Leonard Bernstein - Reaching for the Note

Rating:
Summary: "Lenny in Retrospect"
Review: Leonard Bernstein is perhaps one of the greatest men to stand on any podium, anywhere in the world. One gets a sense of how much larger than life he was through watching this video. The video provides a poignant look into his family life, and how much of his work was influenced by his personal life. Like any man Bernstein had to grapple with outward, and inner personal turmoil which is highlighted in this video. The Chichester Psalms allowed him to get further in touch with his Jewish roots, something that he was very proud of. Clips from rehearsals around the globe are included, as well as personal family home video footage. This video is a must for any home library, and especially for any Bernstein fan.

Rating:
Summary: "Lenny in Retrospect"
Review: Leonard Bernstein is perhaps one of the greatest men to stand on any podium, anywhere in the world. One gets a sense of how much larger than life he was through watching this video. The video provides a poignant look into his family life, and how much of his work was influenced by his personal life. Like any man Bernstein had to grapple with outward, and inner personal turmoil which is highlighted in this video. The Chichester Psalms allowed him to get further in touch with his Jewish roots, something that he was very proud of. Clips from rehearsals around the globe are included, as well as personal family home video footage. This video is a must for any home library, and especially for any Bernstein fan.

Rating:
Summary: Good but a little white-washed
Review: This PBS documentary is loaded with clips from Lenny's long career, and captures many of his great moments on film. There are also the requisite interviews with people fawning over him. No mention of the extremely negative (often deservedly so) reviews he got in his early days at the helm of the NYPO, or the sordid story of how he wrestled the top job there away from Dmitri Mitropoulos by "outing" him when he himself was flagrantly bisexual. What he did to his wife, emotionally, in her final years, is only briefly hinted at. The whole Tom Wolfe/Radical Chic incident is also only glossed over in about a minute, and the effects this and other "anti-Lenny" incidents had on his psyche are barely mentioned. His depression is talked about, but the reasons behind it are not. But TV documentaries usually skim the surface this way, and the real treat is in the performances and interviews captured here. This is a great two hours for any Bernstein lover. They may not learn anything new, but they'll have a wonderful time reliving the old.

Rating:
Summary: A Caped Prima Donna, but he Loved Music, and it Shows!
Review: Using interviews with his son and daughters, his brother, the writers, choreographers, and conductors he worked with, and many of his friends, and clips of his rehearsals and performances, we see the life of a very talented, but troubled genius.

His personal life was torn between wanting to be a family man and good father, versus his strong attraction to the gay lifestyle. His musical life was likewise pulled in several directions: he wanted to be a conductor, composer, and a teacher.

Remarkably, he succeeded rather well at everything he tried. Like so many geniuses, he was both arrogant at times, and then at other times, insecure. For all his exceptional abilities, he was a human being, troubled by trying to figure out just how he should fit into the world.

If you love and appreciate Leonard Bernstein, you should find this a very good view of his life. Even if you have had doubts about his temperamental, caped, grand "prima donna" side, this will help you become more sympathetic to his struggle to understand himself.