PagesPublic FigureMusician/BandLeonard Bernstein
On the anniversary of his birth, we honor conductor and composer Bruno Walter (1876-1962). Widely considered one of the great conductors of the 20th century.
When Bruno Walter fell ill on November 14, 1943, Leonard Bernstein made his historic debut with the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall.
“Bruno Walter, We Love You.
...There are conductors who are celebrated for the white heat of their passions, and others for the cool clarity of their phrasing. There are some conductors who can be both hot and cold by terms. But few conductors indeed have the priceless gift of simple warmth – deep human warmth. Of these, the foremost living example is certainly Bruno Walter, the genius who makes an orchestra sing like a choir. I have never heard a Walter performance of anything - by any composer – in which the warm singing line was not projected to the ear and heart – including rapid string passages, virtuoso displays, [?], brass-chords, or light woodwind writing. It all sings. But it is never at the expense of technique, finesse, or brilliance, for Walter is a fact master of this art. Only somehow the radiant warmth of Mozart and Schubert and Brahms has become part of this mater, so that he always gives us music that flows from a great singing heart.”
Leonard Bernstein
In Celebration of Bruno Walter’s 80th Birthday, 1956
📸 Portrait of Bruno Walter with signed message to Leonard Bernstein. Courtesy of The Library of Congress Music Division.
Today, on what would have been her 75th birthday, we celebrate American soprano Jessye Norman (1945-2019).
On January 8, 1984, Leonard Bernstein conducted a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection' for a Musicians Against Nuclear Arms "Concert for Peace" at the Washington National Cathedral. Jessye Norman and Barbara Hendricks were the soloists, with an orchestra made up of members of the National Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Norman, Hendr...icks, and Bernstein performed the work the following week in a series of concerts with the New York Philharmonic.
We share with you this recording of Jessye Norman singing "Somewhere" from " West Side Story."
