Much has been written about Leonard Bernstein's multifarious talents. He has been lionized for his abilities as concert pianist, conductor, composer, author and teacher. Others have argued that his diverse musical interests prevented him from reaching his full potential as a serious composer. It was his extraordinary versitility that enabled West Side Story to elevate musical theater to new heights. The ability to combine serious ballet music and classically constructed fugues with memorable popular melodies, jazzy, finger-snapping tunes, heart wrenching love songs and vaudevillian humor could only have come from one man, the true Renaissance musician of the 20th century.
