The leonard bernstein letters makes it possible to take stock of bernsteins weaknesses his enthusiasm could lead to sentimentality and clearly his fame became a kind of bubble but these pale in comparison with his energy joy and absolute dedication to music its sad to think that our culture will probably never produce someone like him again adam kirsch tablet magazine adam kirsch . An extraordinary selection of revealing letters to and from one of the titans of 20th century music leonard bernstein was a charismatic and versatile musician a brilliant conductor who attained international super star status and a gifted composer of broadway musicals west side story symphonies age of anxiety choral works chichester psalms film scores on the waterfront and much more. With their intellectual brilliance humour and wonderful eye for detail leonard bernsteins letters blow all biographies out of the water his galaxy of correspondents includes stephen sondheim boris pasternak and jacqueline kennedy full of fresh information and the authentic voice of a constant seeker. The other was a 26 year old who worked in a tokyo insurance company now a newly revealed cache of letters shows that in the last decade of his life leonard bernstein embarked on a passionate. Bernstein was also an enthusiastic letter writer and this book is the first to present a wide ranging selection of his correspondence the letters have been selected for the insights they offer into the passions of his life musical and personal and the extravagant scope of his musical and extra musical activities