Interview with Leonard Bernstein
Time Magazine has the honor of interviewing the

Interview with Leonard Bernstein
Time Magazine has the honor of interviewing the Person of the Year, Leonard Bernstein! Leonard Bernstein is a legend in the music realm. Born into a Jewish family, he grew up with a passion for music. From a windup Victrola to the composer of musical novelties such as Candide, and Jeremiah. I’m Elizabeth Muh, here to interview Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. Today, December 10, 1980, shortly after you were rewarded with the Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime of Contributions to American Culture through the Performing Arts, let’s see how it all unfolded.
EM: So glad to have you here, Leonard Bernstein! Let’s start. Music is your life! How did it all start?
LB: It all started with a piano. When we were over at my parent’s friend’s house, they had a piano they would play. Whenever they did, my two-year-old self would press his ear to the closed door and cry, “Moynik! Moynik!”, “Music! Music!”. Same with the wind-up Victrola. I would howl, tears streaming down, thirsting for the jingles of the Victrola. I had already become crazy in love with music.
EM: As a child, you spent many summers in Sharon, your summer home. How would you spend your time there?
LB: I had the most fun there! Summers at Sharon were something out of fairytales. My friends and I put on productions of plays and operas, such as Carmen, The Mikado, H.M.S Pinafore, and Aida. The summer we did Carmen we did it in drag. I played Carmen, red wig, mantilla, chiffon dress and all. The dresses were so see-through, my underwear was showing! (laughs good-naturedly) For H.M.S Pinafore operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan, we had taken our maid for the opera. I had noticed her voice was so sweet, so utterly pure. I just knew she just had to sing in the opera. We had also taken Mom’s car. Mom was not pleased about that. 
EM: (laughs) I’m sure she wasn’t. Let’s talk about your father. He discouraged you from becoming a musician, it must have been hard for you. How did you deal with it?
LB: It was rough, to routinely hear that if I pursued a music career, I would become a “klezmer,” or a broke musician in Russian. I had started lessons with Miss Coates for six dollars an hour, and when my father heard, he was enraged. Six dollars an hour? Outrageous. He refused to pay for my lessons. So I had to earn my own money. I barely scraped by, playing for different events, just like the klezmer my father denied me to be. If anything, his opposition made me more determined to be a musician. 
EM: You’ve studied under numerous music legends such as Aaron Copland, Serge Koussevitzky, and Dimitri Mitropoulos. What was that like?
LB: It’s incredible how I had the opportunity to study with these otherworldly geniuses. They all shaped me into the person I am today. I studied conducting under Dr. Fritz Reiner and had piano lessons with Madame Isabelle Vengerova. Both scared me stiff! They demanded absolute perfection. Reiner expected his students to have the whole scores memorized, and know the part of every instrument. But ultimately, we came to good terms and became friends. I also attended Tanglewood and trained under Serge Koussevitzky. He’d opened the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood to teach promising American musicians.
EM: What was your experience going through World War Ⅱ? 
LB: Even before World War Ⅱ I’d experienced anti-Semitism, especially during my time at Harvard.  To raise money for the USO and British Relief, Kouss asked me to conduct a concert at Tanglewood. I’d drafted multiple times for the army and both times were rejected with a 4-F, due to my asthma. I didn’t see it at the time but it was a blessing in disguise. I never would have wound up working with the New York Philharmonic. 
EM: After graduating from Curtis, you had to make a living for yourself. It was rough going. How’d you end up with a job working for the New York Philharmonic?
LB: After graduating I barely scraped by to make a living for myself. I worked odd jobs from performing to coaching vocalists. Eventually, I got a job with Irving Caesar, transcribing jazz, arranging piano, and writing pop music. A publisher was interested in publishing two of my compositions, Jeremiah and Extension of a Theme by Adolph Green. At that point, my salary doubled to $50 a week. Things were looking up. By a stroke of luck, a miracle, Artur Rodzinski was considering me as an assistant director for the New York Philharmonic. I met up with him and accepted his offer. 
EM: After you conducted the New York Philharmonic on November 14, 1943, you became an overnight success! Impossible! Who would have imagined that? What was it like for you?
LB: I certainly didn’t! Even after I’d become famous, it was still like a dream to me, unreal. I couldn’t believe it, ME, little Lenny Bernstein was famous! It was a miracle what a hit I’d become after that one night. I went on stage that day in front of thousands of people, not expecting anything. I was a wreck inside. So nervous, I would have fainted if I hadn’t had a job to do. The entrance to the piece was very tricky. But as soon as I gave the upbeat, the orchestra came in perfectly, and I knew everything would be fine. 
EM: What was your inspiration for West Side Story, one of your most popular works?
LB: Jerome Robbins approached me with the idea to do a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. I agreed. At first, we came up with the concept of a clash between two different religious families, Jews and Irish Catholics, the experience really resonated with us. But then after putting off the project for years, we realized that it wouldn’t appeal to the audience. In the end, the conflict is between two gangs, the Sharks and a group of Puerto Ricans. 
EM: Fancy Free was a sensation! In its first year, it was played 200 times, a sellout every time. Then it became a Broadway show, On the Town. What did you think?
LB: Like everything else, it was a miracle. Who knew it would be such a hit? It exceeded my expectations by becoming a Broadway show. I never considered it to be a possibility. 
EM: What inspired you to start a TV show?
LB: TV was just becoming popular. So I had to grasp the opportunity to educate people about the wonders of music. Except I didn’t want to give a dull, boring lecture. I needed to capture the audience’s attention. I wanted to share my passion for music in an entertaining and engaging way. For the first program, Omnibus, I taught about Beethoven’s ingenious Fifth Symphony. I had the floor of the studio painted as the music for his Fifth. As I hopped from note to note, musicians would play them. 
EM: We appreciate your time and cooperation. Thank you for so thoughtfully answering our questions. From compositions such as On the Waterfront to Symphony No. 3: Kaddish. You have been an inspiration to so many. Giving the world a new appreciation and perspective on music. Thank you so much for your time.