The Beauty (and Brutality) of Bernstein

[@CreatorsMZ]

There are a number of people who have been rightfully upset by my pronunciation of Lenny's name. This decision was made based on a New York Times article called ‘ON LANGUAGE: STINE OR STEEN’. It cites Bern-STEEN as correct. However, throughout the video, Lenny is only referred to as Bern-STEEN by one subject. Every other subject refers to him as Bern-STINE. This was also how Lenny pronounced his name. Given these facts, I SHOULD-HAVE-GONE-WITH-STINE. If you can no longer find value in this video, that is perfectly understandable. If you can, thank you for being patient with our first effort. We made this video on Lenny because we are enthralled by him. We have since increased our standard of review. Corrections are at the top of the description. Thank you.

[@pbj1984]

Appreciate your candor here, and as I've said in a couple of other comments, I also appreciate your review of Bernstein's genius and contributions. Take care, and I'm looking forward to your next post.

[@sandralynnsparks3468]

It just goes to show us all The New York Times can get things wrong. And did.

[@fisch723]

Anyone who can watch this and think the important takeaway is the pronunciation of his name is truly missing the point. Excellent work. Your own passion and interest is evident. Bravo!

[@jaxbird]

I thought you were going to say you should have gone with "Stine" because in this video, Bernstein *himself* pronounces it "Stine." I think the man himself might have the final word on how to pronounce his own name.

[@mlthed]

I loved the video. Thank you. Also, I grew up outside of New York City, attended the Young People’s Concerts at Carnegie Hall and have been a fan of Bernstein for my whole life. We also pronounced his name Steen in New York.

[@loued1050]

I was at that recording session of West Side Story with Jose Carreras. And previous rehearsals. Jose hadn't learned the correct timing of Something's Coming. I worked with Lenny quite a bit in those last 10 years of his life. He expected that everyone else should be as prepared as him. The ONLY time he would get frustrated or angry is when his colleagues did not come prepared. And he expressed what everyone else would have been feeling. The opposite was also true; he expressed the elation of well made music by those present and showered his accolades freely. Every time I made music with Lenny was a transcendent experience. You better believe I brought my "A" game to each opportunity.

[@jslasher1]

It's Elmer Bern-STEEN, the composer of many famous motion picture scores; it's Leonard Bern-STINE, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic.

[@CarolineLloyd-n8y]

Nearly made me cry, great insight into a talented man

[@GustavoB.Melo7]

Damn, now I’m excited for the movie

[@mybullacount]

Can't believe this channel doesn't already have 100k subs

[@Richard-b5r9v]

It was mandatory viewing in my family his Young People's concerts from Carnegie Hall. Leonard Bernstein was not only a great conductor but also a great composer. He is an absolute Legend !!!

[@hipstereagle6050]

4:20 and that’s Jose Carreras. One of the most popular opera singers of his time who would go onto be one of the 3 Tenors

[@garymilliken5053]

The tenor who was -- woefully -- miscast as the non-Hispanic kid Tony in Bernstein's recording of West Side Story. Horribly distracting to hear Tony with a Spanish accent when all the Puerto Rican characters are supposed to be the ones with the accents. The film/video of the recording sessions include such cringe-worthy moments as (1) watching Carreras struggle with the rhythms of "Maria", and (2) hearing the producer's voice from the control room attempting to correct Carreras's waywardness, only to have Bernstein furiously telling the producer to Shut Up! I just cannot listen to that recording despite the star power in all other roles...

[@hermangaddy4361]

This astonishing man virtually transcends what it means to be human while defining what it means to have a life well lived. Attending the Young People's Concerts in person defined my life forever after. There is also a spiritual component here that will not allow this mentor of mentors to be contained to any referendum of his work, however exhaustive. Lenny, we will miss you every day.

[@philrichards9761]

Note to Narrator: It's Bernstein with an I sound. He himself would say, "you'd never call it a Steenway piano, would you?"

[@Traderbear]

Amazing tribute to Lenny’s brilliance

[@EridenEstrella]

I'm amazed and inspired by your work. Unbelievable the production of your work. Thanks to be alive and share your talents with us. I'm an small channel too and I know the struggles of quality and perfection but I know you will have success sooner rather than later

[@MichaelRogers-c6v]

Is it too much to ask for the reviewer to correctly pronounce Bernstein - the correct pronunciation is Bern-STINE...NOT Bern-STEEN. Bernstein in German literally means Burnt Stone. That said, I found this tribute presentation to be quite good, which focuses on why Bernstein was sooo impactful and adored by orchestras and audiences around the world. Thank You!

[@ralphoperaphile]

Likewise, it's "COPE-land" not "COPland" and Glenn GOOLD" not "Gold" - and the narrator clearly didn't know who Carreras ("this guy") was. Why make a video about a subject when you are clearly unfamiliar with it?

[@cathynewyork7918]

Is it too much to ask that YOU read the "intro" comment in the description of this video which explains the different pronunciations of Leonard Bernstein's name? The video uploader has already addressed your issue in the text below the video.

[@marlowemarlowe4893]

You say Bern-stine... I say Bern-steen!

[@cathynewyork7918]

@@marlowemarlowe4893 Leonard Bernstein himself pronounced his name "Bern-STINE" - so YOU are wrong to not say his name the way he himself said it. HE knows better than you how his family pronounced his name.

[@marlowemarlowe4893]

I think Lenny was being a bit pretentious pronouncing his name Bern-Stine. It is traditionally pronounced Bern-Steen for many centuries. I should know, I'm a chief rabbi.@@cathynewyork7918

[@ethelnagelberg1654]

Wonderful to love something so much that it becomes larger than one’s own self…

[@GermanGreetings]

Bernstein ? Love ! I am blessed for my whole life, being enabled once, to enjoy him live: Lennie dancing the ''Creation'' of Joseph Haydn with his devine smile and warmhearted kindness to the orchestra, `shining` the best out of the choir and the soloists :) Thank you for this absolutely unique experiance, Sir !

[@noc2_art]

Dearest, dearest Lenny! My tutor in music appreciation, my mentor. I converted his entire DG Mahler set and uploaded them to my phone. Where ever I go, I take his beauty with me. God bless your beautiful soul Lenny, eternally grateful! ❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@denisehay8895]

I started to watch this but was so irritated by the continual mis- pronouncing of his name , I gave up! Lenny himself insisted it was BernSTINE.

[@amandawhiteley6737]

I was curious about this guy and his music, his fantastic musicals I knew n respect his name pronunciation since I was 12 years old. I love retro music 30s 40s 50s but as a 70s kid appreciating these styles. I'm 58 now. My father influenced me all along ha ha. ❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊

[@SandroGH5]

Just binged all your vids, excellent stuff 👌❤️

[@helencampbell7359]

I really enjoyed your film. Huge fan of Lenny and his music x

[@westhoboken8167]

Lenny was from Boston not The Bronx.He was a graduate of the famous Boston Latin High School.

[@hank1519]

He wasn't born in the Bronx. He was born in Lawrence, MA

[@CreatorsMZ]

Well noticed, please see top of description

[@hank1519]

@@CreatorsMZ The "correct" pronunciation of his last name is clearly the way he pronounced it.

[@HelloooThere]

Bad mistake ok

[@hank1519]

@@HelloooThere Just a simple mistake.

[@IPANoah]

@@hank1519misnaming the city the very subject of your was born and raised in is not then a simple mistake

[@eyesandearseditions]

Bernstein says Bernstine. Why is this ah saying Bernsteeen over and over?

[@cellolion6631]

Remember EIN- STEIN ? Say: BERN - STEIN The "STEIN" is the same as the beer mug . Same a Einstein.

[@dieterhau1586]

Okay, the New York Times knows better than Leonard Bernstein himself, how to pronounce his name... 😂

[@whatsakenzie6175]

😮🔥

[@alanle1471]

Is the movie only on Netflix?

[@cathynewyork7918]

THUMBS DOWN on this video for your errors - Leonard Bernstein was born in Massachusetts, NOT The Bronx, and you mis-pronounced his name. Don't do videos if you don't understand the subject.

[@elliesimon7215]

Lenny himself said Bernstein (as the beer glass), so who is anyone to correct that?

[@ofiterpunte]

Unfortunately none of my favorite recordings from that era were conducted by him. He was fine, but maybe a bit overexposed? Some make it sound as if he was revolutionary or something, as if all before him stuck the baton up their arse instead of waving it.

[@anamariadasilva3638]

Que homem lindo e inteligente Leonard Bernstein. Alma russa.😊

[@pbj1984]

Enjoying the video so far (but your mispronunciation of "Bernstein" is driving me nuts! You have a clip of him pronouncing his last name. Why are you persisting in the wrong pronunciation? Over and over and over! If you only said it a couple of times, I could forget it, but you *keep* *saying* it *incorrectly* again and again... Do your part in letting people know the *correct* way to say his name!)

[@badassviolin]

I know it’s like he didn’t even watch the clips he’s included in this video. Even after Bernstein says his own name then this dude goes “BERNSTEEEEN” like wtf 😵‍💫

[@srothbardt]

Sounds British. It’s okay.

[@pbj1984]

@@srothbardtIt's okay when British people don't pronounce someone's name correctly? 🙄 The video is an excellent commentary on Bernstein's influence. But the fact that the poster includes a clip of Bernstein pronouncing his own name while the poster continues to say it incorrectly over and over and over reduces the excellence considerably, imo. Your mileage may vary. 🤷‍♂

[@da1maniac]

You can’t excuse idiocy by saying, “He’s Australian.” I’m Australian and I am cringing.

[@tumtumdardar]

Ditto ..I’m Australian and this pronunciation of the name is cringeworthy ..it’s also disrespectful

[@adamphillips2924]

Nice piece, but how could you pronounce his name wrong? It's burn-STINE, not burn-STEEN! Sheesh!

[@vancouvercomedyuncensoredv8240]

In a world of cynical critique, ty for being the exception

[@loued1050]

Maybe this comment got buried: As Lenny used to say "do you drink from a "steen" or a "stine (stein)"?

[@AmmarMusic-h2b]

The most epic, excellent, mighty, beautiful shit I‘ve ever laid my eyes upon

[@henryb160]

This guy is so 'knowledgeable' about music he doesn't even know who José Carreras is.

[@scarbo2229]

Yes, that was cringe to use that clip.

[@johngipple3141]

Your video was infinitely more inspiring than the well acted but poorly realized “Maestro”…..should’ve been called “Poor Felicia”

[@Aright231]

I sometimes wonder: could Bernstein have been this great if he didn’t have his vices enabled by Felicia? He wanted it all. In a world of social contracts.

[@walterrobertoramos8907]

Love you Lenny!!! Miss you Maestro…….

[@jimcrawford5039]

Larger than life maybe but not larger than the GREAT MAESTROS, no way!

[@davidgenest3672]

The narrator does not know how to pronounce Lenny's last name! It is Stein not Steen for heavens sake. Lenny is turning over in his grave. It was a pet peeve of his that people did not know how to pronounce his name properly. He could not understand it. He would tell them what do you drink beer out of? A Stein or a Steen. He is dead and apparently people still cannot get it right.

[@brunozolin5183]

I watched all your videos in one go and have become the most powerful human being in the world, what do now?

[@gregfaris6959]

Having known Bernstein as a scholar, exemplary musicologist, gifted composer and the greatest interpreter of the music of Gustav Mahler since Mahler himself, forgive me if I have little interest in self centered Hollywood queens trying to glorify themselves with hollow utterances such as "the greatest entertainer of all time" (certainly untrue) or "so much larger than life" (utterly meaningless). Go see it if you like. I'll sit this one out, thanks....

[@AlexSzell]

Thank you for pronouncing Bernstein’s last name the way it should be pronounced. Finally someone gets it right!

[@martinhaub6828]

Except that Bernstein pronounced it "Burn-Stine". Who knew better?

[@MichaelRogers-c6v]

I'm sorry the correct pronunciation is and always will be Bern-STINE...the origin of the name is German, which means Burnt Stone. Can you imagine someone like Leonard Bernstein mis-pronouncing his own name?!

[@martinhaub6828]

It is interesting that film composer Elmer Bernstein pronounced it Burn_steen

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Absolutely Brilliant!!!!

[@jimgott119]

Narrator: Stop calling him Bernsteen!!!!!!!!!

[@ratmosbine]

1:28 Bernstein was from outside of Boston not from The Bronx.

[@DJS11811]

Bravo.

[@obbie1osias467]

How could you have mistaken the actual pronunciation of his name by disregarding how the people who knew him very well pronounced it? I'm from the Philippines and I've always pronounced his name the way the Russians and the Germans did it. You should have reedited this video to re-dub the narration. It just doesn't sound right.

[@bflat624]

He wasn’t from the Bronx.

[@jefolson6989]

Bern STEIN. not Bernsteeeeeen. Very basic and pretty important .

[@buddys_dad]

Bernstein would find himself part of the me too movement if he was still alive today. Great musician but a shit of a human being.

[@meveevem1001]

His name is pronounced Bernstein - as in ‘stein’ not steen.

[@pavillokteff185]

The man heard Lenny say his name, and he still pronounced it wrong

[@djgualtiermaldeCO]

This video should be seen mre thsn the movie...

[@eltiogottlieb.4911]

Enterteiner?

[@robertgiles9124]

Why the hell did he choose Jose Carreras to sing the part of Tony in the recording of West Side Story at the end of his life? Tony was not a Latino with a thick accent. That recording of West Side story was awful. So painful to watch that project when I saw it. Bernstein was so brilliant so how did that blunder happen?

[@liamsandal6360]

The producers cast Carreras, and Bernstein was forced to go along with their decision. This crucial fact escapes so many when they hear Carreras's disastrous performance.

[@robertgiles9124]

Well how someone of Bernstein's stature was "Forced" to do something awful with is own music is crazy. Disastrous is right. And why Carreras did not pass seeing how it did him no good to sound so bad, is strange. Someone needed to come to their senses. @@liamsandal6360

[@Justus_Berger]

Nice job, but please be careful with historic facts. World War II began in 1939 not in 1941.

[@tarakb7606]

Glenn Gould not Gold.

[@MichaelConwayBaker]

Why can't these narrators pronounce his name correctly!! BERNSTINE!!

[@richardkastlemusic]

Maestro is based on a false narrative about Bernstein. I posted a new video on my KZbin channel titled THE BERNSTEIN EFFECT. I studied with one of his friends, Ivan Davis, who also performed with him. He's not who you think he is. Arts education was based on his teachings which are designed to make the conductors, pianists and composers stupid. This ruined classical music as an art form and a business. Most of classical recordings are vanity records, because of him. Many of the orchestras have a financial foundation based on criminal activity. They commit wire fraud by soliciting donations with false information. There's a massive amount of jealousy based mental illness, because of Bernstein's assault on arts education. I provide many examples of irrefutable evidence on this subject.

[@andreacatzel8259]

And Gould, like good. Bach…. Not bark. A as in Under Ch as in Chaim, that you pronounced correctly. Sorry to be pedantic, but it’s infuriating to hear these names mispronounced! 😅

[@draganajevtovic8002]

It is Bern-stain... not bern-steen!

[@cathynewyork7918]

You said "the fear on this poor guy's face ...." - do you NOT know that was Jose Carreras, one of the finest opera singers in the world, and eventually one of the three tenors? Don't do this type of video - you don't know this subject.

[@candleby]

If you make a clip about someone, at least make sure you can pronounce his/ her name!!

[@mijola2476]

he was a bully - just look at his treatment of Carreras

[@Lynda-oo7ey]

My male hairdressers one of his boyfriends.That is certainly Ok with me.

[@photo161]

Why do you persist in mispronouncing his name?

[@renzo6490]

People will pronounce words as they like In the German language when two vowels are together the second vowel is pronounced Die is pronounced DEE Einstein is pronounced INE STINE If you want to say bern steen go ahead But know that your pronunciation is technically wrong

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

He was about the most self-indulgent conductor and composer in the period of recorded music. I can't stand most of his recordings and almost all of his compositions. He had his brilliance and his talent but Roger Sessions advice to him would have done him a world of good, to go off to be alone in the world without listening to other peoples' music so he could find his own. He produced pastiche of other composers music, a higher class of that than Andrew Lloyd Webber but he did essentially the same thing. His Norton Lectures are embarrassing to listen to if you know music. He wasn't any Duke Ellington.

[@liamsandal6360]

Bernstein graduated with honors from both Harvard and Curtis. Ellington could not read music fluently and had to play his arrangements for bandmembers who had the ability to write out charts. As a pianist, Bernstein was much more accomplished than Ellington. Bernstein's Young People's Concerts were nonpareil and opened the world of classical and jazz music to millions of children the world over. Let's give credit where credit is due.

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

@@liamsandal6360 Ellington's compositions are far more original, far more accomplished than Bernstein's. It's absurd to say that Bernstein "opened the world of jazz" to millions of children when jazz was far more popular than classical music for most of Bernstein's life. I agree with the late Gunther Schuller that Bernstein was the most overly adulated conductor of his time and he was someone who played under Bernstein before he became famous and spoiled. As a pianist, he was relatively mediocre, especially given his self-indulgent habit of humming, groaning and singing along with his playing. He wasn't a great composer, though he certainly had talent. Much of his most lauded work is little more than pastiche of the music of composers he had conducted, Mahler, etc. His fans are often pretty uncritical and moonstruck about him. I never was and am far less now than I ever was. His pronouncements on music span the range from insightful to incompetent, his claims about Indonesian music in his Norton Lectures is embarrassingly wrong.

[@liamsandal6360]

I don't agree with many things you've written, sir, but we obviously both love music. Watch some episodes of Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. Those programs often beat out Bonanza in the ratings and were televised all over the world. You may yet change your mind. Remember that he himself wrote all the scripts. Yes, Bernstein was an egotist. However, that does not mean he wasn't great. My late musical director used to say that Gershwin was a great songwriter but a lousy composer, while Bernstein was a great composer but a lousy songwriter. To each his own, I suppose. I find many of Bernstein's insights really compelling. His harsh yet informed assessment of Beethoven as a melodist warrants our looking into the subject. Anyway, I wish you all the best. @@anthonymccarthy4164

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

@@liamsandal6360 I saw many of those when they were first broadcast. I would recommend you look at what Schuller said in his masterful study of conductor and their adherence to the score, The Complete Conductor.

[@liamsandal6360]

Will do! Thanks so much.@@anthonymccarthy4164

[@ErikAndersson-i5h]

BerSTEIN not STEEN!

[@fast1nakus]

Bern-stin 😂

[@throckmorton3705]

0:33 BernSTEIN !!!

[@chel3SEY]

Obnoxious and over-the-top from the very start. I made it 2 minutes in and gave up...

[@onceamusician5408]

any musician who is tyrannical only shows that the notion that music itself humanizes or makes people gentle kind loving or civilized in any moral sense . . . . IS UTTER HOGWASH. therefore music does NOT calm the savage breast, not when it takes tyranny and brutality to produce it to the required standard and as one who really as once a musician in a symphony orchestra, IT IS NOT WORTH IT

[@cathynewyork7918]

Leonard Bernstein was "tyrannical" because he had such high standards of perfection and was trying to pull those high standards out of the orchestra musicians.

[@martin.trainer]

Never liked the guy neither would Beethoven

[@diegowasserman1874]

hahaha why? expand on this