Leonard Bernstein

Never-before-heard personal recordings and archival footage tell the story of Louis Armstrong's life from his perspective. From musical phenom to civil rights activist to world-renowned artist, this illuminating film shows sides of Armstrong few have seen.

Trailblazing double bassist Orin O'Brien never wanted the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philarmonic, it was inevitable that she would become the focus of much interest and fascination. Now 87 years old and recently retired, Orin looks back on her remarkable life and career, insisting that a fuss should not be made, much preferring to play a supporting role to the family, students, friends, and colleagues that surround her.

Featuring never-before-seen footage of the band and the legions of young fans who helped fuel their ascendance, follow McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Starr as they land in New York City in February 1964 and solidify their status as the biggest band in the world.

Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last completed symphony proves it’s possible.

An enlightening, complex look at one of the greatest figures in 20th century classical music whose passion and creativity guided him well beyond the concert hall.

As the world prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of West Side Story in 2017, dancer Bruno Tonioli and broadcaster Suzy Klein go in search of the true stories behind the inception of this classic show. For the first time on television, they hear first-hand from those involved in the show when it opened on Broadway in September 1957, including Sondheim himself, producer Hal Prince and original cast members from both show and movie, including Chita Rivera Carol Lawrence and Rita Moreno. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra and specially cast singers, we re-live some of the wonderful music and, in the company of Suzy and Bruno, we discover how West Side Story placed the 1950s phenomena of racial tension and teenage gangs centre stage to create a hit that changed musical theatre forever.

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

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A documentary on the mysterious and influential pianist.

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With a career that includes a 35-year tenure as composer of the Berlin Philharmonic and record sales topping 200 million, Herbert von Karajan is one of the most legendary figures in 20th-century classical music. Comprised of archival footage, performance highlights and interviews with the likes of Anne-Sophie Mutter, Christa Ludwig and Seiji Ozawa, this retrospective chronicles the life and times of the iconic Austrian maestro.

Under the guidance of famed American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Polish classical pianist Krystian Zimerman and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a rousing performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concertos nos. 3, 4 and 5. Premiered in 1808, Beethoven's fourth concerto marked the last time the composer would take the stage as a soloist with an orchestra.

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Released as a memorial for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who passed away on 27 April 2007, this DVD contains one bonafide cello concerto, the Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor, and two tone poems with prominent cello parts, Ernest Bloch's Schelomo and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote. Rostropovich mastered the Schumann in several famous recordings. Here, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, he provides a splendid performance. Featuring his trademark powerful technique, smooth legato and crisp vibrato, the Romantic roots of the concerto are never hidden for long, despite the relatively cool playing of the Orchestre National de France.

Filmed on tour at Berlin's Philharmonie, this account of the valedictory Ninth Symphony is an intense interpretation, expressing Bernstein's conviction that modern man had at last caught up with the message encoded in Mahler's last completed work. Having made his famous 1966 studio recording of "Das Lied von der Erde" in Vienna, Bernstein re-recorded this in Israel with the same searing subjectivity. René Kollo draws on the voice of a great Wagner tenor, while Christa Ludwig, the greatest exponent of the contralto songs at the time, is unbearably poignant in the final movement's fusion of elation and sadness.

Haydn’s Creation, the culmination of his life’s work, in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacular performance also includes Bernstein’s spoken introduction to the performance —always an invaluable addition to any concert. This work, considered by many to be Haydn’s masterpiece, depicts the creation of the world as inspired by the texts of Genesis, the Book of Psalms and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Though deeply religious in conception, the oratorio gives a physical sense of the immensity of nature and the world’s creation. “The Creation gives us time to remember—and rejoice in— the purity and grace and fortitude of Nature, to restore our souls, to recover our moral strength, and to rediscover our power to praise”—Leonard Bernstein

This program captures one of the most celebrated classical conductors of all time, Leonard Bernstein, in rehearsal and performance at the Academy of Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in 1988, in particular exploring the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Bernstein's infectious passion and gift for teaching come shining through as he leads the student ensemble through the wonders of Shostakovich's evocative compositions.

Mischa Maisky performs with the Vienna Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein in concertos by Haydn and Schumann.

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In a stirring 1970 concert dedicated to victims of war and oppression, American composer, pianist and conductor Leonard Bernstein leads the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Verdi's "Requiem" from stately St. Paul's Cathedral. Renowned tenor Placido Domingo takes the stage in the first of many appearances with Bernstein. Other soloists include soprano Martina Arroyo, mezzo-soprano Josephine Veasey and bass Ruggero Raimondi.

Leonard Bernstein conducts three symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, op 55 ('Eroica'), Symphony no. 4 in B flat major, op 60 and Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op 67, all performed by Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna in 1977-8.

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The life of the composer, shaped by his Jewish heritage, his morality and his playful sense of humor.

The New York Philharmonic takes the stage of the Sydney Opera House for their Australian debut, and acclaimed conductor Leonard Bernstein is there to guide them through Tchaikovsky's "Sixth Symphony" in this performance captured live on film in 1974 and directed for the screen by Noel Clark.

A collection of recollections and opinions of and about Glenn Gould, interspersed with excerpts of archive footage of the great Canadian pianist speaking and playing.

Documentary about sixteen great conductors of the 20th century.

Leonard Bernstein narrated by legendary screen star Lauren Bacall. The movie also relies extensively on Bernstein's own words to provide the counterpoint to the abundant visual material. Highlights include excerpts of Bernstein conducting masterworks by Beethoven and Mahler, as well as of the maestro with the New York Philharmonic in Moscow in 1959 before an audience which included composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the dissident poet Boris Pasternak. It also contains never-before-seen footage, such as outtakes from televised concerts and interviews. Among these special treats: the dashing 28-year-old maestro representing the U.S. at the 1947 Prague Spring Festival – possibly the earliest extant film of Leonard Bernstein.

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This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

In celebration of its 100th anniversary in 1983, the Metropolitan Opera hosts a four-hour performance uniting some of the world's most spellbinding opera singers and conductors. The event includes a ballet from Samson et Dalila and boasts incredible classical performances from Kathleen Battle, Plácido Domingo, Jose Carerras, Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Horne, Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti and many more.

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honor the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest Brahms interpreters of the time: the violoninst Gidon Kremer, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the pianist Krystian Zimerman. Leonard Bernstein, Krystian Zimerman, and the Wiener Philharmoniker, it's very hard to get a better group of musicians for these masterpieces. Mr. Zimerman and Mr. Wolfgang Herzer's piano cello duets in the third movement of Brahms' second is simply tearful.

Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this is an historic performance marking the fall of the Berlin Wall. Performed on Christmas Day 1989 in the former East Berlin, a concert that unites an cast former eastern and western Berlin musicians and vocalists, among with an international cast of musicians, for a moving performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

A documentary which shows, in great detail, the making of the 1985 Bernstein-conducted recording of the entire score of "West Side Story", featuring operatic stars.

This television essay from 1985 was written by Leonard Bernstein to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's birth. Recorded in Israel, Vienna and later in London, it is punctuated by biographical interludes and illustrated by musical examples drawn from the cycle of Mahler's works recorded by Bernstein. Bernstein talks, plays and conducts various orchestras (Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker) and soloists (Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, Edith Mathis, Lucia Popp, Walton Groenroos) in performances spanning 17 years. Leonard Bernstein also examines the roots of Gustav Mahler's inspiration. The programme also features music from the nine symphonies, 'The Song of the Earth' and the 'Wunderhorn Cycle'.

A look at the activities of the Tanglewood Music Center, America's renowned summer Academy for talented musicians, singers, composers and conductors.

This is the historic concert performance of the final operatic version of Bernstein's Candide. It was recorded on December 13, 1989 at the Barbican Centre, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with a stellar cast of operatic stars gracing the solo parts. The programme lasts a full 2hrs 27 mins. It marks the end of a long and tortured journey for the musical/operetta that spent much of its first 35 years as an orphan in the musical wilderness.

A presentation of key events in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning with the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, MLK is followed through major steps in his struggle to promote racial equality. Including footage of King's stirring speeches, it is a fitting tribute to his legacy, and features clips narrated by a wide range of celebrities, including Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman Charlton Heston, Ruby Dee, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Walter Matthau, Ben Gazzara, Clarence Williams III, Joanne Woodward, and James Earl Jones.

In this documentary portrait prepared for the anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday, Leonard Bernstein illustrates his analysis with excerpts from his performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major and the Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony.

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Phonology is the linguistic study of sounds, or phonemes. Bernstein's application of this term to music results in what he calls "musical phonology".

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Lecture 5 picks up at the early twentieth century with an oncoming crisis in Western Music. As these lectures have traced the gradual increase and oversaturation of ambiguity, Bernstein now designates a point in history that took ambiguity too far.

"Four Ways to Say Farewell" is a personal introduction to Mahler and his Ninth Symphony, during which Leonard Bernstein is seen and heard rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Filmed in 1971, this rehearsal was directed by Humphrey Burton,

Directed by Sir Humphrey Burton, this 90-minute powerhouse features Sheila Armstrong (soprano), Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernstein at Ely Cathedral in 1973.

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To play Beethoven's music is to give oneself over completely to the child-spirit which lived in that grim, awkward, violent man. Without that utter submission it is impossible to play the Adagio of the Ninth. Or, Heaven knows, the first movement. And the Finale? Most of all! It is simply unplayable unless we go all the way with him, as he cries out "Brüder!" - Leonard Bernstein

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse:Semantics is the study of meaning in language, and Bernstein's third lecture, "musical semantics", accordingly, is Bernstein's first attempt to explain meaning in music. Although Bernstein defines musical semantics as "meaning, both musical and extramusical" this lecture focuses exclusively on the "musical" version of meaning.

During a break in rehearsals with the Israel Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein sat down at the piano to film an introduction to the poetry and music of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde.

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Bernstein provides two distinct meanings of the term ambiguity. The first is "doubtful or uncertain" and the second, "capable of being understood in two or more possible senses"

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the mid-1970s when he was at the peak of his career. Humphrey Burton's direction is, as always, very fine, giving the viewer/listener both the larger picture and highlighting individual soloists, players or groups of musicians and, of course, the maestro. The video and audio tracks show their age, but are quite acceptable even for today's standards. Bernstein's Seventh is everything one could desire: dark and spooky, highly sensual, but also structurally strong and assertive where needed. Bernstein's reading does not gloss over breakdowns in tonality and the foreshadowing of later musical developments.

In a pair of passionate performances, American composer Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 4 and Andante Cantabile, then leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Russian composer's Symphony no. 5. Russian violinist Boris Belkin also makes his American debut as the soloist in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major.

For Mahlerites, his symphonies are much more than musical performances--they can be an emotional or spiritual journey through the struggles, fears, and triumphs of life. This Sixth Symphony is a 1976 performance in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal with PCM stereo and DTS 5.1. The 2 dvd set also includes the 4th and 5th symphonies, which are performed as magnificently as the Sixth.

In Vienna's Musikverein, Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic celebrates Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday with a joyful performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major. Maestro Bernstein conducts the orchestra from the keyboard in this historic concert.

A portrait of one of England's greatest composers. Winner of the Prix Italia.

BBC television program exploring Visconti’s mastery of cinema, theater, and opera direction.

Leornard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, first with pianist Glenn Gould performing Bach's Keyboard Concerto #1 in D minor and then with soprano Eileen Farrell singing the "Suicidio!" aria from Amilcare Ponchielli 's opera "La Gioconda". Finally, composer Igor Stravinsky takes over the podium, conducting the last three scenes from his ballet "The Firebird". Bernstein also gives an opening talk on the vagaries of musical score notation and introduces each of the three guest performers. Originally aired on January 31, 1960 on CBS Television as part of its Ford Presents series.

For his audio-visual recordings of both Das Lied von der Erde and the songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Leonard Bernstein turned to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble with which he had a decades-long relationship. For this live recording made at the Frederick Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv of Mahler’s 1908 work – a part symphony, part song cycle setting fin-de-siècle German translations of Chinese poetry – the conductor is joined with two of the greatest singers of the time: tenor René Kollo and mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, who features in the final song of the work, “Der Abschied” – a heartbreaking farewell that lasts as long as all five other movements put together.

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