The Leonard Bernstein Letters (88 page)

51
Bernstein's concert on 11 September was Pasternak's first appearance in public after his denunciation following the
Doctor Zhivago
scandal. Bernstein was overwhelmed by his meeting at Pasternak's
dacha
, but they never met again as the great writer died a few months later, on 30 May 1960. On 13 July 1960, Rabbi George Lieberman from Long Island, NY, wrote to Bernstein about his admiration for the writer, and to ask whether, during their meeting, Bernstein had touched on Pasternak's Jewish antecedents: “Was he a formal convert to Christianity? Now that he is no more, we may never know whether he took the step. On the basis of your conversation with him, could you draw any conclusions on this point? Were you in his home in Peredelkino and did you notice any icons in it?” Bernstein's draft reply is written on the back of Rabbi Lieberman's letter: “My conversations with P. never touched on this point. (They were in fact virtually monologues by him on aesthetic matters.) But he conveyed the impression of a Tolstoyan Christian, a worshipper of nature and the divine spark in man. I saw no icons at his home. I suspect that he felt little or nothing about
Jewishness
, though he may have been deeply interested in
Judaism
. This is a guess.”

52
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007), German composer, and a leading light of the post-war avant-garde.

53
Bernstein's first book,
The Joy of Music
, was published in 1959.

54
Reiner's home in Connecticut.

55
See Letter 439.

56
Written in French; English translation by the editor.

57
Bernstein's performances of Mahler's
Resurrection
Symphony in which Roddy sang (as a member of Rutgers University Choir) were given in Carnegie Hall on 18, 19, 20, and 21 February 1960, with Phyllis Curtin and Regina Resnik as the vocal soloists.

58
Bernstein played most of Schuman's suggested program. The only change was to end with Robert Schumann's Third (“Rhenish”) Symphony instead of the Fourth. The concerts were given on 13, 14, and 16 October 1960 with Aaron Rosand as the soloist in Barber's Violin Concerto.

59
Larry Kert (1930–91), American actor and singer who created the role of Tony in
West Side Story.

60
A reference to the only time Bernstein conducted any of
West Side Story
in the theater: the Overture at the opening night of the Broadway revival on 27 April 1960 (at the Alvin Theatre).

61
Bernstein did not agree to Kert's proposal about the title of his album (a note typed by Helen Coates at the top of the letter says “cannot use L's name on Album”). It was released by Secco Records as
Larry Kert Sings Leonard Bernstein
(CELP 4670). At Bernstein's suggestion (jotted down by Helen Coates at the foot of the letter) the record included “Build My House” from
Peter Pan
as well as songs from
West Side Story
,
On the Town
, and
Wonderful Town.

62
Robbins' entertaining description of his time in Hollywood working on the early stages of the film version of
West Side Story
shows just how tenacious he needed to be (“like a sheep dog”) and shows the obvious concern he had for the way the show was being treated. However, a sharply contrasting account can be found in the long letter from Saul Chaplin to Bernstein about Robbins' work on the film (see Letter 462).

63
Robbins was angered by an unidentified newspaper report about his treatment of “Somewhere” in
West Side Story
. It is likely that he is referring to Bernstein's comments (hitherto kept private) about Robbins changing the orchestration of “Somewhere” at the 1957 dress rehearsal of the show in Washington, DC. Amanda Vaill summarized what happened at this rehearsal as follows: “As the orchestra swelled into the lush refrain of ‘Somewhere’ after the ballet's end, Jerry sprang out of his seat and ran down to the pit to demand that the conductor, Max Goberman, cut the orchestration and give the first bars to an unaccompanied flute. ‘Take that Hollywood shit out!’ he cried. Without a sound, Lenny Bernstein got up and went to a bar across the street where Steve Sondheim found him staring at a row of neat Scotches lined up in front of him. Jerry later said he didn't realize Lenny was even in the theatre at the time and thought he'd understand that to make the ‘extremely sensitive transition’ into the duet work right, ‘the song should start simply, purely.’ […] Jerry also admitted that ‘my tactics were not of the best’” (Vaill 2007, p. 287). Evidently, some version of this story had got out and Robbins was irritated. This letter is of more general interest for Robbins' very positive view of their collaborations and their friendship.

64
Mitropoulos died of heart failure on 2 November 1960, a few months after sending this letter.

65
Saul Chaplin (1912–97), American composer and film-music supervisor. He first met Bernstein in 1944 and saw him conduct
Fancy Free
at the Hollywood Bowl in August that year. Chaplin was Music Supervisor and Associate Producer for the film version of
West Side Story
.

66
The Prologue of
West Side Story
, which was extensively reworked for the film.

67
Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic arrived in Vancouver on 14 August, and gave concerts in the city on 15 and 16 August.

68
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip stayed at the newly opened Faculty Club in July 1959, a year before Bernstein's visit. Prince Andrew was born on 19 February 1960 (so the story is, indeed, a canard).

69
The New York Philharmonic gave a concert in Denver, CO, on 13 August.

70
Bernstein appeared as soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in one of the Vancouver concerts.

71
Bartók's
Concerto for Orchestra
and the Second Suite from Ravel's
Daphnis and Chloe
were on the Vancouver programs.

72
David Keiser was President of the Board of the New York Philharmonic.

73
Edwin Denby, librettist of
The Second Hurricane
.

74
Marni Nixon (b. 1930), American soprano whose concert repertoire includes works by Schoenberg, Webern, Ives, and Boulez, and whose parallel career has been as the dubbed singing voice of several screen legends in film musicals, including Marilyn Monroe (the high notes in “Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend”), Deborah Kerr (
The King and I
), Audrey Hepburn (
My Fair Lady
), and Natalie Wood (
West Side Story
).

75
On Bernstein's recommendation, Marni Nixon was chosen to dub Natalie Wood's singing voice as Maria, and she was in Hollywood less than a month after sending this letter. She was widely experienced in contemporary classical repertoire (on 31 March 1960 she had given the first American performance of Boulez's
Improvisation sur Mallarmé I
with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic), and was already familiar to film studios as the singing voice of Deborah Kerr in
The King and I
. She arrived in Hollywood in late September 1960 to work on
West Side Story
for $300 a day, and had to tread a delicate path, since Natalie Wood was convinced she could do her own singing. Nixon's own account of the recording deserves quoting at length: “The sessions were set up so that Natalie would first record a song on her own and then I would get up and record the whole song again. I knew that this was going to be embarrassing and traumatic for her, but I was just an employee and went along with it. Musicians, especially ones this good, are noted for their disdain of mediocrity […] As Natalie sang, they showed their displeasure by playing poorly. They kind of sawed away at the notes instead of playing with the sensitivity of which they were more than capable. Then, when I got up to sing the identical song, the same musicians would sit up in their seats and play with renewed vigor and passion. When I finished a take they would even applaud. I was both very embarrassed and disgusted at their rudeness to poor Natalie who was, after all, doing her best” (Nixon 2006, pp. 133–4).

76
Nadia Boulanger conducted a series of concerts with the New York Philharmonic in February 1962 (see Letter 472).

77
This concerns the first performance of the
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
, which Foss conducted with the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall on 13 February 1961 at the
Valentine For Leonard Bernstein
, a Pension Fund Benefit Concert, concluding a first half that had opened with Aaron Copland conducting the
Candide
Overture followed by the
Jeremiah
Symphony conducted by Vladimir Golschmann, with Jennie Tourel as the soloist. The second half of the programme, produced by David Oppenheim and presented by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, was a series of “Valentine Surprises” of music from Bernstein's Broadway shows and
Fancy Free
.

78
The Ojai Festival, in California, was directed by Foss in 1961, the occasion on which the programme he outlines was given with André Previn, Shelly Manne, and others.

79
Given the scoring (including 4 trumpets and trombones), this note is almost certainly in connection with Ramin's orchestration of the
Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy
, first performed in January 1961, which Ramin orchestrated for 1 piccolo, 2 flutes (ad lib.), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 3 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, timpani, and percussion.

80
Frank Sinatra (1915–98), American singer, actor, and entertainment legend. He had known Bernstein since the early 1940s when they had both worked in New York nightclubs such as the Riobamba (see Letter 115).

81
Sinatra is confirming arrangements for the Inaugural Ball for President Kennedy at which Bernstein conducted his
Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy
.

82
This brutally frank account of Jerome Robbins' work on the movie of
West Side Story
was intended for Bernstein's eyes only, but it conveys something of the profound frustration felt by the producers – Robert Wise (also the movie's co-director), Walter Mirisch, and Saul Chaplin – about what they felt to be Robbins' high-handed and unreasonable behavior on the set, as well as Chaplin's concern that Robbins was giving a very selective account of the movie's problems in his reports back to Bernstein.

83
Bonanza Bound
was a 1947 musical set in Alaska in 1898, with a score by Saul Chaplin, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, sets by Oliver Smith, and musical direction by Lehman Engel. Try-outs opened at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia on 26 December 1947, but despite the talent involved in the show, it closed there a week later, never reaching Broadway. Bernstein toured to Alaska with the New York Philharmonic in 1961.

84
Jack [Joachim] Fishberg (1904–70) was a violinist in the New York Philharmonic for forty-four years.

85
The first paragraph of this letter is in English. The remainder is in French, translated by the editor.

86
Theodore Hollenbach, conductor of the Rochester Oratorio Society from 1945 to 1986. Felicia was performing Honegger's
Joan of Arc at the Stake
in Rochester.

87
An earlier version of this acrostic, dated 22 March 1957, is printed in Bernstein 1982, p. 136. It contains several differences from the text printed here.

88
The film version of
West Side Story
had its premiere in New York on 18 October 1961.

89
Written in French; English translation by the editor.

90
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), Russian-born composer; a dominant figure in twentieth-century music. His professional relationship with Bernstein was always friendly, but as Charles M. Joseph writes: “although his correspondence with Bernstein was cordial enough, the [Stravinsky] archives disclose some hostility in Stravinsky and his circle of friends. Bernstein's
The Age of Anxiety
, Symphony No. 2 of 1949, was inspired by W. H. Auden's book of the same name. Auden was not pleased and quickly distanced himself from any association with the work. He gave Stravinsky a copy of the book in which he wrote on the title page, ‘Leonard Bernstein is a shit.’ Stravinsky himself, Craft told me, walked out of a performance of the same symphony and wanted to leave
West Side Story
as well. […] Perhaps at the root of this reprobation was an envy of Bernstein's public appeal, as well as an aversion to the charismatic conductor's mission to catechize about music, to convince people ‘what to feel’, as Stravinsky described it.” (Joseph 2001, pp. 226–7). Joseph also points out that “Commercial record sales were another target of Stravinsky's annoyance. Bernstein was a major competitor for recording royalties, hitting home in a way that Stravinsky could not fail to notice. John McClure of Columbia Masterworks recalled that Stravinsky never accepted the fact that other conductors, especially dynamic ones like Bernstein, could steal the composer's thunder” (Joseph 2001, p. 229).

91
Pencil draft of the letter Bernstein sent.

92
An earlier title for
The Flood
, commissioned by CBS Television and first broadcast on 14 June 1962.

93
Stravinsky was eager to see the broadcast of “Happy Birthday Igor Stravinsky,” Bernstein's
Young People's Concert
first relayed on 26 March 1962. He sent a telegram to Bernstein on 6 April: “Please tell Roger Englander Saturday May 5 is ideal for me. Many thanks. Would you lunch with me before or after the screening? Another great favor I have to ask is could you please record the three snippets John McClure has from
The Flood
. Cordially, Stravinsky.” A draft reply is written below, partly by Bernstein and partly by Helen Coates: “Everything set for screening Sat. May 5 at 1 p.m. Delighted to have lunch with you afterwards. Will make every effort to accommodate you on
The Flood
snippets. Warmest greetings.” Bernstein did in fact record part of the soundtrack for the CBS television relay of
The Flood
. According to Charles M. Joseph's
Stravinsky Inside Out
: “The work was finally recorded at the CBS studios in Hollywood on 31 March. [Robert] Craft led the orchestra for the audio taping (although the televised program led the audience to believe that Stravinsky himself was on the podium), and Leonard Bernstein helped as well. A week later the composer wrote to McClure in New York, providing specific instructions for a passage to be recorded by Leonard Bernstein” (Joseph 2001, p. 152). Joseph goes on to quote from Stravinsky's 6 April letter to McClure, is which the composer raises the question of how the credits should read for the shared conducting duties: “It seems to me you invite speculation and call undue attention to a problem by saying two people conducted and not saying who conducted what. Therefore, leave out the word ‘conductor’
entirely
. Say ‘recording supervised by the composer’” (Joseph 2001, p. 152). Bernstein himself believed that Stravinsky's coolness towards him near the end of the composer's life was down to Robert Craft: “I could
kill
him – I mean, he spoiled such a lovely relationship between Stravinsky and myself” (Cott 2013, p. 31).