The Leonard Bernstein Letters by Nigel Simeone

For fans of Bradley Coopers Maestro, an extraordinary selection of revealing letters to and from one of the titans of 20th-century music

Leonard Bernsteins letters blow all biographies out of the water. . . . Full of fresh information and the authentic voice of a constant seeker.The Economist

The book . . . is fascinating, enlightening and a veritable page-turner that will keep you up nights, ruin your sleep and wreak all sorts of havoc for 600 pages.Steve Suskin, Playbill

Leonard Bernstein was a charismatic and versatile musiciana brilliant conductor who attained international super-star status, and a gifted composer of Broadway musicals (West Side Story), symphonies (Age of Anxiety), choral works (Chichester Psalms), film scores (On the Waterfront), and much more. Bernstein was also an enthusiastic letter writer, and this book is the first to present a wide-ranging selection of his correspondence. The letters have been selected for the insights they offer into the passions of his lifemusical and personaland the extravagant scope of his musical and extra-musical activities.

Bernsteins letters tell much about this complex man, his collaborators, his mentors, and others close to him. His galaxy of correspondents encompassed, among others, Aaron Copland,Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Thornton Wilder, Boris Pasternak, Bette Davis, Adolph Green, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and family members, including his wife, Felicia, and his sister Shirley. The letters, many of which have never been published before, demonstrate the breadth of Bernsteins musical interests, his constant struggle to find the time to compose, his turbulent and complex sexuality, his political activities, and his endless capacity for hard work. Beyond all this, these writings provide a glimpse of the man behind the legends: his humanity, warmth, volatility, intellectual brilliance, wonderful eye for descriptive detail, and humor.

With their intellectual brilliance, humour and wonderful eye for detail, Leonard Bernsteins letters blow all biographies out of the water. His galaxy of correspondents includes Stephen Sondheim, Boris Pasternak and Jacqueline Kennedy. Full of fresh information and the authentic voice of a constant seeker.The Economist (named a 2013 Book of the Year)

His collaborator Betty Comden once noted, in a letter to Bernstein, that he saved every scrap of correspondence. You will be grateful . . . a rich collection of letters to and from Bernstein, filled with revelations about his musical and personal lives.James R. Oestreich, New York Times

Bernsteins versatility and ambition were such that he spent a lot of time trying to figure out who he waswhich also meant searching for American music and for the future of music generally. This book doesnt resolve Bernsteins quest. But its an invaluable resource, and the quest itself continues to fascinate and to matter.Joseph Horowitz, Wall Street Journal

A rich selection of letters to and from Bernstein, meticulously edited by Nigel Simeone. . . . Alive with spontaneous intelligence, Leonard Bernsteins letters display exactly this unforced intimacy, though there were moments when he no doubt knew that posterity was listening in.Morris Dickstein, Times Literary Supplement

His letters have a tremendous zest, and a good journalistic eye, too, and since he was often at the right place at the right time, at some of the key moments in his 20th-century history, this gives them a wider interest.Christopher Hart, Sunday Times

The correspondence from and to the remarkable conductor is full of pleasure and insights.New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice)

This volume has been handsomely edited, and the decision to include letters from Bernsteins correspondents results in a rich portrayal of a particular age of privilege.Philip Hensher, The Guardian

Like Britten, Bernstein was an assiduous correspondent, and The Leonard Bernstein Letters is a vast, absorbing canvas of a life lived at full speed, with a cast list that reads like a whos who of American cultural life in the 20th century.Adam Lively, Sunday Times

Simeones choice of letters [are] superbly amplified by his exhaustively researched footnotes, which manage to identify and flesh out even the most obscure of his subjects multifarious correspondents.Stephen Walsh, The Spectator

For . . . eloquent and moving testimony read the entry for 25 November 1963 in The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone, the contents of which give an . . . overview of a liberal American century.Chris Ford, The Guardian

[A] fascinating selection of correspondence edited by Nigel Simeone. . . . The Leonard Bernstein Letters is indeed a written reflection of the man himselffascinating, discursive, frequently brilliant.Ken Smith, Fontes Artis Musicae

A marvelously entertaining new book. . . .The Leonard Bernstein Letters makes it possible to take stock of Bernsteins weaknesseshis enthusiasm could lead to sentimentality, and clearly his fame became a kind of bubble. But these pale in comparison with his energy, joy, and absolute dedication to music. Its sad to think that our culture will probably never produce someone like him again.Adam Kirsch, Tablet magazine

It is a major, highly accomplished piece of work in its own right.Illtyd Harrington, Camden New Journal

The Leonard Bernstein Letters . . . contains so much that is startling and unknown that all past books, including his own, become instantly inadequate. Dont take my word for it. On the jacket, Bernsteins official biographer, Humphrey Burton, declares that, with this book in hand, I want to start all over again.Norman Lebrecht, Standpoint Magazine

In Nigel Simeones editorial labour of love The Leonard Bernstein Letters some of the most entertaining letters come from Bernsteins correspondents.Sameer Rahim, Sunday Telegraph

Opinions [are] expressed with force and often with elegance in his correspondence with performers, composers, publishers, promoters and many other else, as revealed in The Leonard Bernstein Letters, edited by the eminent Bernstein scholar Nigel Simeone.Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post

The Leonard Bernstein Letters will be pounced upon by aficionados. . . . Christmas reading doesnt come any better.International Record Review

[The] extraordinary archive, The Leonard Bernstein Letters, [is] edited meticulously by Nigel Simeone.Jenni Frazer, Jewish Chronicle

[H]ats off to Nigel Simeone for his painstaking research into the myriad references in Bernsteins correspondence. Concerts, recordings, broadcasts, travel dates, parties, you name it, they are all meticulously recorded in the brilliant footnotes to this large collection of letters. . . . A magisterial survey.Fiona Clampin, Classical Music

Top of my list for music books this Christmas has to be the new compendium of Leonard Bernsteins collected letters which are brilliantly written, seriously engaging, and strangely contradictory, in the way that Bernstein was himself a mass of fascinating contradictionsegocentric/loving, boastful/blisteringly honest, gay/straight; with a curious ambivalence, for a Jew, towards the remnants of the Third Reich.Ham & High

[W]hat emerges is an absorbing and highly readable portrait of a complex, larger-than-life character nicely described by a fellow-composer as one of the blessed ones who make everything they encounter come alive.Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine

The . . . mainly unpublished correspondence both from and to Bernstein, between 1932 and 1990, shines a light on this unique figures thoughts, work and passions, his voice ringing clear with warmth and candour. . . . He was a remarkable artist and human beingelusive in his complexity, yet evoked, through these letters, with undeniable presence.Teresa Levonian Cole, Country Life

Offering 650 letters, this book is a major event in the documentation of the life and work of one of the greatest American musicians, who still exercises an enormous influence through his revelatory records.Peter Dickinson, Gramophone Magazine

What terrifying letters you write: fit for the flames is what they are. Just imagine how much you would have to pay to retrieve such a letter forty years from now when you are conductor of the Philharmonic.Aaron Copland to Leonard Bernstein in 1940

This incredible collection of letters gives us a glimpse into the depth and breadth of Bernsteins world. The sheer volume of correspondence, all beautifully presented and annotated by Nigel Simeone, shows us that Bernstein loved the written word as much as the musical word!Marin Alsop, musical director, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

The Leonard Bernstein Letters Nigel Simeone

The Leonard Bernstein Letters by Nigel Simeone

Summary

The Leonard Bernstein Letters Summary

The Leonard Bernstein Letters by Nigel Simeone

The Leonard Bernstein Letters Reviews

About Nigel Simeone

Additional information

Customer Reviews - The Leonard Bernstein Letters