Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend

by Schuyler Chapin

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802712169
• ISBN13: 9780802712165
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Walker & Company
• Length: 178 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

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.