GIFT FOR MUSIC— LEONARD BERNSTEIN In 1986, Leonard Bernstein said, “God knows, I should be dead by now. I smoke, I drink, I stay up all night… I was diagnosed as having emphysema in my mid-20s. I was told that if II didn’t stop smoking, I’d be dead at 35. Well. I beat the rap.” But in recent months he canceled engagements and a fortnight age announced that, on his doctor’s advice, he was retiring as a conductor, In 1990, Leonard Bernstein, 72, died in his Manhattan apartment after a heart attack brought on by lung failure. Perhaps to abandon conducting was to end a love affair, to give up life. A first-generation Jewish American, Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Mass. In 1918. His father, Samuel, who was in the beauty-supplies business. Hoped his son would someday work with him. But at 10 Lenny discovered the piano. When he used his allowance to pay for lessons his father stopped doling it out— but reinstated it after discovering his son was playing in a dance and to earn money. At the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (after graduating from Harvard, at 20. with honors), Bernstein was the most gifted pupil of the great Fritz Reiner. This so enraged one student that he threatened homicide. Contrary to legend, the golden boy did have some lean times. In 1942. Bernstein moved to New York City armed with glowing references, but couldn’t find work. Lyricist Irving Caesar happened to hear him play the piano and thought he resembled his former collaborator George Gershwin. Bernstein told him that he needed $10 a week to stay alive. “What!” Caesar exclaimed. “You, a genius, starving? Ten dollars a week for a genius? I’ll get you fifty!” And promptly got him a job transcribing music. Within two years Bernstein had published his first symphony, written a successful ballet (“Fancy Free”), had a hit Broadway show (“In the Town”) and made his now legendary New York Philharmonic conducting debut in Carnegie Hall. Filling in for an ailing maestro, the dashing 25-year-old(who had a fierce hangover) was such a smash he got as much front-page space in New York Times as the American submarines that sank seven Japanese ships. The great creative output of the late ‘40s and ‘50s— the musicals “Candide”, “Wonderful Town” and “West Side Story”, the film score for “ On the Waterfront,” the ballet “The Age of Anxiety”— came, with good reason, before Bernstein acquired an orchestra. In 1958, he became music director of the New York Philharmonic — the first American-born conductor to head a top symphony orchestra. He revived the works of Mahler and Nielsen and programmed such contemporary music, even if he, a dedicated tonalist, was uncomfortable with it. Bernstein, says Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. “not only opened doors for all of us, but was the musical conscience of this country for years. We couldn’t have had a better spokesman.” After leaving the Philharmonic in 1969, Bernstein, the original globe-trot-ting maestro, maintained close ties with many orchestras, including (with typical Bernstein irony) the Israel Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. Since the late ‘50s his compositions have often been disappointing, but he was back in form in some recent works, especially the delicious Arias and Barcarolles. Though he had become white-haired and craggy, he retained the passion and quickness of a wunderkind, and no one could dispute the depth of understanding he brought to the podium, particularly in recent years, when his interpretive powers were sharper than ever. 1986年，倫納德·伯恩斯坦說：“天曉得，我怎麼能活到現在。我抽菸，喝酒，整夜不眠······。我在25歲時就被診斷患有肺氣腫。醫生告訴我如果不戒菸，35歲就得死。不過，我福大命大。”但在最近的幾個月他取消了約會並在半個月前宣佈，遵照醫囑，他不再擔任樂隊指揮。1990年，倫納德·伯恩斯坦，因肺衰竭突發心臟病，在他曼哈頓的公寓裏去世，享年72歲。或許放棄指揮就意味着一個愛好的終結，生命的盡頭。 倫納德·伯恩斯坦1918年生於馬薩諸塞州的勞倫斯市，是第一代美國猶太人。其父塞繆爾做的是美容用品的生意，他寄希望於兒子能秉承父業。但倫尼（倫納德的愛稱）十歲時，發現了鋼琴。當他用自己的零花錢來學琴時，父親就不再給他錢了，但當他發現兒子靠爲舞蹈伴奏而掙錢時，就又恢復了補給。在費城的柯蒂斯學院（20歲時從哈佛大學以優異成績畢業後），伯恩斯坦是偉大的弗裏茨·賴納的最具天賦的學生。有個學生因憤憤不平而揚言要殺了他。 與傳說的相反，這個成績斐然的男孩的確曾幾度陷於窘境。1942年，伯恩斯坦帶着熱情中肯的推薦信來到紐約，然而卻無法找到工作。抒情詩人歐文·凱撒偶然聽到他彈奏鋼琴並覺得他很像自己以前的合作者喬治·格什溫。伯恩斯坦對他說他一週需要十美元來維持生計。“什麼！”凱撒驚歎道。“你，一個天才，在餓肚子？一個天才每週就值十美元？我要讓你每週有五十美元！”他很快就爲他找到一份改編樂曲的工作。在不到兩年的時間裏伯恩斯坦就發表了他的第一首交響樂，成功地創作了他們一個芭蕾舞劇（“自由遐想”），寫了一部轟動一時的百老匯音樂劇（“在小鎮裏” ），並在卡內基音樂廳首次指揮當今已成爲傳奇的紐約愛樂樂團。這個幹勁十足、患有嚴重宿醉毛病的25歲月小 夥子因臨時代替生病的指揮大師隨即就一炮打響，在《紐約時報》上成了與美國潛艇擊沉七艘日本艦同樣重要的頭條新聞。 伯恩斯坦在四十年代後期和五十年代，先後創作有音樂劇“坎狄特”，“美妙小鎮”及“西部故事”，電影“海濱”的配樂和芭蕾舞劇“憂愁時代”。這些偉大的 創造性的作品理所當然地使他掌管了一支樂隊。1958年他成爲紐約愛樂樂團的音樂指揮——是第一位出生在美國的執掌頂尖交響樂團的指揮。他把馬勒和尼爾森的作品重新搬上舞臺，同時編排了當代音樂曲目，儘管他這個對音調極其講究的音樂家但對當代音樂並不喜歡。 聖路易交響樂團的音樂指揮倫納德·斯萊特金說，伯恩斯坦“不僅爲我們所有的人敞開了音樂殿堂的大門，而是這些年來我們國家的音樂良心。我們不可能有比他更出色的代言人了。”1969年伯恩斯坦離開愛樂樂團後，這位活躍於全世界的富有獨創性的指揮家與許多管弦樂團都保持着密切的聯繫，其中還包括（帶有伯恩斯坦特有諷刺意味的）以色列愛樂樂團和維也納愛樂樂團。 從五十年代後期起，他的作品常常令人失望，但近期的一些作品又恢復了他原來的良好狀態，特別是那部精美的“詠歎調與船歌”。儘管他已是白髮蒼蒼，老態龍鍾，卻仍保持着神童的激情與敏捷，他在指揮席上對音樂理解的深度是絕無爭議的，特別是近些年，他對音樂的演譯能力比以往更強了。
