of his services to British music, Thomas Beecham was knighted in 1916. With the death of his father, he succeeded to the title of baronet. But all of his inherited money was not enough to pay for his exorbitant financial disbursements in his ambitious enterprises, and in 1920 his operatic enterprise went bankrupt. He rebounded a few years later and continued his extraordinary career. In January 1928, lie made his USA debut as a guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, at which concert Vladimir Horowitz also made his USA debut as soloist.
In 1929 Thomas Beecham organised and conducted the Delius Festival in London, to which Delius himself, racked by tertiary syphilitic affliction, paralysed and blind, was brought from his residence in France to attend Beecham's musical homage to him. From 1932 to 1939 he conducted again at Covent Garden. In 1932 he organised the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which also played at Covent Garden. Contemptuous of general distaste for the Nazi regime in Germany, he took the London Philharmonic Orchestra to Berlin in 1936 for a concert, which was attended by the Führer in person. As the war situation deteriorated on the Continent, Beecham went to the USA in May 1940, and also toured Canada and Australia. In 1941 he was engaged as conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, retaining this post until 1943; he also filled guest engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1942 to 1944. In America he was not exempt from sharp criticism, which he haughtily dismissed as philistine complaints. On his part, he was outspoken in his snobbish disdain for the cultural inferiority of England's wartime allies, often spicing his comments with mild obscenities, usually of a scatological nature.
After his return to England he was no longer able to resume his work at Covent Garden; his former orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, chose self-administration and rejected Beecham as its sole manager. As a result he founded, in 1946, still another orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which he managed until the end of his days. In 1950 he made an extraordinarily successful North American tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He continued to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra until ill health led him to nominate Rudolf Kempe as his successor in 1960. In 1957 Queen Elizabeth II made him a Companion of Honour.
Thomas Beecham was married 3 times: to Utica Celestia Wells, in 1903 (divorced in 1942); to Betty Hamby (in 1943), who died in 1957; and to his young secretary, Shirley Hudson, in 1959.
To mark his centennial, a commemorative postage stamp with Beecham's portrait was issued by the Post Office of Great Britain in September 1980. In 1964 the Sir Thomas Beecham Society dedicated to preserving his memory, was organised, with chapters in America and England. The Society publishes an official journal, Le Grand Baton, devoted to Beecham and the art of conducting.
In spite of the occasional criticism directed at him, Sir Thomas Beecham revealed a remarkable genius as an orchestra builder. In addition to his outstanding interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert, he had a particular affinity for the works of French and Russian composers of the 19th century. He was always an advocate of English music, particularly Frederick Delius, whose main works he was the first to play. He fought for the works of Jean Sibelius in England and defended those of Richard Strauss, to whom he felt greatly attached. In the field of old music he had affection for the oratorios of George Frideric Handel, which he performed in highly personal and surprising arrangements. He was also attracted by French music and it is to him that we owe gramophone recordings of the major symphonies of the 19th century and a trend-setting Carmen by Georges Bizet. His humour is legendary and his style of conducting, which tended to be based rather on instinct than on intellect, may be termed characteristic of a generation of musicians, to whom enthusiasm was more important than unrelenting strictness.
A conductor whose reputation is often in questions by some critics. This book attempts to set the record straight.The Mystery of Leopold Stokowski
by William Ander Smith (no photo)Synopsis:
Although supporters and critics of conductor Leopold Stokowski have disagreed over his contribution to symphonic music, a consensus developed that he was a man of paradox and mystery, an extrovert showman reclusively shy about who he was and what he was trying to do in music. This volume attempts to solve the mysteries. Includes an annotated discography.
Lorin Maazel,who conducted both the NY Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera, has passed away. RIP, Maestro.
This book explains the role of the conductor as more than the man who waves the baton at the orchestra. Interesting information.Conductors, Batons, and Orchestras
by Anne Krikler (no photo)Synopsis:
This, the third book on music by Anne Krikler, considers the role of the orchestral conductor, who is the key figure in directing the orchestra to play the music according to his interpretation of it, be it a symphony, an opera, a tone poem or lieder. While each composer sets the theme for his work, it is up to the conductor to interpret the intensions of the composer. It is also the task of the conductor to express the sentiments within the musical piece. He has to express the sentiments of the composer as closely as possible, while retaining the right to modify expressions where he thinks fit.
One of the greats, Maestro Georg Solti, tells his story.Memoirs
by Georg Solti(no photo)Synopsis
One of the great music makers of our time has written a memoir as rich in event and adventure as it is in its reflections on, and insights into, music.
Sir Georg Solti, in these pages, relives an unparalleled musical life. He tells the story of a musical education that began in his native Budapest when his mother recognized and helped foster his talent. It continued with his studies at the rigorous Liszt Academy with Dohnányi, Kodály, Bartók, and Weiner, and a performance he heard of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, conducted by Erich Kleiber, that forever set his destiny.
He recounts his prewar experience coaching opera in Budapest, his exile in Zurich during World War II, and his work as music director of the Bavarian State Opera and life in postwar Munich. He then moves on to similar posts in Frankfurt and in London at Covent Garden. We watch as he continues his journey through the top ranks of the musical world and becomes, in 1969, director of the Chicago Symphony, a post he holds with brilliance and renown for twenty-two years. We follow him from 1991 on as he pursues for the first time the challenges and joys of the freelance conductor, working in Salzburg, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, New York, and St. Petersburg.
They are among the most admired and feared figures in classical music. Here are 16 of the most talented, revolutionary and formidable classical legends of all time - the great conductors. Visit this link for all the information.http://www.classicfm.com/discover/mus...
The book explains the symbiosis of the conductor with his orchestra.Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and Their Orchestras
by Tom Service(no photo)Synopsis:
How are conductors' silent gestures magicked into sound by a group of more than a hundred brilliant but belligerent musicians? The mute choreography of great conductors has fascinated and frustrated musicians and music-lovers for centuries, from Toscanini to Karajan, from Carlos Kleiber to Gustavo Dudamel. Orchestras can be inspired to the heights of musical and expressive possibility by their maestros, or flabbergasted that someone who doesn't even make a sound should be elevated to demigod-like status by the public.
This is the first book to go inside the rehearsal rooms of some of the most inspirational orchestral partnerships in the world. It's the first to see how Simon Rattle works with his musicians at the Berlin Philharmonic, how Mariss Jansons deals with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and how Claudio Abbado creates the world's most luxurious pick-up band every year with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. From London to Budapest, Bamberg to Vienna, great orchestral concerts are recreated as a collection of countless human and musical stories. The book reveals how the catalysts of place, time, and personal history are alchemised into the indelible magic of life-changing performances.
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You are welcome.....I still have a few music threads to bring up to date.
Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music
by Richard Osborne (no photo)Synopsis:
One of the greatest and most celebrated performing artists of the twentieth century, Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) dazzled, intrigued, and intimidated the music world. As the young Karajan told his brother, "Whether it's conducting, skiing, or motor racing, I simply want to be the best."
Richard Osborne draws on his own extensive conversations with Karajan, interviews with those who knew the conductor, and a treasure trove of primary sources to bring into focus the flamboyance and flaws of an extraordinary musician as well as the turbulent international music scene over six decades. The author debunks many legends about Karajan, particularly those relating to his membership in the Nazi Party, which he opportunistically joined in 1935 to obtain a conducting appointment. While the decision haunted him throughout his life, Karajan's career flourished after the war. A jet-setting superstar, he once held, simultaneously, six of the world's most prestigious musical posts, including director of the Salzburg Festival, artistic director of the Vienna State Opera, and conductor for life of the Berlin Philharmonic. After signing with legendary producer Walter Legge, Karajan achieved international fame through his best-selling recordings. He also embraced the challenge of adapting to rapidly changing technologies, and quickly mastered each new medium -- television, vinyl LPs, tapes, and CDs.
This comprehensive, well-balanced, and objective biography will stand as the definitive work on this exceptional maestro.
One of the greats!!!
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to "The Birds," and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock." Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson.
In 1940, he studied at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's newly created summer institute, Tanglewood, with the orchestra's conductor, Serge Koussevitzky. Bernstein later became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant.
Bernstein was appointed to his first permanent conducting post in 1943, as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, Bernstein substituted on a few hours notice for the ailing Bruno Walter at a Carnegie Hall concert, which was broadcast nationally on radio, receiving critical acclaim. Soon orchestras worldwide sought him out as a guest conductor.
In 1945 he was appointed Music Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1947. After Serge Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein headed the orchestral and conducting departments at Tanglewood, teaching there for many years. In 1951 he married the Chilean actress and pianist, Felicia Montealegre. He was also visiting music professor, and head of the Creative Arts Festivals at Brandeis University in the early 1950s.
Bernstein became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958. From then until 1969 he led more concerts with the orchestra than any previous conductor. He subsequently held the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor, making frequent guest appearances with the orchestra. More than half of Bernstein's 400-plus recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic.
Bernstein traveled the world as a conductor. Immediately after World War II, in 1946, he conducted in London and at the International Music Festival in Prague. In 1947 he conducted in Tel Aviv, beginning a relationship with Israel that lasted until his death. In 1953, Bernstein was the first American to conduct opera at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan: Cherubini's "Medea" with Maria Callas.
Bernstein was a leading advocate of American composers, particularly Aaron Copland. The two remained close friends for life. As a young pianist, Bernstein performed Copland's "Piano Variations" so often he considered the composition his trademark. Bernstein programmed and recorded nearly all of the Copland orchestral works --many of them twice. He devoted several televised "Young People's Concerts" to Copland, and gave the premiere of Copland's "Connotations," commissioned for the opening of Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center in 1962.
While Bernstein's conducting repertoire encompassed the standard literature, he may be best remembered for his performances and recordings of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Sibelius and Mahler. Particularly notable were his performances of the Mahler symphonies with the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s, sparking a renewed interest in the works of Mahler.
Inspired by his Jewish heritage, Bernstein completed his first large-scale work: Symphony No. 1: "Jeremiah." (1943). The piece was first performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1944, conducted by the composer, and received the New York Music Critics' Award. Koussevitzky premiered Bernstein's Symphony No. 2: "The Age of Anxiety" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bernstein as piano soloist. His Symphony No. 3: "Kaddish," composed in 1963, was premiered by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. "Kaddish" is dedicated "To the Beloved Memory of John F. Kennedy."
Other major compositions by Bernstein include "Prelude, Fugue and Riffs" for solo clarinet and jazz ensemble (1949); "Serenade" for violin, strings and percussion, (1954); "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story," (1960); "Chichester Psalms" for chorus, boy soprano and orchestra (1965); "Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers," commissioned for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and first produced there in 1971; "Songfest" a song cycle for six singers and orchestra (1977); "Divertimento," for orchestra (1980); "Halil," for solo flute and small orchestra (1981); "Touches," for solo piano (1981); "Missa Brevis" for singers and percussion (1988); "Thirteen Anniversaries" for solo piano (1988); "Concerto for Orchestra: Jubilee Games," (1989); and "Arias and Barcarolles" for two singers and piano duet (1988).
Bernstein also wrote a one-act opera, "Trouble in Tahiti," in 1952, and its sequel, the three-act opera, "A Quiet Place" in 1983. He collaborated with choreographer Jerome Robbins on three major ballets: "Fancy Free" (1944) and "Facsimile" (1946) for the American Ballet theater; and "Dybbuk" (1975) for the New York City Ballet. He composed the score for the award-winning movie "On the Waterfront" (1954) and incidental music for two Broadway plays: "Peter Pan" (1950) and "The Lark" (1955).
Bernstein contributed substantially to the Broadway musical stage. He collaborated with Betty Comden and Adolph Green on "On The Town" (1944) and "Wonderful Town" (1953). In collaboration with Richard Wilbur and Lillian Hellman and others he wrote "Candide" (1956). Other versions of "Candide" were written in association with Hugh Wheeler, Stephen Sondheim et al. In 1957 he again collaborated with Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents, on the landmark musical "West Side Story," also made into the Academy Award-winning film. In 1976 Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner wrote "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
Festivals of Bernstein's music have been produced throughout the world. In 1978 the Israel Philharmonic sponsored a festival commemorating his years of dedication to Israel. The Israel Philharmonic also bestowed on him the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor in 1988. In 1986 the London Symphony Orchestra and the Barbican Centre produced a Bernstein Festival. The London Symphony Orchestra in 1987 named him Honorary President. In 1989 the city of Bonn presented a Beethoven/Bernstein Festival.
In 1985 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honored Mr. Bernstein with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. He won eleven Emmy Awards in his career. His televised concert and lecture series started with the "Omnibus" program in 1954, followed by the extraordinary "Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic," in 1958 that extended over fourteen seasons. Among his many appearances on the PBS series "Great Performances" was the eleven-part acclaimed "Bernstein's Beethoven." In 1989, Bernstein and others commemorated the 1939 invasion of Poland in a worldwide telecast from Warsaw.
Bernstein's writings were published in "the Joy of Music" (1959), "Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts"(1961), "The Infinite Variety of Music" (1966), and "Findings" (1982). Each has been widely translated. He gave six lectures at Harvard University in 1972-1973 as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry. These lectures were subsequently published and televised as "The Unanswered Question."
Bernstein always rejoiced in opportunities to teach young musicians. His master classes at Tanglewood were famous. He was instrumental in founding the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute in 1982. He helped create a world class training orchestra at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. He founded the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Modeled after Tanglewood, this international festival was the first of its kind in Asia and continues to this day.
Bernstein received many honors. He was elected in 1981 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which gave him a Gold Medal. The National Fellowship Award in 1985 applauded his life-long support of humanitarian causes. He received the MacDowell Colony's Gold Medal; medals from the Beethoven Society and the Mahler Gesellschaft; the Handel Medallion, New York City's highest honor for the arts; a Tony award (1969) for Distinguished Achievement in the Theater; and dozens of honorary degrees and awards from colleges and universities. He was presented ceremonial keys to the cities of Oslo, Vienna, Bersheeva and the village of Bernstein, Austria, among others. National honors came from Italy, Israel, Mexico, Denmark, Germany (the Great Merit Cross), and France (Chevalier, Officer and Commandeur of the Legion d'Honneur). He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1980.
World peace was a particular concern of Bernstein. Speaking at Johns Hopkins University in 1980 and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York in 1983, he described his vision of global harmony. His "Journey for Peace" tour to Athens and Hiroshima with the European Community Orchestra in 1985, commemorated the 40th anniversary of the atom bomb. In December 1989, Bernstein conducted the historic "Berlin Celebration Concerts" on both sides of the Berlin Wall, as it was being dismantled. The concerts were unprecedented gestures of cooperation, the musicians representing the former East Germany, West Germany, and the four powers that had partitioned Berlin after World War II.
Bernstein supported Amnesty International from its inception. To benefit the effort in 1987, he established the Felicia Montealegre Fund in memory of his wife who died in 1978.
In 1990, Bernstein received the Praemium Imperiale, an international prize created in 1988 by the Japan Arts Association and awarded for lifetime achievement in the arts. Bernstein used the $100,000 prize to establish The Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund, Inc. before his death on October 14, 1990.
Bernstein was the father of three children -- Jamie, Alexander, and Nina -- and the grandfather of four: Francisca, Evan, Anya and Anna.
(Source: Leonardbernstein.com)
Valerie GergievA brilliant and controversial figure, Gergiev is the present principal conductor of the LSO. Reportedly a good friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gergiev has denied that he and Putin are each other's children's godfathers.
Here he is conducting Ravel's Bolero. Notice the baton or lack thereof.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZDia...
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by Jamie Bernstein (no photo)Synopsis:
The oldest daughter of revered composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein offers a rare look at her father on the centennial of his birth in a deeply intimate and broadly evocative memoir.
The composer of On the Town and West Side Story, chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic, television star, humanitarian, friend of the powerful and influential, and the life of every party, Leonard Bernstein was an enormous celebrity during one of the headiest periods of American cultural life, as well as the most protean musician in twentieth century America.
But to his eldest daughter, Jamie, he was above all the man in the scratchy brown bathrobe who smelled of cigarettes; the jokester and compulsive teacher who enthused about Beethoven and the Beatles; the insomniac whose 4 a.m. composing breaks involved spooning baby food out of the jar. He taught his daughter to love the world in all its beauty and complexity. In public and private, Lenny was larger than life.
In Famous Father Girl, Bernstein mines the emotional depths of her childhood and invites us into her family’s private world. A fantastic set of characters populates the Bernsteins’ lives, including: the Kennedys, Mike Nichols, John Lennon, Richard Avedon, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, and Betty (Lauren) Bacall.
An intoxicating tale, Famous Father Girl is an intimate meditation on a complex and sometimes troubled man, the family he raised, and the music he composed that became the soundtrack to their entwined lives. Deeply moving and often hilarious, Bernstein’s beautifully written memoir is a great American story about one of the greatest Americans of the modern age.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein (other topics)Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music (other topics)
Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and Their Orchestras (other topics)
Memoirs (other topics)
Conductors, Batons and Orchestras (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jamie Bernstein (other topics)Richard Osborne (other topics)
Tom Service (other topics)
Georg Solti (other topics)
Anne Krikler (other topics)
More...
Sir Colin Davis (1927-2013)
Here is a place to discuss these greats.