Dinner With Lenny by Jonathan Cott: A Review

Many of us know Leonard Bernstein as an inspiring American composer and conductor. Jonathan Cott's Dinner with Lenny reveals Leonard Bernstein the man, the musician, the composer, the conductor, the educator, the humanitarian. Bernstein lived life to the fullest. The twelve-hour interview is truncated into a 192-page book, but Bernstein's exhilaration and passion leap off the pages.

Bernstein was a galvanizing conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Many called him the most extraordinary musician of his lifetime. He appeared rapturous when conducting. He broke convention, and was accused of being flamboyant. Bernstein's own take on this was "Life without music is unthinkable. Music without life is academic. That is why my contract with music is a total embrace." The human dynamo didn't stop with music. A great teacher, he conducted the 53 Young People's Concerts. He gave a lecture entitled; "A Tribute to Teachers" where he said that teaching is "the noblest profession in the world-the most unselfish, difficult, and honorable profession." He wanted to write poetry, and believed in the inherent goodness of human beings.

Many conductors are proud of their orchestra's unique sound. Not Bernstein. He felt it important that each orchestra should "be made to sound like the composer it's playing." Ravel's music sound like Ravel and Haydn's like Haydn.

Interesting little known facts about the great musician/teacher:

· He wildly admired Michael Jackson

· He felt the Beatles were the best composers to come along since Gershwin.

· The FBI had a 700-page file of his activist political opinions.

· He sang "Girl, You Really Got Me Now" by the Kinks in the Mixolydian mode for one of the Young People's concerts and received tons of fan mail because of it.

· He snuck 21 people up a back elevator at the White House by conspiring with a security guard.

"There's an inner geography of the human being that can be captured by music, and not by anything else." Leonard Bernstein embraced life as he embraced music. The world is a much better place for his presence. Thank you, Jonathan Cott, for sharing your interview.

Holly Weiss's debut novel, Crestmont, a historical fiction gem set in the 1920s, can be found at http://www.hollyweiss.com/ and on Amazon at http://amzn.to/bAQJNq. Free reprint of article if bio is intact.