Watching Leonard Bernstein conduct was beyond exciting. The renowned composer and conductor threw every cell of his body into making the music come alive. He was the embodiment of dedication to his craft. We see this and so very much more in the wonderful documentary playing at the M.V. Film Center on Monday, August 3, and Tuesday, August 4, followed by a Q and A with director Douglas Tirola.
Bernstein addresses us throughout the film, narrating his life, holding nothing back. Tirola intersperses the interviews with archival footage, still photographs, and, unsurprisingly, a fantastic soundtrack, as Bernstein shares his most private thoughts about America, politics, race, family, media, sex, and religion.
“I loved music long before the age of 10,” Bernstein says. He recounts his early encounter with his aunt’s old upright piano: “I touched it, and that was it. I immediately screamed for piano lessons.” Rapidly advancing, Bernstein’s authoritarian, wild-tempered father, an immigrant from a shtetl — a traditional, predominantly Jewish market town, then part of the Russian Empire — was adamantly opposed to his son’s pursuit of music. Bernstein refused to take over his father’s beauty-supply business, knowing that music was his life. Describing the first time he conducted, Bernstein says, “It’s incredible … No one can understand what it’s like to stand in an orchestra.”
He takes us through his studies with various great composers and conductors, including Aaron Copland. In their letters to one another, we read of Bernstein’s romantic love for his mentor as the text scrolls across the screen. The tension related to his sexuality and marriage, as well as his dedication to his children, plays out against the backdrop of his rising fame.
It turns out Bernstein is not just personable; he can be funny. For instance, he shares that when he became the assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic, he had three strikes against him: He was American, while at the time, all the famous conductors were foreign; he was an unheard-of 25-year-old; and he had “a ghastly Jewish name.” Urged to change it at the time to something less ethnic sounding, Bernstein refused.
While there are many splendid scenes of him conducting classical music, Tirola reflects Bernstein’s breadth. We hear about the conception of “West Side Story,” with the original idea that the lovers came from Jewish and Catholic families, which Bernstein knew wouldn’t fly. There is also fantastic footage of a 1956 televised concert at New York’s Lewisohn Stadium, where Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic along with Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars in a “Concerto Grosso” arrangement of the classic blues song “St. Louis Blues.”
Bernstein’s dedication to the betterment of humanity runs throughout the film. “I want to make a contribution not just to music, but to people,” he tells us early on. An activist at heart, he performed at the Stars for Freedom Rally at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to inspire participants in the historic Selma-to-Montgomery march; conducted in Russia during a legendary U.S. State Department–sponsored tour with the New York Philharmonic; and also in East Germany in 1989, after the Berlin Wall came down. In fact, the latter “Ode to Freedom” concert of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” closes the film. For the performance, Bernstein famously changed the word “Freude” (joy) to “Freiheit” (freedom), with an orchestra composed of musicians from both East and West Germany, as well as musicians from the U.S., Great Britain, France, and the USSR.
“I believe in the potential of people,” Bernstein says. The resulting performance raises goosebumps with its momentous beauty, and Bernstein’s full-throttle passion while conducting, reflecting his lifelong dedication to creating social change and bringing people together through his work.
“Bernstein’s Wall” screens at the M.V. Film Center on Monday, August 3, and Tuesday, August 4, followed by a Q and A with director Douglas Tirola. For tickets and information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.
