August 25

Happy birthday, Lenny!

Born 99 years ago, on August 25, 1918, gay* composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein introduced an entire generation to classical music with his televised “Young People’s Concerts” (1954-1972). As a composer of stage musicals (West Side Story), film scores (On the Waterfont) and celebrity conductor of the New York Philharmonic, he was as famous as a rock star, with ego to match.

*Although he married (and fathered children) upon the advice of gay conductor Dmitri Mitropoulos, Bernstein was considered homosexual – not bisexual. Arthur Laurents (Bernstein's collaborator on West Side Story) said that Bernstein was "a gay man who got married. He wasn't conflicted about it at all. He was just gay.” As well, Bernstein’s wife knew of her husband’s sexual orientation before they married.

Personal note from your blogger: Earlier this month I attended the Staunton Music Festival (Staunton, VA), which presented a concert titled “Hollywood Songbook” that featured composers who wrote music for Hollywood films or whose music was used in films. The concert was book-ended by works from gay composers Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Who knew that Copland wrote five film scores, or that he won an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for “The Heiress” (1949)? Notably, Bernstein was nominated for his film score for “On the Waterfront” (1954), but did not win. 

R.I.P.: Leonard Bernstein 1918-1990

Bernstein conducting the overture to his operetta CANDIDE:

Seeing red:

Man nips: