With a recording made by the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchester in 1988, Medici Arts celebrate Leonard Bernstein's (1918-1990) recorded legacy in their series of DVDs by this outstanding musical personality. The DVD brings together three of the constants of Leonard Bernstein's protean career: his involvement with education projects, his complex relationship with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his desire to leave a filmed testament to his work. In 1987, Bernstein had established the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival at Salzau Castle, a teaching and learning centre for young musicians, where he taught for several summers. He ensured that there would be cameras present in 1988, as he explored the subversive nature, exposed nerve endings and unseemly fervour of great art -- and Shostakovich in particular. Bernstein begins his rehearsals by explaining his interpretation of the score of Shostakovich's first Symphony written between 1924 and 1925 when the composer was 19 years old. Leonard Bernstein had a particular gift for providing young people with an inspirational and enthusiastic introduction to music. And few others could immerse themselves in Shostakovich's world in so incomparable a manner. These recordings bring together three of "Lenny's" great passions in an altogether unique way!

Be the first to comment