Leonard Bernstein PDF
Preview Leonard Bernstein
O , NA O L E N I E T S N R E B M I C H A E L y E R E E D L A N D ichael Freedland’s Leonard Bernstein 5 eeTier e is the first biography to be published in this country of one of the great figures in twentieth-century music. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1918, Bernstein studied at Harvard and at the Curtis Institute, | Philadelphia. Even at this early stage in what was to become a brilliant career, his considerable talent led a friend to say ‘Lenny is doomed to success’. Bernstein made his debut in his early twenties at New York’s Carnegie Hall and achieved fame over-night. He is renowned as a pianist, an orchestral conductor, and a composer of musicals, among them On the Town, 1944, Candide, 1956, and' West Side Story, 1957, as well as symphonies: Jeremiah, 1942-44; The Age of Anxiety, 1949, and Kaddish, 1963. Michael Freedland has written a candid yet sympathetic portrait of an extraordinarily glamorous figure. He describes Bernstein’s background, his religious faith, his long-lasting marriage as well as his avowed bi-sexuality. Based on interviews with at least fifty people who know Bernstein intimately, Freedland’s book reveals an affectionate, emotional man of great generosity and warmth, but not without flaws: a perfectionist, Bernstein raised the roof when he first heard the soundtrack of West Side Story and he once told Artie Shaw to play his own clarinet concerto faster. This biography brilliantly conveys the multi- faceted personality of a composer whom André Previn has described as “a genius’ as well as ‘the greatest American conductor who ever lived’. wale ee Fey oom ee Mack bee, Nine hoy o 5 ; t 4 wi a im 4 ‘ ir ak i i De * Fa- ia ’ ~7 :7 4 Lal ss 7s on 7 = aid 7 _ t_ 5 7w he we q fry he s 7 4 it ae : j ae Pi ch Paine Re : LEONARD BERNSTEIN LEONARD BERNSTEIN MICHAEL FREEDLAND HARRAP London First published in Great Britain 1987 by HARRAP Ltd 19-23 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7PD © Michael Freedland 1987 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Harrap Ltd ISBN 0-245-54499-2 Designed by Rupert Kirby Phototypeset by Falcon Graphic Art Ltd Wallington, Surrey Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham Limited FOR MY SARALA An orchestration of love _~
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