...from all evidence in this snap, in his birthday suit.
Happy birthday, Maestro, you sexy thing, you... Like Auntie Mame, he was the pied piper, and how I lucky I was, for a little while, to follow his tune.
This side of the pond, he was as close to a household face - along with the likes of Pavarotti and Sills - as classical music has gotten. Twenty-five years later it can be disconcerting that in some ways he's faded (I've had the dispiriting experience of lecturing to what I suppose we have to call "Millennials" who had to be told who he was).
Like a number of luminaries I've encountered, he had what amounted to a para-magical talent to turn on or off his ability to be recognized. That is, he could if he chose sidle quite quietly into a room or, to a point, walk down a street; but then, through some mystical internal realignment, al little straightening of the shoulders, and a concentration of energy, turn into The Maestro, all eyes turning. Bacall could do that, as could Cleo Laine.
British 20th century "classical celebs" (if that is not a misnomer) - as in the ones whose names the "great unwashed" might recognise - over the years included the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, Andre Previn, Dame Felicity Lott and (in the immediate post-War days) the beloved Kathleen Ferrier. Nowadays, it's Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins and Lesley Garrett who are more likely to get on the telly. Of course, the modern "fad" for it began when The Three Tenors and Classic FM came along,and classical musicians regularly win TV talent contests these days. I suppose we have as a nation always had classical music in our history and in our blood, alongside the rest of Europe, whereas classical music in America (at least till the mid 20th century) was, with a few exceptions like Copeland, not really "home-grown", and mostly confined to bigger cities such as New York. Thus Mr Bernstein, despite his best attempt with "Candide" was mostly regarded here as "a writer of musicals" (like Gershwin), whereas over there he's lauded as "The Maestro". Jx
He really was.
ReplyDeleteAnd you, dear heart, need to dish someday.
Oh, I could tell a tale or two - but a boy has to have some mysteries to call his own, no?
DeleteOh, drop the veil, Salome. We none of us are getting any younger.
DeleteOh, honey, I'd love to - but the non-disclosure agreement is... fierce.
DeleteI will surely ply you with alcohol when we finally meet in the flesh.
DeleteIt's a date (and believe me, I'm a cheap one).
Delete“What can promote innocent mirth, and I may say virtue, more than a good riddle?” - George Eliot
ReplyDeleteI had to use Google Images to find out who he was. Mr Bernstein not exactly being as familiar for his face as for his music, and all. Jx
This side of the pond, he was as close to a household face - along with the likes of Pavarotti and Sills - as classical music has gotten. Twenty-five years later it can be disconcerting that in some ways he's faded (I've had the dispiriting experience of lecturing to what I suppose we have to call "Millennials" who had to be told who he was).
DeleteLike a number of luminaries I've encountered, he had what amounted to a para-magical talent to turn on or off his ability to be recognized. That is, he could if he chose sidle quite quietly into a room or, to a point, walk down a street; but then, through some mystical internal realignment, al little straightening of the shoulders, and a concentration of energy, turn into The Maestro, all eyes turning. Bacall could do that, as could Cleo Laine.
British 20th century "classical celebs" (if that is not a misnomer) - as in the ones whose names the "great unwashed" might recognise - over the years included the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, Andre Previn, Dame Felicity Lott and (in the immediate post-War days) the beloved Kathleen Ferrier. Nowadays, it's Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins and Lesley Garrett who are more likely to get on the telly. Of course, the modern "fad" for it began when The Three Tenors and Classic FM came along,and classical musicians regularly win TV talent contests these days. I suppose we have as a nation always had classical music in our history and in our blood, alongside the rest of Europe, whereas classical music in America (at least till the mid 20th century) was, with a few exceptions like Copeland, not really "home-grown", and mostly confined to bigger cities such as New York. Thus Mr Bernstein, despite his best attempt with "Candide" was mostly regarded here as "a writer of musicals" (like Gershwin), whereas over there he's lauded as "The Maestro". Jx
Delete