The enigma of genius. Leonard Bernstein's only engagement with the BBC Symphony Orchestra took place in April 1982. It was a troubled time for Great Britain, with the long-running dispute over the Falkland Islands transformed into open war by the Argentinian invasion earlier in the month: the a...

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Bibliographic Details

Other Authors:	Elgar, Edward 1857-1934
Format:	Electronic Video
Language:	English
Published:	[Place of publication not identified] BBC, under licence to International Classical Artists Ltd. Licensed courtesy of BBC Worldwide [2013]
Subjects:	Music rehearsals Orchestral music Variations (Orchestra) Internet videos
Online Access:	BSB01 Volltext
Summary:	The enigma of genius. Leonard Bernstein's only engagement with the BBC Symphony Orchestra took place in April 1982. It was a troubled time for Great Britain, with the long-running dispute over the Falkland Islands transformed into open war by the Argentinian invasion earlier in the month: the all-out military response ordered by Mrs Thatcher was still to come (a naval task force was on its way to the South Atlantic) when Bernstein conducted this concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 14 April. A few days later, he referred with withering sarcasm to the jingoist spirit of Elgar's patriotic music when (without preliminary rehearsal) he recorded two of the Pomp and Circumstance Marches as fillers to his CD recording of the 'Enigma' Variations, later issued on Deutsche Grammophon. An East Coast liberal, Bernstein was uneasy about England and its imperialist past. He loved Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and the Listener magazine's crossword puzzles but had hated his first visit to London in 1946. On that occasion (arranged by the music publisher Ralph Hawkes, a friend of his mentor Aaron Copland), Bernstein had conducted the London Philharmonic in six concerts and the newly formed Philharmonia for a recording of Ravel's G Major Piano Concerto that was sufficiently problematic to never be issued in the UK. Bernstein had been ill, lonely, depressed by bomb-ravaged London and unimpressed by the quality of its orchestral musicians. Over the next three decades his London concerts (apart from appearances with the New York Philharmonic on various tours) had all been given with the adventurous London Symphony Orchestra, including a memorable Mahler Eight at the Royal Albert Hall in 1966 and a Stravinsky memorial concert in 1972. For the BBC Symphony Orchestra it was therefore something of a scoop to lure the famous maestro away from the LSO; as a regular member of Bernstein's production team for the previous decade, I was happy to serve as a go-between in the negotiations, which were concluded shortly before I retired from BBC management to concentrate on work as a director. This rehearsal film (shot in BBC TV's Omnibus studio) was one of my first assignments in my new role. Bernstein, then sixty-three, was well aware of the historic importance of the BBC's flagship orchestra, which had been founded in 1930 under the leadership of Adrian Boult; Sir Adrian was knighted only seven years later for his achievement in establishing the orchestra as one of the UK's leading ensembles.
Physical Description:	1 Online-Ressource (1 video file (25 min., 12 sec.)) sound, color