Leonard Bernstein: Chronology of a life in music (2)2

A Leonard Bernstein: Chronology of a Life in Music
Hitting Big Time in the Big Apple and the Rest of the World
1943	Successfully performed Copland's new piano sonata at Town Hall, performed his clarinet sonata at the radio station WNYC and later at a League of Composers New York Public Library concert Made his NY conducting debut with Paul Bowles' opera The Wind Remains at the Museum of Modern Art Appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic by Artur Rodzinski; substituted, to great popular and critical acclaim, for an ill Bruno Walter at a Carnegie Hall concert on November 14 that was also broadcast on radio - the youngest ever to conduct a Philharmonic subscription concert, an American "wunderkind" in a field dominated by old European men
1944	Jeremiah premiered in Pittsburgh, followed by performances in in Boston (his first concert at Symphony Hall) and the New York Philharmonic; the symphony was voted outstanding new classical work of the season by the New York Music Critics Circle and broadcast nationwide on 70 radio stations by the NBC Symphony Orchestra Conducted his first concert outside the US, substituting for another ill conductor in Montreal Completed his first composition for ballet in collaboration with choreographer Jerome Robbins - Fancy Free premiered April 14 with Bernstein conducting, a huge success Composed music, hailed as "epoch-making" for the Broadway musical On the Town, which had a 10-day try-out performance in Boston before opening at theAdelphi Theater on Broadway - the first American musical composed by a recognized composer of "serious" music; Met the conductor Arturo Toscanini for the first time
1945	Guest conducted fourteen orchestras across the US Was appointed music director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra at City Center, conducting all concerts of the 1946 and 1947 seasons; was interviewed and photographed by print and broadcast media
1946	Made his first European conducting appearances at the Prague Spring Festival with the Czech Philharmonic, then in a concert tour in England with the London Philharmonic Made his debut recording as a concert pianist playing the Ravel piano concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted Fancy Free at the gala opening of the Royal Opera House Conducted pianist Claudio Arrau in a performance at City Center of Brahms' piano concerto, and the US premiere of Britten's Peter Grimes at Tanglewood Scored Jerome Robbins ballet Facsimile which premiered October 24
1947	Conducted a 3-week season with the Boston Symphony Made his first visit to Israel where he guest conducted the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in in jam-packed halls in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem Conducted the Czech Philharmonic in the first performance of Compland's Third Symphony, his Jeremiah Symphony with the French Radio Orchestra in Paris, concerts of American music with the Belgium Radio Orchestra and two popular concerts at The Hague in Holland Conducted the New York Philharmonic at the Lewisohn Stadium At City Center, conducted Mahler's Symphony No.2 Resurrection, his first interpretation of Mahler, in a season that included Mozart, operatic arias with Jeannie Tourel, Stravinsky, and the world premiere of the staged concert version of The Cradle Will Rock, which was taken to Broadway where it had a less than successful run
1948	Resigned from the New York City Symphony Signed a contract with G. Schirmer for the publication of four works: his Second Symphony The Age of Anxiety - inspired by W.H. Auden's poem and commissioned by Koussevitzky, Four Anniversaries - four short piano pieces, La Bonne Cuisine - a group of songs dedicated to Jennie Tourel, and Fanfare for Bima - pieces for brass intruments commisioned for the Juilliard School Served as artistic director (later changed to musical adviser) of the Palestine Orchestra (later changed to Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) Made his first appearances as conductor in Munich with the Bavarian State Orchestra - the first American to conduct in Munich after the war where the crowd "carried him on their shoulders through the street and the critics hailed him for his "astounding, demonic gifts", in Milan with the Teatro Nuovo Chamber Orchestra - where he was called the other Leonardo" , in Budapest with the Metropolitan Orchestra where the performance was called "one of the miracles of our century", in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony where the "house came down" but the orchestra displayed some hostility, and in Rome with the Orchestra dell'Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
1949	Conducted a seven-week season with the Pittsburgh Symphony while completing the orchestration of his Second Symphony Performed the piano solo in the Boston Symphony premiere of The Age of Anxiety conducted by Koussevitzky
1950	Conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in three outdoor concerts which included a concert version of Tristan und Isolde, served as assistant to Koussevitzky at Tanglewood Guest conducted the Boston Symphony in Boston in the world premiere of Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony, at Carnegie Hall in the BSO's first telecast, the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall playing excerpts from Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet Composed the incidental music for Peter Pan which opened on Broadway on April 24 Conducted in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco
1951	Signed his first contract with Columbia Records - the first recordings included Ravel's Sheherazade, Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, and The Age of Anxiety - which he also conducted at Carnegie Hall Conducted a three-week season in Italy and a series of concerts in Israel where he conducted several perfromances of The Age of Anxiety from the keyboard Embarked on a conducting tour of Europe: at the Edinburgh International Festival with the French Radio Orchestra, in Holland for his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Milan where he conducted the Orchestra of La Scala for the first time Co-conducted the Israel Philharmonic on their first visit to America, the Chicago Symphony in a performance of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere of Charles Ives' Second Symphony Began work on his opera Trouble in Tahiti while on sabbatical in Mexico Was appointed head of conducting studies at Tanglewood following Koussevitzky's death
1952	Served as Visiting Professor and Artistic Director of the Festival of Creative Arts at Brandeis University, completed Trouble in Tahiti in time for a first performance at the Festival which was not very well received Rewrote final scene of Trouble in Tahiti in Tanglewood where it was again performed and well received by the public; the opera was telecast in the fall Composed the score for the musical A Wonderful Town
1953	Won a Tony forthe music of A Wonderful Town which had a successful run on Broadway, winning a Tony award for Best Musical in the 1952-53 season Named first holder of the Sylvia and Frederic Mann Chair of Music at Brandeis University but later withdrew from both teaching and the Festival, though he continued to teach at Tanglewood in the summer Conducted the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio, returned to Israel for a series of concerts with the Israel Philharmonic, conducted Maria Callas in Medea at La Scala,Milan
1954	Wrote the score for the film On the Waterfront which established his reputation as a major composer of film music Completed Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion, which had a first performance in Venice which he conducted with Isaac Stern as violinist to mixed reviews Delivered an absorbing television essay on the CBS culture magazine Omnibus in a program about Beethoven's notebooks based on sketches discarded from the Fifth symphony Conducted Maria Callas a second time in La Sonnambula at La Scala; also conduced La Boheme Began work on the operetta Candide and on East Side Story in collaboration with Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents, completed Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront which premiered at Tanglewood Appeared on Omnibus in a program entitled The World of Jazz, a primer on the genre, the program concluding with his own Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, followed by another program on the art of conducting
1955	Conducted Symphony of the Air season in New York Began work on West omnibus program in Boston about life in Harvard during which he struck a friendship with co-host John F Kennedy Began work with Stephen Sondheim on West Side Story (a title change from East Side Story as the East side tenements had been torn down)
1956	Completed Candide and after try-outs in Boston, premiered on Broadway to mixed reviews Guest conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, was appointed joint principal conductor (with Dimitri Mitropoulos) of the New York Philharmonic for the 1957-58 season, and took over artistic control of the Philharmonic's "Young People's Concerts" Hosted Omnibus programs: An Introduction to Modern Music and a program on the grandeur of Bach Became the first American conductor to appear on the cover of Time Magazine
1957	Premiered West Side Story, after run-throughs in New York and in Washington Conducted inaugural concert of the Frederic Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv Was appointed Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, succeeding Dimitri Mitropoulos;

The
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Pages

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Front Page

Leonard Bernstein:
the last 10 years
-a look at the book by T.R Seiler

Unbewußt, höchste Lust
- on the recording of Tristan

Heights of Rapture
- a foreword by Hildegard Behrens
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Chronology of a
Life in Music:

The not-so-humble beginnings

Big time in the Big Apple

At the helm of the NYPO

The last 20 years

Discography:

The Composer

The Conductor / Pianist

Videography:

The Teacher /
the Musician in performance
and in rehearsal

Books
by and on Bernstein

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