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On the road & off the record with Leonard Bernstein : my years with the exasperating genius / Charlie Harmon ; foreword by Harold Prince.

by Harmon, Charlie.

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Charlesbridge, 2018.

Bernstein, Leonard, 1918-1990.

Musicians -- United States -- Biography.

9781623545277 (hc.)

xi, 259 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Discography: pages 255-256 ; selected musical scores: page 257.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-257).

The ad under "M" -- Indiana bound -- The rebbe in wolf's clothing -- The cabin fever ward -- Composers, conductors, a celebrated cellist, and a charred cork -- "Chich" and a concussion -- What universe is this? -- On your mark -- The maestro dines out -- At home in the parallel universe -- Princess Margaret can't go shopping -- Speaking Hebrew in only one lesson -- Souvenirs picked up on the road -- A touchy situation -- A day for distraction -- Far from Tanglewood -- "People like me for what I do, not for who I am" -- Name the nine muses! -- What takes nine months to gestate? -- The two (other) women in Leonard Bernstein's life -- A quiet place in a noisy, noisy world -- Houston "grand" opera -- The restorative greens of Tanglewood -- Bi-coastal blues -- "Why do I have to work so hard?" -- How pleads the defendant? -- Down for the count! -- Who's in charge here? -- Lifetime achievement = lifetime therapy -- I should stay here and work -- The ends of the earth -- C'mon, it'll be fun! -- And then what happened? An epilogue.

"Leonard Bernstein reeked of cheap cologne and obviously hadn't showered, shaved, or slept in a while. Was he drunk to boot? He greeted his new assistant with, "What are you drinking?" Yes, he was drunk. Charlie Harmon was hired to manage the day-to-day parts of Bernstein's life. There was one additional responsibility- make sure Bernstein met the deadline for an opera commission. But things kept getting in the way- the centenary of Igor Stravinsky, intestinal parasites picked up in Mexico, teaching all summer in Los Angeles, a baker's dozen of young men, plus depression, exhaustion, insomnia, and cut-throat games of anagrams. Did the opera get written? For four years, Charlie saw Bernstein every day, as his social director, gatekeeper, valet, music copyist, and itinerant orchestra librarian. He packed (and unpacked) Bernstein's umpteen pieces of luggage, got the Maestro to his concerts, kept him occupied changing planes in Zurich, Anchorage, Tokyo, or Madrid, and learned how to make small talk with mayors, ambassadors, a chancellor, a queen, and a Hollywood legend or two. How could anyone absorb all those people and places? Because there was music- late-night piano duets, or the Maestro's command to accompany an audition, or, by the way, the greatest orchestras in the world. Charlie did it, and this is what it was like, told for the first time."--From publisher.

Prince, Harold, 1928-2019

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