Leonard Bernstein

• One of the most widely performed composers of the 20th century
• Works successfully bridge between classical and popular idioms, combining jazz-inspired energy and theatrical panache
• Acclaimed stage works include West Side Story, On the Town and Candide
• Dance collaborations with Jerome Robbins including Fancy Free, Facsimile and The Dybbuk
• One of the most admired conductors of the post-war era, particularly associated with the New York, Israel, and Vienna philharmonics; Boston and London symphony orchestras; and Tanglewood Festival
• Important role as an educator, including pioneering work on television
• Output recorded extensively on Sony and Deutsche Grammophon

Works by Leonard Bernstein include:
Symphony No.2 'The Age of Anxiety' (1949) for piano and orchestra
Candide (1956/88) Comic operetta in two acts
Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story' (1960) for orchestra
Mass (1971) A theatre piece for singers, players and dancers

Looking Ahead: Violinist Janine Jansen, London Symphony Orchestra, and Antonio Pappano perform Serenade (after Plato's 'Symposium') at the Barbican (Feb 6) before embarking on a US tour and bringing the work to Carnegie Hall (Mar 5)

"Bernstein's music is cross-over without compromise, a corpus of work that simply had to be." — Independent