Bernstein Minutes

For the 1961 movie West Side Story, composer Leonard Bernstein was not the conductor. So when, in the '80s, he had the chance to make a recording of the…

For East Germans, the Berlin Wall wasn't just a vast, 96-mile structure — it represented what they called "the wall in the head," a looming feeling of no…

It's simply too difficult to create a list of recordings made by conductor Leonard Bernstein that could be called "The Best of Lenny" or "The Definitive…

Like many people in the 1940s, Leonard Bernstein was a fan of actress Bette Davis. And, as Bernstein's conducting and composing careers skyrocketed, the…

Here’s the story of one of Leonard Bernstein’s college capers.Bernstein was a senior at Harvard University when he met Aaron Copland at a concert in 1938.…

Between Maude Adams in 1905 and Mary Martin in 1954, there was Leonard Bernstein!Adams lives in museums today and Martin on an enchanting TV film. Both…

Leonard Bernstein was there at the beginning of Yo-Yo Ma's career. And in a special way, Yo-Yo Ma was there at the end of Bernstein's life.In 1962,…

It wasn't as if Leonard Bernstein was looking for work.By 1953, at the age of 35, Bernstein had already created two Broadway hits and had been on top of…

The year is 1941. War is raging in Europe.Here on the home front, Leonard Bernstein is 23 years old, a student at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music…

On Oct. 22, 1983, the Metropolitan Opera threw an all-day bash celebrating its 100th birthday.Singers active and retired, and some in between, were…