The American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein was born 100 years ago on 25 August 1918, We are celebrating this event in two special programmes: Thema on Wednesday 22 August 20:00-22:00 CET and Contemporary Music on Sunday 26 August 17:00-18:00 CET.
The world-famous Bernstein died in 1990 but produced a rich oeuvre during his lifetime. Bernstein is so much more than the conductor and composer of the best musical ever written, ‘West Side Story’. In our Thema programme we will look at Bernstein the composer. Following in the footsteps of his great inspiration Aaron Copland, he wrote exuberant symphonies, sparkling overtures and exciting concert pieces. The programme features several highlights from his oeuvre including the Second Symphony (‘The Age of Anxiety’), Chichester Psalms and his Serenade for violin and string orchestra.
The programme Contemporary Music is titled Bernstein: The Jazz Connection and looks at a less well-known aspect of the work, his cooperations with the jazz musicians Benny Goodman and the brothers Dave en Howard Brubeck.
