Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic stand among his greatest achievements. These televised programs introduced an entire generation to the joys of classical music. Bernstein conducted his first Young People's Concert on January 18, 1958, just two weeks after becoming Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Such programs were already a Philharmonic tradition when Bernstein arrived, but he made them a centerpiece of his work, part of what he described as his "educational mission." Looking back on the concerts years later, he referred to them as being "among my favorite, most highly prized activities of my life." When he took a sabbatical season from the orchestra in 1964-65, he still came back to lead the Young People's Concerts. He continued to lead these programs until 1972, even though he had stepped down as director of the Philharmonic in 1969. Bernstein led a total of fifty-three Young People's Concerts during those fourteen years, and covered a broad range of subjects. The works of the great composers were explored, including tributes to modern masters such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith, Gustav Holst, Aaron Copland and Charles Ives. Bernstein discussed "Jazz in the Concert Hall," "Folk Music in the Concert Hall," and "The Latin-American Spirit." He explained the intricacies of Music Theory in programs such as "Musical Atoms: A Study of Intervals" and "What is a Mode?" He broached complex aesthetic issues such as "What Does Music Mean?" (his first program) with clarity and without condescension. Bernstein also used the Young People's Concerts to introduce young performers to the musical world. The sixteen year-old pianist André Watts made his debut in the concert of January 15, 1963. Originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, the programs were considered so important that for three glorious years CBS presented them at 7:30 p.m. (prime time for television viewing). Eventually the programs were moved to Sunday afternoons. The concerts were translated into other languages and syndicated to forty countries.
Leonard Bernstein earned glory as a composer, conductor, and pianist (classical and jazz), but nothing gave him more pleasure than the joy of teaching. He presented the unique blend of spoken words and music known as the "Young People's Concerts" throughout his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic and for several years after. His enjoyment, and his audience's, can be seen vividly captured by the video cameras. He is an intensely interactive teacher, getting his audience to sing, springing a quiz full of trick questions, and singing a Beatles song to demonstrate a point.

Bernstein is completely at ease talking to his audience. He can take the most abstruse subject - the meaning and function of intervals, tonality and atonality, the links between Gustav Mahler's troubled life and his music - and present them to a young audience with clarity, without condescension, and with a clear sense of the material's value. His subject-matter is enormously varied. For Igor Stravinsky's 80th birthday, he simply tells his audience the story of Petrouchka while conducting a dazzling performance of the colorful ballet. For a program on "Folk Music in the Concert Hall," he plays some of Canteloube's folk song arrangements and the boisterous finale of Ives's Symphony No. 2, full of borrowed pop and folk melodies. The influence of folk music is shown in folk song imitations by Mozart and Carlos Chavez.

The sound and images, taped over a 15-year span when the art of recording was rapidly advancing, are varied in quality; the series begins in black-and-white and ends in vivid color. Not all of the programs are equally compelling, but all are worth close and repeated attention. --Joe McLellan

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great
Comment: This is an outstanding series which all parents should share with their children. Our society (children and adults) need music. Maestro Bernstein is a genius. How could parents NOT expose their kids and themselves to this series!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A must toward getting musical culture in every home
Comment: Bernstein is truly a genius. This collection shows in a detailled and very didactic manner the best way to aproach the learning and enjoying of classic music.
In specially attonishing and breathtaking "The sound pf an Orchestra" "The Sonata form" "What is a Concert" and thos parts where Bernstain performs his pianistic parts showing himself as a virtuoso.
I allready conveyed my collection to those physicians in my hospital to whom I am conducting in the world of classic music.
But most important, I gather my grand sons to initiate them in Music with this great master, Leonard Bernstein and his Young People's Concerts.
Dr. Jorge Fuentes-Aguirre; M.D. Ph.D. Saltillo, Mexico.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excelent Bernstein
Comment: This is the best colection of Bernstein, as an outstanding Professor. 13 years of Music Academy at the very top. Yet, easy to understand and funny. Don't miss this set. It is a must for music lovers.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Superlative Sound & Performances
Comment: These lessons, as many have noted, are edifying and accessible to intelligent adolescents and still quite enriching to people who already know a thing or two about music. Bernstein doesn't patronize or pander to his audience, but he uses an accessible vocabulary, often with a touch of humor (and with clever examples from pop music as asides--I find that these hold up very well). But what is most impressive is the quality of the performances; these are not just lectures punctuated by brief examples, but lessons built around substantial pieces of music, such as whole movements of symphonies. There is nothing matter of fact or rote about the way the orchestra handles the music; their energy and commitment are extraordinary, even compared to other major orchestras. Also, the stereo and 5.1 mixes, except from the oldest shows (which are still quite listenable), are stunning; I wasn't expecting that. These lectures, paired with the performances, are moving--not because they are in any way sentimental, but because the performances often lift the events far beyond didacticism into something that feels supernal.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The art of teaching while amusing
Comment:
Leonard Bernstein certainly is besides a great conductor a wonderful, almost ideal, teacher. I am tremendously grateful for these series of one-hour concerts for young people, it makes my day every time I watch them.

For those, like myself, who feel that they like classical music but they don't quite understand why or what exactly of it, this is a good companion for the road of learning. It teaches and amuses; it's never boring but quick-paced. It's worth it, if only for the pleasure of listening to Mr. Bernstein speak. His introductions to pieces and little observations are paired with samples from the repertoire of the most important and varied composers world-wide.

Truly we can say that learning is a pleasure in this case. This series is a national treasure.

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