"Candide" is the most overrated musical since "Paint Your Wagon." "West Side Story" was nothing more than a ripoff of "Romeo and Juliet" set to paltry, cheesy melodies.
As to his skill as a conductor, ok, I'll grant that. But he wouldn't have been squat without the NYPhilharmonic playing under his baton. And as far as an "educator," maybe in the sense of "what NOT to do.
Not only does Bernstein not belong in the same pantheon as Beethoven, he shouldn't even be allowed to park cars outside it. If he's the premiere American composer of the century, then that's not so much a compliment as a comment on the sorry state of American classical music.
I assume you'll want to respond to this, but I think I've hijacked enough of this thread. I will conclude by saying that your musical aesthetic and mine are polar opposites.
Who’s comparing him to Beethoven? lol I said American musicians. Bernstein held Beethoven in the highest reverence btw. He merely explained how his greatness is not due to the standard values we use to judge composers.
Candide is a unique hybrid of musical and opera. There’s nothing quite like it. And of course WSS is a musical version of R&J. It endures because Bernstein’s innovative Jazz and Latin inspired music with time signatures never before seen in a musical (and rarely seen since). We’re talking about music only here not the source of a theater piece. Bernstein was a great conductor no matter which orchestra he was working with. I didn’t always groove on his interpretations but they were always interesting. And please tell me how his great Young People’s Concerts or Norton Lectures (where he defended tonal music) could be improved? What did he do wrong with his pedagogical efforts? Who’s done it better since?
This isn’t a thread hijack...it’s on topic with the way these Classical threads usually go.
Personally I prefer Elmer Bernstein to Leonard.