For me and the six other remaining listeners to classical radio stations, the past couple of weeks have been non-stop celebrations of Leonard Bernstein, both for his conducting and composing. He would have turned 100 on August 25, 2018.
Given that the average age of a listener is somewhere between 75 and dead (i.e., not delicate children), I’m not sure why announcers and interviewees never mentioned that Bernstein was famous for
- having sex with older established men (while young and climbing the career ladder)
- having sex with young men in the same industry (once he himself was old and established and in a position to advance his sex partners’ careers)
[See, for example, Queers in History:
His sexual attraction to males began early, however with affairs while still at university with conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos and then with Aaron Copland. There were nunerous other sexual encounters and longer relationships with men, both before and during his marriage, until in 1973 he met and fell in love with a much younger man, [composer] Tom Cothran, and moved into an apartment with him.
He was later reconciled with his wife and returned to her, but continued a relationship with Cothran, until the latter died (of AIDS).
After Felicia Bernstein died of cancer in 1978, Bernstein became more open about his sexuality, and surrounded himself with beautiful young boys until his own death in 1990.
]
Americans aren’t in a particularly forgiving mood right now when it comes to old sins (e.g., see “NASCAR Xfinity driver Conor Daly, 26, loses his sponsorship after his father admitted to using the N-word in a 1980s radio interview before his son was even born“). How is it possible to have an unqualified celebration of the life and career of Leonard Bernstein in the #MeToo era?
Related:
- “When will the sexual harassment fervor reach the world of classical music?” (December 2017)
- “… will Leonard Bernstein’s reputation survive his daughter’s VERY unsettling book?” (Daily Mail): “he used to greet guests backstage wearing nothing but a jockstrap or red bikini” (Harvey Weinstein took all of the bathrobes?)
Because the New Yorker -the AUTHORITY on these matters – tells us it’s ok?
We will never forgive Bernstein as he failed to support Hillary in the 2016 election. He must have been deplorable.
Also turning 100: Ted Williams’ head.
Google’s doodle a few days ago was on Bernstein. His affairs are the only logical explanation for his success, it’s certainly not his flaccid conducting or mediocre crossover operas.
Fazal: As with the actresses who got ahead by showering with Harvey, I think that Bernstein had to be at least basically qualified for the positions that he held. As with Hollywood, though, we will never know about the qualifications of those who chose not to have sex with older established people within the industry and who therefore did not advance into stardom.
[Mediocre crossover operas?!? Who doesn’t love “When you’re a Jet”? Though maybe what we love is mostly the work of Arthur Laurents (book) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)? If current opera fans (all 273 of them worldwide?) can be kept alive for the next 500 years, it does seem unlikely that Bernstein will be parked next to Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, and Wagner. He is not on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_opera_composers for example (but two women are; they get their very own sub-section!). Maybe you’re right about the conducting. It is uncommon for a radio station to play a recording of a standard piece conducted by Bernstein. Former Nazi Party member Herbert von Karajan is much more likely to be played. This leads to the big question in classical music: Would Herbert von Karajan have been a Trump supporter?]
The new neo-nazi conductor of choice is Christian Thieleman, a Wagner specialist (surprise, surprise). He wouldn’t be a Trump supporter, as ethno-nationalists root for their own Volk and thus are in competition with each other.
As for Bernstein’s protégés, the only ones I know of are Michael Tilson Thomas, who is grossly overrated (I stopped attending SF Symphony performances after a couple years of underwhelming concerts, but the saving grace is SF is a popular destination for world-class visiting orchestras, something the SFS sadly isn’t) and Marin Alsop, who is OK (presumably she didn’t sleep with Bernstein, being of the wrong sex).