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B y Ky l e Ma cM i l l a n
As Leonard Bernstein’s largesse reenters
the canon, its messages are a clarion call
’
at the much-anticipated 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center in
Washington, DC, the 1¾-hour work faced a negative onslaught
from critics. Typical were Harold Schonberg’s dismissive
comments in the
New York Times
: “It is a pseudo-serious effort
at rethinking the Mass that basically is, I think, cheap and vulgar.
It is a show-biz Mass, the work of a musician who desperately
wants to be with it.” ¶ But in the nearly five decades since the
piece’s premiere, the classical music world has become much
more accustomed to the kind of stylistic cross-pollination that
runs through
Mass
, and views have significantly changed about
Bernstein the composer. Since his death in 199, many of his
works that had been downplayed or set aside have found renewed
attention and respect. Indeed, virtually everything he wrote
is being heard this year among hundreds (if not thousands) of
concerts worldwide celebrating the 1th anniversary of his birth.
MARION S. TRIKOSKO, COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (BERNSTEIN, 1971)
JULY 23 – AUGUST 5, 2018 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE
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