In 1935, at the age of 17, Bernstein graduated from Boston Latin School, entered the music department of Harvard University, and wrote articles for the music column of the school magazine. In 1939, after graduating as an honorary student, he came to new york and tried to show his talents in the metropolis. At first, he accompanied some nightclubs and dances, but he soon met some celebrities in the music industry, including the famous composer Aaron Copland. Copland became Bernstein's mentor and lover, and Bernstein later became the authoritative interpreter of Copland's symphonic works.
in the same year, he entered the cortese Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia to study conducting, and studied under Fritz Reiner, the conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at that time. In the summer of 194, he was invited to join the Berkshire Music Center and studied conductor with Sergei Sergei Koussevitsky.
During this period, Bernstein once lived in love with a music major, but that student later chose the road of getting married and having children, which made Bernstein extremely sad. Although he has been looking for an artistic confidant who has the same language with him all his life, he is often unable to extricate himself in the pursuit of sensuality. As he himself said, "If I just repeat fifty works like toscanini, then I will be bored to death." The same is true of his attitude towards love. Serge koussevitzky heard some rumors about Bernstein and called him "Lenusha". He once said to Bernstein, "My old friend Tchaikovsky is gay, and my friend Copeland is gay. Lenusha, I heard that you are too. " However, Bernstein knew that the mentor didn't want him to admit it, so he denied it. Two years later, serge koussevitzky appointed Bernstein as New York Philharmonic's assistant conductor.
In p>1943, the famous conductor Bruno Walter was unable to command New York Philharmonic due to illness, and Bernstein temporarily replaced him. The performance was unanimously praised by critics. The New York Times reported the success of the concert on the front page, and invitations from major orchestras followed. Bernstein began to make his mark in the American music scene. At this time, Felicia Montealegre, an actress from Chile, madly launched a love attack on Bernstein, but Bernstein was worried about it, saying more than once that she could not be a good husband. He is deeply attracted by the same sex, but he hopes to make himself look important through marriage. The handsome appearance and outstanding artistic talent of a movie star make many handsome men fall in love with him, and a large group of young men always follow after each concert. Even after marrying Felicia, Bernstein's love affair has never converged at all. Copland once asked in a play, "You know that 1 musicians all know what kind of person you really are. I wonder how you can walk on the podium calmly?"
at the same time, Bernstein created musicals "On the Town", "Trouble in Tahiti", "Wonderful Town" and "Candide" one after another. In 1954, he composed "Serenade for Violin, Strings and Percussion" based on Plato's "Drinking", the earliest same-sex love chapter in human history, with Issac Stern as the first solo.
in p>1957, he collaborated with the dancer Jerome Robbins to adapt Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet into the musical west side story, which tells how violence and conflict separated young men and women from different communities. Lively and lyrical music, coupled with unrestrained dance, makes west side story a classic program on Broadway. Not only is it performed in at least one theater in the world every day, but aria such as Maria and Tonight have become classic love songs across the fields of classical and popular music.
From p>1951 to 1956, Bernstein was a music professor at brandes University, teaching composition. At the same time, with the help of the popularity of TV, he held a series of TV lectures "Classical Music for Young People" as a music educator, which won the Emmy Award for TV and became a classic textbook for classical music education.
Although Copeland told a friend in private that Bernstein got married only because he wanted to have a "vase lady" like Felicia, Felicia really fell in love with Bernstein, and gave up her acting career for him and taught her children at home. Having children brought Bernstein infinite joy, and he made every effort to be a competent father. Felicia is a civil rights activist, and Bernstein followed her to participate in the civil rights movement in the United States. They not only held a reception for Black Panther, a radical black civil rights group, in their own apartments, but also went to prison to visit the imprisoned black leaders. The CIA blacklisted him for this reason and didn't stop tracking him until after his death.
in p>1958, at the age of 4, Bernstein became the first native music director in New York Philharmonic. Many of his works directed by New York Philharmonic became the trump card recordings of Columbia Records. At the same time, Bernstein has successively served as guest conductor of many famous orchestras in Western Europe and Israel. Won the cultural medals awarded by Finland, France, Italy, Austria and Sweden. In 1981, he became an academician of the American Academy of Arts and Literature, and two years later, he became an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1987, he won the gold medal of the London Philharmonic Society. Two years before his death, he became the honorary conductor of Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
In p>1976, when her children grew up, Bernstein decided to separate from Felicia. In December of this year, he conducted New York Philharmonic to perform Shostakovich's 14th symphony. Shostakovich finished this work in the shadow of death, which made Bernstein feel that his life was also facing the same threat. At the beginning of the concert, he spent fifteen minutes talking about his feelings:
"When studying this work, I realized that when death comes, the artist must
put aside all the shackles that bound him and engage in creation in complete freedom.
I think I should do the same. From today on, I will live according to my own wishes. "
At that time, Bernstein had been in love with a man named Tom Causland for 25 years, and he called Causland "the source of inspiration for all my artistic creation". In 1976, to celebrate the bicentennial of the founding of the United States, Bernstein led New York Philharmonic on a six-week tour throughout the United States and Europe, accompanied by Causland as his travel secretary. When they traveled around Paris together, it was like Wilde and his lover Bosi were reincarnated. Causland has a great influence on Bernstein's creation of Songfest, which is based on the poems of American gay poet Walt Whitman. The two also tried to live together, but they gave up because of different work and rest rules, and then they parted amicably. After that, Bernstein got to know Chris Barnes, a black air hostess, and started another love affair, and funded Banes to complete his law studies.
In p>1977, Felicia was diagnosed with lung cancer, and Bernstein returned to her side. Two years later, Felicia passed away, and Bernstein was very sad. He recorded Mozart's Requiem and took his wife as the cover of the record to commemorate it.
In the mid-198s, the rampant AIDS became a serious social problem. Bernstein actively participated in the propaganda of AIDS prevention to show his "late apology". He convened the world's most famous classical musicians with his outstanding prestige, held many benefit performances and raised money for AIDS organizations. In 1989, he refused to accept the national medal awarded by the Bush administration to protest against the National Arts Foundation's banning of public exhibitions on AIDS prevention in the name of banning pornography.
In p>1989, shortly after the Berlin Wall collapsed, Bernstein performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Brandenburg, and changed the last movement from Ode to Freedom to celebrate the reunification of Germany. He was scheduled to lead New York Philharmonic to China to hold the Asian Music Festival that year, but he was unable to make it because of the deterioration of Sino-US relations, which he deeply regretted. Bernstein died in new york in 199.
Bernstein is an outstanding pianist, composer, music educator and conductor. He once joked that he was a "rich conductor and poor composer", so his achievements in conducting are undoubtedly the best in all aspects. He tends to freely integrate his personal understanding into his command, as if he had participated in composing music. While many musicians rely on recording instruments to present their ideal performance effect, Bernstein prefers live recording. Although defects can be seen from time to time, this improvisation also brings a strong sense of reality, and the audience's presence also makes him feel great passion in generate. Listening to his symphonic works, we can feel that while paying attention to details, he does not cling to the score, but deliberately let the profound connotation of his works overflow as much as possible, showing an extremely sad aesthetic feeling. Mahler complete symphonies, which he recorded for Deutsche Record Company, just embodies this style. When he applies this unconventional interpretation to Brahms' symphonies, the elongated strings will surprise Mahler fans. However, when he applied the same style to Tchaikovsky's fifth and sixth symphonies, this long performance of "telling the truth" caused a deliberate and difficult effect, but it gave people a sense of depression. Bernstein knows that his deductive style can't please every critic or audience, and some people think that he is too sensational, just like an exaggerated performance by a gay transvestite. He just laughed and said, "Think of it as an artist's free will." However, the joy and pain attached to this freewheeling is obvious.