by Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
Conductor, composer, educator, media phenomenon, Leonard Bernstein was a cultural force without precedent, and without any remotely comparable successor.
He was the first American-born conductor to head a top-tier orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and to have a major career in Europe. Arriving on the scene with the then-new medium of television, he used it to brilliant effect in the music-appreciation programs Omnibus and Young People's Concerts. Craggily handsome, with a gift of gab, he made classical music sexy as well as intellectually engaging. The best of his compositions, concert music as well as scores for musicals and ballets, remain fresh and compelling.
Joining a nationwide observance of the Bernstein centenary, this week's Dallas Symphony Orchestra pops concerts, led by principal pops conductor Jeff Tyzik, feature selections from Bernstein's music for the stage: the ballet Fancy Free; the musicals On the Town, West Side Story and 1600 Pennsylvania; and the operetta Candide.
"What I love about Bernstein is what I love about Gershwin," Tyzik says. "He never had walls in music. Both he and Gershwin wrote what they felt, in whatever style. In addition to writing great classical pieces, they also included jazz and Latin.
"And both of them were great songwriters. Every song in Porgy and Bess and West Side Story is a hit."
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