| A Leonard
Bernstein: Chronology of a Life in Music |
|
| The American Maestro who belonged to the world: The last Twenty Years | |
| 1970 | Conducted
a concert performance of Fidelio with the New York Philharmonic, sung
by students of the Juilliard School; conducted Pagliacci and Cavalleria
Rusticana at the Metropolitan Opera Conducted two world premieres, William Schuman's In Praise of Shahn and Elliot Carter's Concerto for Orchestra, and excerpts from Gotterdammerung during his 5-week season with the Philharmonic Began taping live performances on video, starting with Verdi's Requiem at St. Paul's Cathedral in London Conducted Beethoven concerts in Paris, Rome, Tel Aviv and Vienna Conducted the bicentennial production of Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera to unanimous critical acclaim Returned to Tanglewood as Artistic Adviser Led the New York Philharmonic on a concert tour of Japan, with Seiji Ozawa co-conducting |
| 1971 | Signed
first contract with Unitel for music-films of his live performances Conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in aconcert tour of Europe, remounted Der Rosenkavalier which was recorded by CBS Records Completed Mass (subtitled A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers) for the gala opening of the Kennedy Center in September; though it played to mixed critical reviews, it received numerous performances in various opera houses and theaters thereafter |
| 1972 | Conducted
a Stravinsky Memorial at the Royal ALbert Hall, three Mahler symphonies
with the Vienna Philharmonic, Das Lied von der Erde with the Israel
Philharmonic Began composing music for Jerome Robbins' new ballet Dybbuk Conducted Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera excellent reviews, and recorded for Deutsche Gramophone - it was the last opera he conducted in an opera house |
| 1973 | Conducted
Bach's Magnificat and his own Chichester Psalms for Pope Paul VI at
the Vatican, with the Italian Radio Orchestra, the HArvard Glee Club
and the Newark Boys Choir Embarked on a conducting tour of Israel and Europe, and led a studio production of Trouble in Tahiti for London Weekend Television Delivered six Charles Eliot Norton lectures, The Unanswered Question, at the Harvard Square Theater, in which discussions of the language of classical music in terms of linguistic theory as propounded by Noam Chomsky were complemented with sessions of music appreciation, and which Bernstein considered to be his greatest academic honor; the lectures were broadcast by PBS and BBC, published as a book by the Harvard Press and reissued on videocassette. |
| 1974 | Conducted
first performance of Jerome Robbins' Dybbuk ballet and recorded the
score for CBS with the New York City Ballet Orchestra Conducted the Koussevitzky Centenary Concert at Tanglewood attended by and audience of over 16,000, conducted Mahler's Fifth at Central Park for an audience of 100,000 Led New York Philharmonic on a Pacific tour of New Zealand, Australia and Japan, conducted the opening concert of Vienna's newly refurbished Konzerthaus |
| 1975 | Made
his first appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg
Festival conducting two concerts of Chichester Psalms, Mozart's PianoConcerto
in G major, and Sibelius' Fifth Symphony Conducted the London Symphony and the Orchestre Nationale at the Edinburgh Festival, and Berlioz' Requiem on location at the church of St-Louis des Invalides in Paris which was telecast in Europe Completed work on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in collaboration with Alan Jay Lerner First performance of By Bernstein - a revue of unperformed Bernstein songs |
| 1976 |
Premiere
of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Philadephia |
| 1977 | Conducted President's
Inaugural Concert Leonard Bernstein Festivals held by the Israel Philharmonic in Israel and Austria Launched his Beethoven Cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival An all-Bernstein concert by the National Symphony Orchesetra in Washington held to inaugurate Rostropovich's appointment as Music Director First performance of Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra and Three Meditations from "Mass" |
| 1978 | Led
a revival of Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera in Vienna and
La Scala, conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in concertsin London and
Paris - where he received the ribbon of officier of the Legion of
Honor, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam Gala 60th birthday celebration held in his honor at Wolf Trap - a fund raising event for the National Symphony Orchestra Began work on a new opera A Quiet Place Conducted five Beethoven symphonies for his new Unitel cycle, conducted Songfest in Munich |
| 1979 | Conducted
the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra as a member of a diplomatic
and economic mission to Mexico Conducted the London Symphony and the Vienna Philharmonic, led the New York Philharmonic on a tour of the Far East and completed his Beethoven cycle for Unitel Conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a triumphant Mahler's Ninth Symphony for the benefit of AMnesty International Conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in two concerts and the Vienna State Opera in five performances of Fidelio in Washington, and a concert performance of Fidelio at the Avery Fisher Hall Delivered a speech of appreciation in Aaron Copland's honor at the annual Kennedy Centers Honors |
| 1980 | Commisioned
by the Boston Symphony to write a Divertimento for its centenary
season, composed Touches for solo piano for the 1981 Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition, and a short orchestral overture in
memory of Andre Kostelanetz Received Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime Contributions to American Culture through the Performing Arts |
| 1981 | Premiered
new works by Lukas Foss Nad Ned Rorem with the New York Philharmonic,
premiered his flute concerto, Halil, in Israel, performed Kaddish
at the Vatican Recorded Tristan und Isolde in a series of live, telecast concerts at the Hercules Hall in Munich with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens as Isolde and Peter Hofmann as Tristan Collaborated with Stephen Wadsworth Zinsser on a plan for a new opera |
| 1982 | Conducted
concerts in Vienna and Munich Conducted classes at Indiana University as the first fellow of the new Institute for Advanced Study Conducted Halil with the National Symphony in Washington Conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert of his Songfest and Elgar's Enigma Variations at the Royal Festival Hall, Stravinsky with the Israel Philharmonic in Israel, and subsequently on tour - in West Germany, Mexico and Texas Conducted a Stravinsky celebration with Michael Tilson Thomas at the Washington Cathedral Named Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Institute Began a filmed cycle of Brahms concertos and symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic An opera house version of Candide successfully premiered by the City Opera at the State Theater in Lincoln Center |
| 1983 | Resumed
work on the new opera which became entitled A Quiet Place,
which premiered at Houston Grand Opera (conducted by John De Main,
Bernstein's student at Tanglewood) to mixed reviews Celebrated his 65th birthday in LAwrence, Massachusetts - his birthplace, with a free concert conducted by a Tanglewood student Eiji Oue at an outdoor theater dedicated to him |
| 1984 | A
revised A Quiet Place was performed at La Scala, Milan to positive
reviews, conducted by John Mauceri and directed by Stephen Wadsworth,
soon followed by a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington West Side Story recorded for Deutsch Gramophone and the recording sessions filmed jointly by the BBC and Unitel with Kiri Te Kanawa, JOse Careras and Tatiana Troyanos Engaged in the BBC television projects The Little Drummer Boy - amusical and psychological study of Mahler and The Love of Three Orchestras - about his conducting career with excerpts from performances with his three supposedly favorite orchestras, the New York, Israel and Vienna Philharmonic |
| 1985 | Embarked
on other film projects for Unitel, which remained largely unfinished
Received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy ceremonies Conducted Songfest at a televised outdoor concert in Washington Journey for Peace to Hiroshima where he performed two concerts with the European Community Youth Orchestra marking the 40th anniversary of the dropping of the first atom bomb featuring Kaddish with Barbara Hendricks as soloist as the main work, a Mozart violin concerto played by Midori and a Hiroshima Requiem by the Japanese composer Tomiko Kojiba - the latter two conducted by Eiji Oue Concluded the filming of his Schumann cycle and began a survey of Shostakovich symphonies |
| 1986 | Conducted
A Quiet Place at the Vienna State Opera Berstein Festival mounted by the London Symphony at Barbican Centre in London, where he conducted his own music at a concert attended by Queen Elizabeth Received the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor from President Miterrand in Paris, and the Hartmann Medal in Munich Inaugurated the Schleswig Holstein Festival in Kiel with Haydn's The Creation and launched his first European teaching course for young conductors First performance of Jubilee Games, commissioned by the Israel Philharmonic, during a two-continent tour celebrating its 50th anniversary |
| 1987 |
Conducted
the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, the Concertgebouw
in East and West Berlin Inaugurated conducting classes in Salzau, Germany Organized the first " Music for Life" AIDS Benefit at Carnegie Hall |
| 1988 | Composed
Arias and Barcarolles, an autobiographical song suite, for
a fund-raising concert which premiered with Michael Tilson Thomas
and Bernstein playing the piano duet accompaniment Attended new production of Candide by the Scottish Opera in Glasgow which was televised by the BBC and remounted at the Old Vic, winning the Olivier Award for best musical of the year Honored at an elaborate four-day celebration of his 70th birthday at Tanglewood; followed a month later by another celebration at the Vienna State Opera; was made Honorary Citizen of Austria Conducted the New York Philiharmonic, London Symphony, Santa Cecilia of Rome, Israel Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic |
| 1989 | Conducted
the Israel Philharmonic in the first performance of the final version
of his Jubilee Games, now retitled Concerto for Orchestra Participated in "September 1, 1939" memorial concert in Warsaw, marking the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II Conducted the last three Beethoven piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic and Krystian Zimerman, and the slow movement of the orchestral version of Beethoven's Quartet in F major at a memorial concert for Herbert von Karajan Conducted the New York Philharmonic in two weeks of concerts consisting of an all-Copland program the first week, and an all-Tchaikovsky program the next Recorded Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Gramophone Led international celebrations in Berlin celebrating reunification of East and West Germany with Freedom Concert on Christmas Day |
| 1990 |
Dance Suite, his last composition premiered by the Empire Brass
Quintet at the Metropolitan Opera Conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in performances in Vienna and Carnegie Hall, the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Chorus in a performance of Mozart's C minor Mass which was filmed by Unitel Visited Bayreuth at the invitation of Fridelind Wagner Conducted the Mozart Mass at two concerts in Munich Conducted at the Prague Spring Festival Inaugurated the Pacific Music Festival, a Tanglewood at the Art Park in Sapporo, Japan where he taught the students Schumann's Second Symphony, and conducted Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, Britten's Sea Interludes, and his own Serenade with the London Symphony Orchestra; conducted concerts with the London Symphony at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo Conducted his last concert with Boston Symphony at Tanglewood on August 19 Died October 14 at his New York home |
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
***
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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