Person attributes
Who was Leonard Bernstein?
Leonard Bernstein, the legendary musician, who inspired an entire generation with his music ensembles and symphony orchestras, was one of the most influential classical musicians of the last century. An influential teacher, a brilliant conductor, a fine composer, and an accomplished pianist, Leonard Bernstein was a musician of rare talent who wowed his young fans with his flamboyant style and pedagogic flair. In fact, he was the most dominant classical musician of his times who influenced the musical scene of his day more than his peers did. As said by one of the veterans, “When he gets up on the podium, he makes me remember why I wanted to become a musician.” No 20th century musician had as towering yet controversial career as Leonard Bernstein. His contribution to the realms of music is indeed unsurpassable. His music was deeply inspired by the people of America. No other musician succeeded in arresting the attention of entire America as much as Bernstein did with his television shows. His musical concerts were not only appeasing to the ears, but were an inspiration for every mind. Even after he passed away after a long battle with emphysema, at the age of 72, his works still continue to remain popular and are performed all over the world.
Career
After completing his training Leonard Bernstein left Curtis and settled in New York. The New York Philharmonic offered him a position of assistant conductor in 1943. Once when the symphony’s guest conductor fell ill, Bernstein had to step up and take his place, which he did with great success, amazing the crowd and the players. This made him a successful conductor overnight.
From 1945, he started conducting the New York orchestra and appearing as well, as a guest conductor across the United States. During the next few years, his career started to blossom, and he went on several international tours in order to perform. His overseas debut started with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague.
In 1949, he conducted the world premiere of the famous Turangalila-Symphonie, which was composed by Oliver Messiaen, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In 1954, Bernstein started the television show ‘Omnibus’. It allowed him to speak to his audience and music lovers more easily. He gave lectures on Omnibus for several years, which were made into a DVD set in 2010.
Later, though he stepped down from the New York Philharmonic, he still continued to appear with them for many years till his death. He also toured with them for many years to places like Europe and Asia.
He also joined hands with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted nine complete Mahler symphonies with them between the years 1967 and 1976. He also performed with the famous London Symphony Orchestra in Fly Cathedral in 1973, and just a few years later, he was named an Honorary President.
In 1973, Bernstein was appointed to the Charles Eliot Norton Chair as Professor of Poetry, in Harvard University. He also delivered six lectures on music, with musical examples played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. These lectures were televised three years later in 1976.
In 1979, Bernstein conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time, in two charity concerts for Amnesty International. They became quite popular later on, and were later released on CD, as well as broadcast on radio.
The Israel Philharmonic sponsored a festival in 1978, which commemorated his several years of dedication to Israel, and they bestowed upon him the title of Laureate Conductor in 1988.
He was quite fond of teaching young musicians as well, and was always looking for opportunities to do so. In 1982, he co-founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, and a few years later he co-founded the Pacific Music Festival in Japan to help young musicians grow.
Later, during the celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, he conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, in East Berlin. This concert was broadcast in more than twenty countries to an audience of around 100 million people.
His final performance, two months before announcing his retirement, was as a conductor at Tanglewood in August 1990, where he played the ‘Four Sea Interludes’ of Benjamin Britten, with the Boston Symphony.