"Lenny in Retrospect"   March 20, 2001

Reaching for Lenny   January 14, 2001

One decade after his death, Lenny is still sorely missed. Who knows what else he could have done had he smoked a few less cigarettes, downed a few less bottles of scotch, and had been productive into his early eighties? He would have recorded Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes," or written his planned symphony about the Holocaust. But Lenny is gone, and we won't see the likes of him again. But, as one person said, maybe Lenny's spirit is now in the body of a bright and talented ten-year-old. Perhaps s/he will compare the angst in Mahler's symphonies and the music of nine inch nails, or rail against the corporate oligarchy, mean-spiritedness, and political conservatism that's slowly devouring our country. One can only hope that Lenny will live again. If not, then he has left us with much to contemplate, both about music and ourselves.


Not as good as I expected   November 7, 2000
  17 out of 18 found this review helpful

I was a bit disappointed by this release., especially considering PBS' impeccable credentials.The very beginning set my expectations very high : slow-motion, artsily fuzzy sequences from Bernstein's funeral cortege through the street of NY, touchingly commented by his son. Very intense, but also very telling of the overall approach of the movie : the man first , and then the musician. It's not an easy task because, as those interested into this great composer-conductor know well, Bernstein was a very complicated, troubled and sometimes puzzling man.In this respect the video is very nicely done: it's pretty straighforward about potentially controversial issues likeL.B.'s depressions or bisexuality, without sounding gossipy or trashy. All these aspects are described though lenghty interviews with L.B.' s son and daughters. This has obvious advantages but also shortcomings : I would have liked to hear somebody from outside the family, somebody less viscerally involved, so to say. I also liked the way the video gives us, through the Bernstein family's home movies, a fascinating idea of the life of the post-war American cultural elite. There are flaws, though. First of all, to apply the definition of "motion picture" to this documentary is, sometimes, kind of a stretch: the viewer spends decidedly too much time staring at vintage photographs with an audio commentary not especially related to them. This is actually baffling, because I don't think there has ever been a more filmed or recorded artist than L.B. and it's hard to believe that PBS could not obtain the rights on more video performances from Deutsche Grammophon, Sony/CBS and whoever else. Through the narration we learn about L.B.'s ascent to prominence and his lifelong internal struggle between the great conductor he was and the great composer he desperately wanted to be, but there aren't enough visual demonstrations of the great music that flowed from this troubled soul. And we don't get much of the legendary impact of a Bernstein performance either. In this respect the few interviews to musicians don't help much, being for the most part ridicolously brief (average 2 minutes) : a world-class maestro like Andre' Previn is just allowed the time to say that "L.B. was the figure who had the greatest influence on American music". Thank you very much. I don't want to seem harsh on this video: it's what I would call a "classy" product, and

probably a totally comprehensive Bernstein portrait is far beyond the possibilities of a 2-hour video, but if it's Bernstein the musician that you really want to get to know, you'll learn much more from the 10-minute part devoted to him by the marvelous Teldec video "The Art of conducting".


An Essential American Musician   August 19, 2000
  3 out of 4 found this review helpful

For many of us growing up, Leonard Bernstein *was* American music. This excellent, thrilling PBS biography captures the essence of Bernstein. He was flamboyant as an actor at the podium, but it never seemed forced. And his performances seemed to intensify the music--he was like the speaker in "Spinal Tap" that went up to 11 instead of just 10. Watching this, you begin to feel as music-intoxicated as Bernstein himself must have been. This documentary doesn't whitewash his dark side--substance abuse, ridiculous radical-chic politics, a certain predatory sexuality, and the deep unhappiness that struck him in middle age (after he had the world at his feet.) As he turns 70, you can see the dissipation written all over his face. But he was a man with great musical gifts who changed American culture, and this fast-paced video captures that very well.


A Dancer in a Musician world   August 9, 2000
  3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Leonard Bernstein for me is a person who breaks walls, Walls between east and west, Walls between different people, Walls between past and future, Walls between classes, Walls between music, dance and theater. I had attended many of his concerts, And this DVD which is very much informative keeps him alive for me.