| | |  | LIVE CONCERTS | Home » » Leonard Bernstein - Young People's Concerts / New York Philharmonic | | | | | | | Description: | | Broadcast to millions in America and abroad, the immensely popular series was the winner of multiple Emmy, Peabody and Edison awards. Now this national treasure is available for the first time on DVD in a Special Collector's Edition 9-disc set that contains 25 programs from the Young People's Concerts Series. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Bernstein, New York Philharmonic | | Format:
| Box set, Classical, Color, DVD, Black & White, Dolby, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 9 | | Studio:
| Kultur Video | | Run Time:
| 1500 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| September 28, 2004 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 22 reviews |
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| New | |
| $86.90 | New | | | $86.92 | New | | | $86.93 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | New | | | $90.00 | New | | | $99.05 | New | | | $99.06 | New | | | $101.40 | New | | | $108.56 | New | | | $110.84 | New | | | $119.99 | New | | | $120.36 | New | | | $313.47 | New | |
| Used | |
| $71.77 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $71.85 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $71.89 | Used
- Good | | | $82.00 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $89.99 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $95.00 | Used
- Mint | | | $101.39 | Used
- Mint | | | $101.40 | Used
- Mint | | | $108.56 | Used
- Mint | | | $146.37 | Used
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 22 customer reviews )
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256 of 258 found the following review helpful:
A Lasting Tribute to Bernstein and Quailty TVApr 29, 2005
By dooby
This series of concerts is a truly wonderful achievement. It must surely rank among the finest treasures of the television medium.
Bernstein aside from being a brilliant musician is a wonderful teacher. To think that these concerts were conceived for children. In today's context this would probably be more suitable for the general adult music lover, someone with at least a modicum of musical knowledge. I'm not sure how today's children would respond to them, especially with their dated look and relatively dry subject matter.
The concerts technically are not concerts at all but music appreciation classes, led by a brilliant maestro, full of passion for his subject and backed by a superlative orchestra. The topics covered range from the disarmingly simple like "What is a Melody?" to the simple yet profound, "What does music mean?" Does music have meaning? He covers standard music subjects like sonata form, symphonic music, concerto form and tries to define what is classical music. In all these subjects, he is never anything less than compelling. He also explores little discussed topics like the significance of intervals and the concept of modes. One drawback of the TV broadcast format is that he is limited to a mere one hour to explain each topic. By the end of the session on musical modes he is so pressed for time he can only zip through the the remainder of his notes. In the episode on Folk Music, he touches on the relationship between language and music, a theme he would pursue in far greater depth and length in his Harvard Lectures of 1973. The other aspect of the concerts is the introduction of lesser known composers to his young audience. Particularly treasurable is the episode on Mahler. Bernstein, the long-time champion of Mahler, spends the entire hour introducing his young audience to the then obscure composer's works, this at a time when even regular concert-going audiences were unfamiliar with them. The other episode among this group that stands out is his tribute to Aaron Copland in "What is American Music?". Bernstein proclaims Copland as the greatest living American composer and has the man himself conduct exerpts from his Third Symphony. Unfortunately Kultur has omitted another episode devoted entirely to Copland, "Aaron Copland Birthday Party" which discusses Copland's lesser known works and has the composer himself conduct his famous El Salon Mexico. Among Bernstein's many guests, are the great soprano Christa Ludwig and the baritone Walter Berry, featured in the 125th joint anniversary of the New York and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras - "A Toast to Vienna" (Christmas 1967). Other guests include the Israeli soprano Netania Devrath singing Villa Lobos' haunting Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5. My favorite surprise appearance was by Marni Nixon, the unjustly uncredited singing voice behind Hollywood's greatest musicals (she was the singing voice for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Deborah Kerr in The King & I). Here we get to see her in the flesh, singing exerpts from Canteloube's achingly beautiful Songs of the Auvergne. The series fittingly ends with Beethoven's operatic paean to freedom, Fidelio.
On the technical side, much leeway has to be given because the picture quality varies from downright poor to above average (for its period). The earliest concerts have problems with lens distortion which create an effect similar to looking through a goldfish bowl. One must understand that when these concerts began, way back in the Fifties, television broadcast technology was relatively primitive. There was no such thing as videotape. To record a live concert broadcast for later transmission or for posterity, they used a primitive technology called kinescope recording. Essentially this entailed putting a film-based motion picture camera in front of a TV screen and capturing the moving images from the TV screen onto film. That was their version of the videotape. Hence the poor quality of the initial few episodes. However, quality gets progressively better until eventually color is introduced in the Nov 1967 concert. Only the last six concerts are actually in color. Still, you're not buying this set for how beautiful the picture looks. Soundwise, it is mostly in mono but helpfully remixed to 2.0 and 5.1 surround. A pleasant surprise is that the final two concerts are actually recorded in native dual-channel stereo - and pretty effective stereo at that. Overall, the sound is not great but more than acceptable for its purpose.
My only regret with this set is that it contains just 25 out of the total of 53 Young People's Concerts that Bernstein actually gave. Here is a listing of the episodes contained in the set:
1. What Does Music Mean?
2. What is American Music?
3. What is Orchestration?
4. What Makes Music Symphonic?
5. What is Classical Music?
6. Humor in Music
7. What is a Concerto?
8. Who is Gustav Mahler?
9. Folk Music in the Concert Hall
10. What is Impressionism?
11. Happy Birthday, Igor Stravinsky
12. What is a Melody?
13. The Latin American Spirit
14. Jazz in the Concert Hall
15. What is Sonata Form?
16. A Tribute to Sibelius
17. Musical Atoms: A Study in Intervals
18. The Sound of an Orchestra
19. A Birthday Tribute to Shostakovich
20. What is a Mode?
21. A Toast to Vienna in 3/4 Time
22. Quiz-Concert: How Musical Are You?
23. Berlioz Takes a Trip
24. Two Ballet Birds
25. Fidelio: A Celebration of Life
Some episodes not found on this set include:
Anatomy of a Symphony Orchestra
Bach Transmogrified
Charles Ives: American Pioneer
Farewell to Nationalism
Forever Beethoven!
Holst: "The Planets"
Liszt and the Devil
Modern Music from All Over
Overtures and Preludes
The Genius of Paul Hindemith
The Road to Paris
The Second Hurricane
Thus Spake Richard Strauss
Hopefully Kultur will release these and the remainder soon.
For those who may be interested, the transcripts for most of these concerts are available online either from the Library of Congress (Leonard Bernstein Collection) or Leornard Bernstein's official website. The LoC has high quality color scans of all the handwritten manuscripts and typewritten transcripts bequeathed to it by the Bernstein estate, complete with Bernstein's barely legible scribblings and annotations.
41 of 41 found the following review helpful:
A lucky findNov 15, 2005
By K. Fontaine
I first stumbled across these in my local public library. I checked the first one out for my (then) 6-year-old son. I was surprised at the energy and passion Bernstein showed but was afraid the information would go right over my son's head. Imagine my surprise when he not only prompted me to pick up the next tape at the library but brought up what he had seen to his violin teacher spontainously. I would say this series is perfect for kids who enjoy non-fiction. I love music but am not very musical myself so I've learned a lot from watching them.
I just wish that today's kid's programming was more on this level.
45 of 46 found the following review helpful:
Not just for young peopleJan 03, 2005
By rkass
This 41-year-old is thrilled to own these programs. For music lovers there are some true "hidden treasures" in the set. On the program "A Toast to Vienna in 3/4 Time" there is an appearance by Walter Berry and Christa Ludwig, who sing three Mahler songs. In "Jazz in the Concert Hall" we see a young Gunther Schuller recognized by Bernstein before the complete performance of Schuller's wonderful "Journey into Jazz", a piece I had once heard performed live in Boston and was frustrated that I couldn't find it on CD.
The discs come with a booklet that lists the works performed on each show, but I am avoiding looking at the booklet so I will continue to be pleasantly surprised as I watch these discs.
85 of 96 found the following review helpful:
Still astonishing after all these years.Nov 05, 2004
By Albar
I was not quite 10 years old when this series of concerts began in 1958, about the same age as many of the young people in attendance. Bernstein's command of the material is no less compelling viewed 46 years later. His impact was so great that I clearly recalled entire portions of the broadcasts over this considerable distance in time, honing in on what makes music "Classical," sonata form, Mahler, and on and on. Having this series available in this form for the current crop of 10 year olds (and their grandparents) is an absolute miracle.
The recordings are interesting along other dimensions. Technically, they likely qualify as "very good for their particular year," which makes them fine for the purpose. I was struck by other matters. The New York Philharmonic in 1958 was entirely white and, save the harpist, male. Bernstein's language was also in keeping with the times; all composers were, "he," all musicians were, "he," and all ancestors were "forefathers." That's all jarring to an early-21st century sensibility, but an accurate historical record nevertheless. Society has come quite a distance. I haven't watched all 25 hours yet and am axious to see if the symphony and langage change appreciably over the 14 or so years during which the series ran.
Bernstein was a mucisican and teacher of music beyond compare. Do take advantage.
36 of 39 found the following review helpful:
For young people, but only if............Apr 26, 2005
By Eric B
First of all, these programs are a national treasure. A five-star review is simply inadequate. Bernstein conducting Copland's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Copland as piano soloist. . . No price can be put on such a gift.
I respectfully disagree with another reviewer: Bernstein is not condescending, but he is sometimes tough on his audience. When he elicits answers from the audience during the lecture on Humor in Music, he becomes highly critical of their answers, as if he expected adult sophistication from the poor children who are doing the best they can.
A memorable moment occurs during the lecture "The Sound of an Orchestra" when Bernstein turns to the audience and asks, "So you think that was beautiful? Well, I have news for you. It isn't." One reviewer called Bernstein's manner at this moment condescending, but actually it was charming and highly dramatic--a real grabber.
As a general music teacher, I must agree with other reviewers that these programs should not be played for children unless the teacher is willing to devote weeks (or months) of preparation for each lecture. The following lectures are some of my favorites:
"What makes music symphonic"--Save for High School. This one is my favorite, but even smart nonmusical adults have trouble understanding it.
"The Sound of an orchestra"--Great for teaching musical style.
"What makes music American"--A passionate and thought provoking overview from one of the great American composers. (And Copland conducts as a special treat!).
"What is orchestration"--The sound quality is poor, but this one is terrific for elementary school as long as you prepare kids by talking about the instruments beforehand. Bernstein's choices of musical examples are wonderful!
"What is impressionism"--A fascinating introduction to Debussy's music.
"The Latin American spirit"--This one is just plain fun. Elementary school kids can enjoy this episode with very little preparation. (Bernstein conducts the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story at break-neck speed!)
Fifth grade students and older can understand Bernstein's ideas (and they don't even mind the black and white picture or the static camera work), but teachers should teach the concepts slowly beforehand and introduce the kids to the pieces the NYP plays long before they see these shows. After that, during the hot school days of June, after you've done your job teaching general music as best you can, put on these Bernstein lectures to watch the master teacher at work.
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