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"West Side Story" was the very first Broadway musical I attended on my own. As a young teenager it became MY music: I danced joyously to "Officer Krupski" or passionately with "Tonight", clapped along with "America" and sang my heart out to "Maria". Fifty years later, Lenny's music still plays in my head. "One Hand, One Heart" is as poignant and humanistic as ever, especially in this election year of 2008.

although i never met, nor saw bernstein perform, he impacted my life significantly.

i married this past may, and if hadn't been for mr bernstein, i certainly would never have met my husband.

my husband emigrated in 1978 from the soviet union with his family. both his parents were classical musicians.

upon arriving in rome with almost nothing, their family had few options. eventually, my father-in-law got the opportunity to play (the violin) for mr. bernstein.

after waiting months in rome, not knowing what their future held, just days after this meeting with mr bernstein, my husband's family was on a plan bound for nyc, and eventually to tanglewood.

my father-in-law went on to play with boston symphony, as well as many orchestras around the world!

During the years he educated American youth about classical music, we produced popular/rock/jazz music that would become classic. Although I realize that it is common for us as we age, to disparage the music of younger generations, I would listen to contemporary German pop any day, these days, over American. Maybe it is no coincidence that boomers were educated musically and now there is just so much re-gurgitated noise. It sounds like America needs a new Pied Piper like Lenny

Bernstein's compositions have always meant so much to me and as I looked back, it has to do with the uniting of the imagined and the reality of music —especially when it comes to places. Some music reaches into the emotions but Bernstein reached into the visual images of non-existent places and made them exactly what your imagination and heart needed and felt them to be.

I saw a small number of concerts conducted by Bernstein and the Phil. But for me, the most memorable was a performance of the Ravel G Major Piano Concerto that he did with the student orchestra at Tanglewood in the summer of 1974, at a time when I was a music student too. Bernstein took the stage, posed at the piano, and missed a ton of notes in a sloppy, sloppy performance which, before a group of students, was completely irresponsible. He was phoning it in, apparently thinking that nobody would notice. Completely dishonest to himself, to students and to music itself.

Could some of the negative press be due to the fact that he was gay?

I am so happy to see that you guys are honoring Bernstein. He is a genius, and not enough people realize how brilliant he was.
I grew up on West Side Story, and it is truely magical.
Candide is, in my opinion, on par with La Boheme.
The last song in Candide "We'll build a house, and chop some wood... and make our garden grow. We're neither rich, nor wise nor pure, we'll do the best we (can)."
I live my life by these words.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT IS THE BERNSTEIN FESTIVAL SO, FOR THAT REASON I WANT TO DOWNLOAD THIS FILE AND THE OTHER REASON IS I'M LEARNING ENGLISH AND I LIKE TO LISTEN AUDIOS.

THAT'S ALL. SEE YOU