Great Performers: Leonard Bernstein
Born on August 25th, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Leonard Bernstein’s worldwide fame as a conductor stemmed from his long tenure as the New York Philharmonic Music Director and from his conducting of concerts with most of the world’s leading orchestras. He was one of the first conductors born and educated in the US to receive international acclaim.
Read more…The son of migrant parents, Bernstein’s youth was not musical, largely due to the discouragement of his father. Bernstein first played the piano at the age of 10, after his aunt needed a place to store her upright piano. He loved the instrument, but his father refused to pay for lessons. Determined, young Leonard raised his own funds to pay for a few sessions. He was a natural from the start.
In 1943, at the age of 25, Bernstein made his sensational debut at the New York Philharmonic conducting pieces by Rózsa, Strauss and Wagner. The audience was enraptured and by the end of the performance, which had been broadcast live by CBS Radio, Bernstein had been propelled into the spotlight.
Leonard Bernstein was both an accomplished performing musician as well as a creative one, and is well remembered for his fine Broadway scores such as “West Side Story” (1957). After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, just 10 months before his death, Bernstein was given the honour of conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony during the first concert in a unified Berlin. He led an international orchestra and chorus bringing together musicians from Germany, US, Britain, Russia and France; “Ode to Joy” became an “Ode to Freedom”.
Bernstein passed away at his home in Manhattan at the age of 72, a mere five days after announcing his retirement from conducting.