Product Details

• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: April 9, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000006NT1
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,336 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first in the greatest music appreciation series ever, March 16, 2001

By 

albertatamazon (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts - What Does Music Mean? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Since the death of Leonard Bernstein in 1990, some of his classic programs have resurfaced on television, and there are two inescapable conclusions to be drawn from them--first, that Leonard Bernstein is most likely the greatest American-born conductor to have ever lived, and second, that he was undoubtedly the greatest lecturer and teacher of music ever. I am a great lover of classical music; I listen to my local NPR station most of the day, and no one I have ever heard lecture on music even comes close to Bernstein. His explanations were so clear, eloquent, original, and informative that one could easily become more interested in his lectures than in the music he conducted, not because the music was dull, but because Bernstein's lectures were so fascinating.

This video is the historic first Young People's Concert, broadcast live in 1958 and preserved on film rather than videotape. While Bernstein does not seem quite as assured as he would in his later concerts (he quite obviously reads his script off his music stand, rather than preserving the illusion of spontaneity by looking at a teleprompter or memorizing his lines as he would later do), he is still mesmerizing, as he explains to a young audience that music is never really "about" specific persons, places, and things, but only about itself. His enertaining method of showing how well music does or does not depict a situation is to invent a completely fictional storyline that "illustrates" the music he is about to play, show how well the music tells this story, and then spring the actual story of the work on his unsuspecting yong audience.

The rest of the program is similarly entertaining as Bernstein tries to get the listeners to appreciate the music on its own terms. Partly because this is a general and not a specialized audience, Maestro Bernstein never resorts to any high-sounding musical terminology that the audience will fail to grasp. And although this is a young audience, one never feels that Bernstein is insulting anyone's intelligence or condescending to anybody, despite the howls of some apparently envious so-called critics who resented his popularity, his charisma, and his ability to get his ideas across.

It is a shame, however, that the Bernstein family has seen fit to release only a few of these concerts on individual cassettes, forcing the public to choose between the rather expensive "sampler set", and the enormously expensive complete package, if they wish to acquire more than three or four programs. (It has now been more than two years since the "Young People's Concerts" first appeared on video, and there is still no sign that the entire collection will ever be available in individual packages.) One would hope that the Bernstein estate would concentrate less on making a bundle all at once, and realize that while most people would gladly pay $18 or $19 for individual tapes over a period of four years, they are less likely to fork over $60 or more at once for an entire set.

But this first tape is well worth seeing and adding to a video collection. Be warned, though--it IS in black-and-white, and the sound is strictly 1950's audio.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must see, May 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts - What Does Music Mean? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Just this April I discovered Leonard Bernstein's Young People Concerts. Mr. Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic did a series of television shows over a period of eleven years for CBS. These television shows were designed to teach his audience basic information that will increase their understanding about classical music and their listening enjoyment. He is successful. These are excellent videos. You will enjoy the lessons, the music, and the fun. They should be watched over and over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT DOES MUSIC MEAN? + WHAT IS SONATA FORM?, July 13, 2004

By 

LEONARD BERNSTEIN SOCIETY (LLOYD HARBOR, NEW YORK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts - What Does Music Mean? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S CONCERTS ARE AMONG MY FAVORITE, MOST HIGHLY PRIZED ACTIVITIES OF MY LIFE." - LEONARD BERNSTEIN.

What Does Music Mean? Original Broadcast: January 18, 1958 Even if a composer deliberately writes music to follow a story line, the ultimate "meaning" of great music is not the story but the sounds themselves -- and all the underlying emotions and feelings that the composer has worked to express. Those emotions are not "extras," but an integral part of the music. In fact, they are what the music is all about. La Valse (Ravel), plus excerpts from William Tell Overture (Rossini), Don Quixote (Richard Strauss), Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" (Beethoven), Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky), Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky), and Six Pieces (Webern).

What Is Sonata Form? Original Broadcast: November 6, 1964 A plain old song often unfolds as three basic parts: A-B-A. Amazingly, a typical sonata movement is just an expanded version of the ordinary, everyday song. To add drama to the sonata, the composer moves between related musical keys. Once you can pick out the A-B-A sections and the changing keys, you'll be an expert on sonata form! Excerpts from Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter" and Piano Sonata in C Major (Mozart), Classical Symphony (Prokofieff), And I Love Her (Lennon & McCartney) and Carmen (Bizet). Veronica Tyler, soprano.