DUAL PERSONALITY? Music & Vision February 17

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DUAL PERSONALITY?

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In the 20th anniversary year of Bernstein's death,
GIUSEPPE PENNISI writes about
Italy's homage to Lenny



Leonard Bernstein passed away on 14 October 1990. He was born on 25 August 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, into a wealthy Jewish family which had emigrated from Rovno, then in Poland but today in Ukraine. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts given by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town and On the Town.

Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances, perhaps more than any other, all between 1954 and 1989. He had a formidable piano technique, and as a composer wrote many types of music from Broadway shows to symphonies. According to The New York Times, he was 'one of the most prodigally talented and successful musicians in American history'. However, he was not quintessentially American. As documented in a book recently published in Italy (Leonard Bernstein: un'anima divisa in due by Alessandro Zignani, Zecchini Editore, 2009), Bernstein had a split personality deeply rooted in his dual culture: a sophisticated European (and erudite Latinist) and a true yankee.

Leonard Bernstein conducts 'La bohème'
Leonard Bernstein conducts 'La bohème'

Bernstein was profoundly attached to Italy. He was the honorary chairman of one of the most important Italian musical institutions (the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia) from 1984 until his death, one of the most frequent and most appreciated conductors at La Scala, San Carlo and many other opera houses. He was a great and close personal friend of the Head of State, Sandro Pertini, and he was proud, almost ostentatious, in wearing his decoration of Cavaliere di Gran Croce della Repubblica -- the highest knighthood awarded in Italy.

Bernstein on Lexington Avenue
Bernstein on Lexington Avenue

And the Italians loved Lenny. For this reason, the twentieth anniversary of his death is being celebrated with many initiatives throughout the Italian musical world. The two most important are a major memorial concert, repeated 13-16 February at the main auditorium of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and a co-production of Candide by four Italian teatri di tradizione -- provincial historical theatres, mostly supported by local governments -- those of Lucca, Livorno, Pisa and Ravenna -- as well as three theatres in Poland (the most important being the Poznam Opera House).

Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein

The Candide tour also started on 13 February, and will extend through March in Italy and visit Poland later in the Spring. Candide has been seen and listened to several times in Italy during the last few years, at La Scala in Milan, San Carlo in Naples and in two different productions in Rome (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in a semi-staged version and Teatro Argentina in a US west coast production by Pacific Opera). This is the first time that this satire of the 'American way of life' in the 1950s and its mix of operetta, comic opera, terrific coloratura singing and brilliant musical solutions, is being seen and listened to in provincial Italian theatres. The company -- singers and conductor -- is very young, but the stage director is the very experienced Micha Znaniecki, the stage sets are signed by Luigi Scoglio (well known in Italy), and the costumes by Kornelia Piskorek. The production has all the signs of being worth a trip and a review in Music & Vision.

The Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Antonio Pappano. Photo © 2007 Riccardo Musacchio
The Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Antonio Pappano. Photo © 2007 Riccardo Musacchio

Let us focus on the homage the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia gave to its longtime honorary chairman. This reviewer was at the 13 February 2010 opening performance. Under the baton of Wayne Marshall, the orchestra discovered Lenny's dual personality very well: the program juxtaposed the American vitality of the dances from West Side Story with the mysticism of the Chichester Psalms, the experimentalism of Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and the European ironic flair of the suite from Candide.

Wayne Marshall. Photo © Edgar Brambis
Wayne Marshall. Photo © Edgar Brambis

Wayne Marshall had a very 'jazzy imprint': for example, he emphasized the connection between the scores and jazz. Also, he was working with a much larger orchestra than those normally associated with performances of West Side Story and Candide, especially those for Broadway theatres. The singers were chosen from within the Santa Cecilia company and not one of them was a native English or American speaker, so there were some diction problems. In general, however, the memorial concert was reasonably good. It's worth mentioning the group of the brass instruments: Marshall demanded a lot from these brass instrumentalists, and they responded quite well.

Copyright © 17 February 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

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LEONARD BERNSTEIN

WEST SIDE STORY

CHICHESTER PSALMS

CANDIDE

ITALY

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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