Talk:Leonard Bernstein

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Contents 1 Ode to Joy and the Berlin Wall 2 Not 'chicester' but 'chichester' 3 POV material 4 Sbpat21's edit 5 His homosexuality? 6 Koussevitzky 7 Composer section 8 Radical chic 9 Conductors he influenced?

[edit] Ode to Joy and the Berlin Wall

Helga, I'm very happy you found that item about Ode to Joy and the Berlin Wall. I've always loved that tune, from when I was a little boy. --Ed Poor

[edit] Not 'chicester' but 'chichester'

Cheers, Marco Lazzeri

[edit] POV material

Comments such as these are blatant POV and cannot be included:

As an interpreter, Bernstein was like "the little girl with the little curl": When he was good, he was untouchable - too many of his recordings to name are still considered the definitive interpretations of the works in question. When he was bad - most commonly in works he had to conduct as any world-famous conductor with a recording contract must - he could be dreadful in his interpretations, if he personally disliked the piece. This pattern showed up in many aspects of his life.

It is not the job of Wikipedia to say when Bernstein is "good" or "bad". Such judgments can only be reported if made my repected critics or other third parties. See WP:NPOV

Grover cleveland 02:58, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I think that section has already been removed. I couldn't find it. AlbertSM 00:37, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sbpat21's edit

• "It is noted that Samuel Byck, would-be assassin of Richard Milhous Nixon sent several recorded audio tapes to him detailing various events and monologues."

Does anyone have a reference for this? Even if they do, I'm not sure it's that important to the article. I'll remove the sentence if not cited in the next few days. David Underdown 08:17, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

There are about 13,000 refs you can find by googling "Leonard Bernstein" "Samuel Byck". You could also cite Assassins (musical). - Nunh-huh 09:44, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Ome good reference is the 2004 film The Assassination of Richard Nixon, starring Sean Penn. AlbertSM 00:38, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Even referenced, this is something notable about Samuel Byck, not about Bernstein. I'm going to remove it. It might be more appropriate with some description of Bernstein's reaction to the tapes - if he just threw them out without listening, then it is completely irrelevant.

[edit] His homosexuality?

Is no one going to write about his most notorious aspect? - Ahmad Azrai

Hopefully someone who recognizes it's not "his most notorious aspect"". - Outerlimits 07:52, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

I have inserted a brief account of his family life, with references to his homosexuality. His sexual life was "notorious" only in the sense of being a frequent subject of gossip at the time. Unfortunately, many today still consider same-sex relationships shameful (see many of Wiki's articles on other contemporary figures in Classical music, esp. the Talk Page on Vladimir Horowitz). 66.108.4.183 19:54, 28 May 2006 (UTC) Allen Roth

[edit] Koussevitzky

It would also be nice to see some mention of LB's connection with Koussevitzky; I will add this if I have time and nobody else does so. Wspencer11 13:48, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Done. -- ßottesiηi ^(talk) 00:36, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Composer section

Is Mitropoulos really that well-known as a composer? Plenty of conductors have written music but very rarely nowadays are they known as both conductors and composers; John Adams is a notable exception. I find it hard to believe that Lorin Maazel or Wilhelm Furtwängler or any of the others will be remembered for their compositions in any way. Though I didn't remove DM the first time I don't think he should have been reinstated. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 15:22, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Where is it??

There isn't any section about Bernstein as a composer. In the classical world, his works are held in high esteem, especially for the way they combine contemporary writing with popular music (such as twelve-tone techniques in "West Side Story"), similar to Gershwin. His symphonies and other works are still widely performed today. (Chichester Psalms, Divertimento, as well as musicals and stage works) He IS one of the rare composer-conductors who still are famous for both. Could somebody write such a paragraph? -- megA 12:39, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Radical chic

I do not believe that the external link to a site concerning the Tom Wolfe book is, in and of itself, a sufficient reference to this aspect of Mr. Bernstein's significance in the cultural history of the U.S. He was an absolute icon of "radical chic." I believe that this matter deserves a mention in the body of the article. 66.90.226.115 17:11, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Conductors he influenced?

I am not sure that the latest addition to the article is really useful. He has undoubtedly influenced many conductors, great and small. Is it helpful to note only three of them at the expense of all the others? --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 02:09, 26 February 2007 (UTC)