Product Description

A conversational, intimate memoir of a friendship between the great maestro and a noted music scholar. This is not a dry and academic biography, but an informal portrait of a musical genius--with warm, personal glimpses of the human side of Bernstein, what he was like to work with and live with.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1193683 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 196 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Chapin knew the late conductor for more than 30 years, first as head of Columbia Records' classical music division and later as general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. These positions gave him vantage points from which he could observe the effervescent composer-conductor in action, in his typical combination of lovability and impossibility. We see Bernstein in London, New York City, Israel and Vienna, filming TV movies, making his famous Omnibus appearances, molding sometimes recalcitrant orchestras into star ensembles--and always partying through the night. Chapin has written a warm, engaging and modest memoir, with plenty of anecdotes; he doesn't tell us much we didn't already know about Lenny, but he gives a solid sense of the demanding hard work and dedication that went into creating the music, and the educational ventures, that brought the popular musician and maestro so much adulation. The major book on Bernstein has yet to be written, but in the meantime this is a valuable series of footnotes to an extraordinary life.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Short, but great page turner
A delightful book for Bernstein fans. As the author says in his preface, it's not a biography. It consists of episode after episodes of Bernstein's genius work life. We, the general public, take his work for granted and be amazed by his genius, but we have no idea how much commitment and dedication were given to each work he has delivered. NOt just his dedication but everybody else who had collaborated with him. After reading this book, I can appreciate his work even more.
The author never loses good humor and he writes about the most difficult situations he and the maestro had faced with good spirits and wit. Bernstein was a great man, but so was Schuyler Chapin, I should say.
Humphrey Burton's Bernstein's biography is a good book to go with this one (it's a great book also, by the way). Just as some episodes made me laugh in Burton's bio, this one made me laugh and smile many times. The dinner party episode, visit with Japanese writer Mishima, the helicopter episode, and many more will tell you warmly and humrously about the man. The great maestro was not only a genius but quite a character.
It also tells what and how much effort it takes to put a great performace up on stage for us to enjoy. I shall not complain about concert tickets being expensive any more!
Easy read, relaxed and reader-friendly, great page-turner.
I didn't want to finish reading it.