Program notes
Seldom has the genius of one man so influenced the musical conscience of his age.
Leonard Bernstein was a triumphant composer, conductor, writer, and teacher. The spontaneous joy of his Broadway hits, the bold, spiritual quest of his orchestral works, and his intensity and vitality as a conductor made Bernstein one of the central figures of twentieth-century music.
In Leonard Bernstein: Reflections, he discusses his childhood in Boston, his musical growth at Harvard and the Curtis Institute, and the influence of great masters such as Reiner, Mitropoulos, and Koussevitzky. He shares his feelings about the primacy of tonal music and speculates on the nature of the creative process.
From Carnegie Hall, the scene of his debut, to the living room of his home, to his private studio overlooking New York's Central Park, Reflections explores the artist's varied and colorful career. Bernstein's eloquence and charm have characterized his television appearances, from the groundbreaking Omnibus programs of the 1950s and the CBS Young People's Concerts to the provocative Norton Lectures at Harvard in the 1970s, and are powerfully evident in this documentary.