Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein // Date: 29 February 2024

?Recently, I saw the movie Maestro which tells the story of Leonard Bernstein, especially concerning his lifelong love affair with his wife Felicia.? I don’t watch very many movies; this one was worth the time.

As I wrote once before, I met Leonard Bernstein when he was honored by Boston Latin School almost 40 years ago and spoke to him at some length that evening, as he was going from one cocktail reception to the other and seeing old friends; in many cases he had not seen them for 50 years.

My brother Vin and I have discussed on more than one occasion that the same orchestra conductor who began his tenure at BLS when Bernstein was a student that was the Glee Club conductor until my senior year.? Michael Famiglietti often reminded us, and especially reminded the accompanying pianist that “it was much better when Lenny was here”, as if Lenny was his best friend!? He may have been; who knows?

I sometimes think many of us forget the important roles that teachers play in our lives; who knows how Famiglietti influenced Bernstein??? Let me suggest one way: Famiglietti would often emphasize the importance of crescendo and diminuendo. My brother and I can almost hear the words emanating from his mouth.

Recently, I put on an old CD.? It was Bernstein’s 1989 performance of Beethoven’s Ninth to celebrate the destruction of the Berlin Wall (or what was left of it).? A good reason, if there ever was one, for an Ode to Joy. Bernstein, who had led the effort to restore the music of Wagner to the American scene despite its being used at Nazi rallies, was proud of his own German heritage. I can just imagine him calling up and saying “This is Leonard Bernstein, I want to conduct Beethoven’s Ninth on such and such a day at the Schauspielhaus.”? In that performance, which I listened to carefully as I did my exercises, it is very clear that he remembered the words of Famiglietti because there are sections in Beethoven’s Ninth where he appears to alter the original music by placing a number of crescendos and a few diminuendos in the score.?

Vin and I will continue to share our memories of Michael Famiglietti, one of the great music teachers who worked in the Boston Public Schools.