{"id":22084,"date":"2018-08-25T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T04:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/operawire.wpengine.com\/?p=22084"},"modified":"2018-08-02T19:21:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T23:21:21","slug":"composer-profile-celebrating-leonard-bernsteins-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/operawire.com\/composer-profile-celebrating-leonard-bernsteins-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Composer Profile: Celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

***As of the writing of this piece, Leonard Bernstein is 100-years-old.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Born on August 25, 1918, Bernstein (who was actually born with the name Louis, which he changed to Leonard legally at age 15), he would go on to become one of the great icons of American music.<\/p>\n

He studied at Harvard and then Curtis, and it wasn\u2019t long before he was performing with the greatest orchestras and companies on the planet. He was a long-time musical director of the New York Philharmonic and he was also an advocate for education, giving a series of publicly broadcast lectures on music. He had a lengthy relationship with the Vienna State Opera and was a major proponent of the works of Gustav Mahler.<\/p>\n

Bernstein made several opera recordings, including of his own works for the stage. He won 16 Grammys throughout his career, two of them for opera recordings.<\/p>\n

He died on Oct. 14, 1990.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Major Works<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bernstein composed two operas in his career, \u201cTrouble in Tahiti\u201d and \u201cA Quiet Place.\u201d The latter is a sequel to the form, though a later version of \u201cA Quiet Place\u201d includes \u201cTrouble in Tahiti\u201d in its entirety as a flashback.<\/p>\n

However, one might argue that Bernstein\u2019s greatest achievements for the \u201copera stage\u201d might actually be his lighter fare, namely his operetta \u201cCandide\u201d and his musical \u201cWest Side Story.\u201d Both works are widely performed, with \u201cCandide\u201d cropping up at virtually every opera house around the world throughout the composer\u2019s centennial year celebration.<\/p>\n

Read More on Bernstein<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A Look at His Two Operas<\/a><\/p>\n

A Profile on \u201cCandide\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch and Listen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here is a recording of a performance of \u201cCandide\u201d led by the composer himself.<\/p>\n