Bernstein conducts his own score form West Side Story in the recording studio, and has a "fun" time with a poor tenor who keeps screwing it up. I really can't blame Jose Carreras - it's just a great tense sequence caught on film.
Working at a high level sure, but this is a very off day for Carreras. When he went to the wrong key? You can tell he is extremely perturbed with himself. He was having trouble keeping his eyes on Lenny for whatever reason. Happens to even the best musician. But, definitely a rough day for Jose.
I thought based on Opera and what some said... that singers for example in Opera don´t follow conductor... It is the opposite conductor and orchestra watch the singers to follow them.
@@alaalfa8839 Sometimes, but that's simply not possible for most of the opera because it's not just one soloist singing, it's an ensemble. The maestro is the leader of the ensemble, not the singer.
This "tenor" is José Carreras, one of the best ever. I have been in recordings as an orchestra member, and it can get difficult after repeating time after time, since you get tired and other factors do affect as well.
Carreras is not making "micro errors" here. He is butchering the composer's written rhythms and Lenny had every right to be pissed. You pay a professional to show up prepared.
@@MrRuplenas There is a back story to this. Most leading Tenors usually have about 6-8 months to properly learn the entire show but for unforseen circumstances Careras only had about 3 months to learn it all hence the many errors. This was one of the most unenjoyable soundtrack recordings i ever played in. Morrcone had a very short fuse & over those 2 days recording virtually every player copped a spray from him. This was in Careras" infancy as a singer & kicked on to have a great career as a Tenor. RIP to Ennio, a true genius with music & a no filter, straight up, take no prisoners man. His music will live on. Looking back at this recording he did not look well & he smoked a lot. He will be missed.
+waltzguy14151 Au contraire, mon frere. It was more like suicide for him, and murder for the folks listening to his homicidal attempts at singing this musical genre ;)
So, when Bernstein, who composed the damn thing, wants Carreras to play the part of Tony; he surely MUST be wrong and all you nitwits must be right? How arrogant can you be?
+Rugby8 Too bad you wimped out and deleted your comments in +The Purple Moonwalker's thread. What happened, did you actually come to your senses?....lol.
Bernstein had the right idea to shut the engineer down; It wasn't the time to start about another and possibly smaller issue. The guy was nervous enough indeed just having trouble with the performance.
I thought he meant that telling correct pronunciation over the microphone is unhelpful because of how that’s difficult to hear, should do it in person face to face. Or that he meant it just wasn’t the right time to do when they’re focussing on the singing part.
@@williamstephens9945 This would have annoyed me too. One conductor at a time, especially when things are getting stressful. There's absolutely no room for people correcting each other, and had Bernstein let the engineer keep talking, it would have had a negative impact on morale and teamwork. Bernstein was right to put his foot down.
Yes, you are absolutely right! I don't know how Carreras coped at all! I thought he'd have a heart attack at one point! I'm a singer too and it's so humiliating when a temperamental conductor, who is having a bad day, starts correcting you in front of a full choir and orchestra! You automatically think your wrong even if some of the orchestra tell you that the conductor is going too fast. This happened to me and I approached my conductor in PRIVATE, and asked him to please slow down and thank goodness he did, but I was shaking with fear as I was asking him as he could be very brusque.
@@zoomerphilosopher4057 this a bit of a higher level than I’m sure you’re used to. It has nothing to with keeping tempo, it has much more to do with interpretation. I’m sure Jose had zero problems with tempo
The finished recording is lovely. We’re seeing them working through it. When you’re stressed (and your conductor is telling you you’re failing), time is the hardest thing to fix on the spot. Jose Carreras’ voice is beautiful.
Ugg, hard to watch. But you know what I see in Carreras here? Humility and grace! Most would not have withstood this level of pressure. You get nervous, the voice tightens, you get stiff, and all is lost. But Carreras managed to push through. I would also reword this title. Carreras is a world-renowned tenor and has sung on EVER worthy opera stage, and has given the world performances that have already stood the test of time. Let us learn from him, but also respect the man for crying out loud. "Tenor keeps screwing up?" First of all, Carreras is not just some tenor. He is one of history's most RENOWNED tenors.
It's his Timing that is really dreadful. He keeps RUSHING here, over and over. Yes, there are some diction issues, but it's his rushing the beat that is the main problem here!
He is not "rushing" he is conveying the impassion, impetuosity, the youthfulness of the texte and at the same time make sure not to distord the rhythm.
And there was certainly in that particular case of recording West Side story the problem of not being able to have enough takes because time is counted and rehearsals expensive...Otherwise every body would have stayed calm...
He is, without any room for doubt, rushing. He knows it himself, the sound engineers hear it, the conductor hears it, and any listener with musical training hears it as well. Implying it was intentional when you can see the anxiety on his face and hear the complaints of the engineers and conductor is an incredible stretch of the imagination. And to your other point, at 1:36 the engineer says it's take 130. You are laying out an enormous amount of defense for Carreras in the comments for some reason, but the fact is even the best performers in the world are not perfect. They make mistakes, they have bad days, and sometimes they just are not accustomed to certain material. He was simply not performing well and that's the end of it.
+Noelia Jaime Sorry but you're as clueless as Carreras. His problem wasn't that "English is not his first language." Language had nothing to do with it....he simply had no clue how to sing the musical style in this video.
And yet if Bernstein had allowed some text corrections to take place Carreras might have got closer to being in time. The fact is this is a very wordy song - lots of lyrics. Even native English language singers would have to have a certain dexterity of articulation to sing it. Carreras had worked mainly in Italian and Spanish with the odd excursion into French. I doubt very much if there was a great rehearsal period prior to recording and because singers have so much to do at one time - producing the voice correctly, breathing, hitting the right notes and rhythm as well as words and interpretation, listening and staying in tune Carreras struggled with all those consonants and groups of consonants that pepper the English language. The basic principle is the that the vowel sounds on the beat and the consonant slightly before to help keep the rhythm flowing, but if the singer is struggling with consonants ( especially with the ending of one word and beginning of the next) then there is a cumulative effect and they get behind the beat. Rehearsal and recording sessions can be stressful and there is the clock to consider - all credit to Carreras he tried to deliver the goods here.
That's producer John McClure, who by that point has produced over 200 of Bernstein's recordings over 25 years, so you can assume they had a pretty good working relationship.
It sucks having an off day, especially when the entire group is waiting on you to be in the groove. It happens to all musicians, just have to try to keep composed. Depending on how high the stakes are, it's not always easy.
As other comments already stated, the syncopated phrasing is very hard for singers (musicians) coming from a classical background. It sounds rhythmically unresolved to the classical ear and the second eighth notes (I presume this is the case here) sound stiff and either too early or too late. Jose Carreras is a fantastic tenor with a beautiful voice and he certainly knows exactly what his difficulty is and works very hard to get it right. Hats off.
Syncopation is the issue? We learn syncopation in elementary school. And this isn’t a new piece. Perhaps it should have been studied in advance since its premier in 1959. This is peanuts rhythmically. Sorry but he should have studied and practiced more on his own.
@@nybugler well here in Europe musical education in public schools is ridiculous. It's of zero merit if you happen to be born in a country that has a much better musical education system.
Nice to see the musical reasoning here. For bonus music trivia that adds context, one of the things that Bernstein became well-known for was inserting elements of American pop/folk music into the European classical formats. Along with those styles came a bunch of African rhythms that classically-trained musicians had rarely encountered. This led to situations like this. Add a little pressure, a deadline, a cup of coffee, and nothing snaps up. I know I've been there. The loose feel of folks who don't exactly have the rhythms nailed comes through on the recordings of Bernstein's work. There are sometimes little sections where the European orchestra is doing their 19th century-esque classical stuff... but then has to switch to a rag-time or blues feel and back again. But... it's not quite there. It's the like orchestra switches from uber-tight professionals in tails to a bunch of slightly tipsy friends playing at a wedding, and back again, in eight bars. The slight sloppiness is often stylistically appropriate, in my mind. Personally, I like it. lol There was a cringe-inducing super-edit of classical musicians trying to play basic poly-rhythms, like quarter-note triplets, etc. If anyone has seen it... I'd love to find it again. I've been in that positions so many times, and it's horrible. You're at a gig for a genre you're unfamiliar with, and it's a black hole of embarrassment and confusion. 1/10 Would not recommend taking good gigs without enough prep.
Bernstein was mercurial. He could be the warmest, kindest most considerate man, but he had hot buttons. The "John" at whom he yelled was his long-time producer and friend - and one of the greatest producers of all time, sheparding among others Bernstein's first-in-the-world complete Mahler symphony set - John McClure. Notice the stunned look on his face.
@@Vsor I wasn’t talking about Bernstein correcting the tenor, I was talking about the audio engineer correcting the tenor’s pronunciation in front of the whole orchestra. It’s a minor issue and would embarrass the singer since English isn’t his first language.
This rhythm is simply alien to any classical trained musician. Jose Carreras started singing as a child and can certainly read music, but this score is as great as it is complicated.
There are many classically trained musicians who can do Pop and Jazz quite well, they have a feel and rapport and comfort with the music and the style. Carreras is not one of them. His performances of Pop music and he recorded a lot of it are routinely, stiff and formal. He sings a simple love song the same way he sings Puccini .Hadley or Leech would have been at home with this music and familiar with the work. Carreras( coming in on short notice, English not being his first language and unfamiliarity with musical Theater) was operating at a distinct disadvantage here and Bernstein was really a beast! Lovely voice for classical music and shown off to best advantage in the classical idiom.
@@rockychieng88 I find that classical training can allow you to improvise well but the ability to be a good Jazz musician has everything to do with an inherent feel and affinity for the idiom. Many Classical musicians can be prisoners of the written note and cannot deviate from it.
@@joemiller6975 There’s nothing in this video that suggests Carreras missed improvisation skills. He missed a basic sense of rhythm, singing way ahead of the orchestra. Highly problematic for a professional including in classical music.
@@Edouard16 EXACTLY. This is a simple eighth-note syncopation. The same basic (very basic, in fact) rhythm occurs in all kinds of literature. This guy is rushing like crazy. He's just not in the pocket.
One of the first and hardest lessons to learn is not to take things personally, not make it about you, always put yourself in listening and learning mode, in service of the music. These kind of repetitions are hard but rewarding. The amount of new knowledge you gather!!
I do take this (not your comment) personally. It's not about Bernstein, either, but he totally made it all about him. The way he communicates is NOT okay and his reputation and aura cannot and should not justify it.
I saw this years ago and at one point Carreras has tears in his eyes. It was not his fault as he was totally miscast as "Tony", and from what I've heard since, this was recorded either just before, or after Carreras underwent treatment for some sort of cancer! Bernstein was known to be difficult! I'm a soprano myself and I'd be terrified if he was my conductor!
Love seeing the greats struggle. Jose Carreras is an amazing tenor. Seeing him learn as he goes is very inspiring we need more of these videos. They're as human as everyone else but more dedicated imo. Yes of course having his voice helps .
I hate to see others bare deep stress, especially when you experience it yourself you can relate on a whole other level with them. Very human connection
He took the second exit BEFORE the first. First time he has to go down (F- Major), second time he has to go up (G- Major). He went to G- Major too early.
You could just see it in Carreras eyes: "shit...i'm gonna be known as the tenor who was fired by the great Leonard Bernstein. My career is ruined!" I will say this for Bernstein, though...as pissed off as he very obviously was, he did a great job of keeping his composure. He never yelled nor did he ever belittled Carreras.
Carreras was struggling with ESL plus the requirement of words being sun at an amazingly swift pace. This shows how much hard work even professionals have to do whether dealing with a different language, pace, medium etc. Carreras was slso diagnosed with cancer not too long afterwards. His hard eork paid off. He did brilliantly at the end result. This shows a very human side of performance that an audience never sees as we see the honed and perfected performance.. Brilliant work.
think anybody would be miserable--Bernstein likes to make people miserable. Too bad they didn't pull in Pavoratti--he couldn't read music at all and his ego twice that of Bernstein's, so would have been massive conflict.
that happens on RU-vid a lot. I saw a clip that said, "Mohammed Ali and Black Singer on Michael Douglas Show". The "black singer" in question was none other than Sly Stone. LOL
waltzguy14151 just FYI - I know exactly who is in the clip (I posted this video), but figured it wouldn't be the best idea to point that out in the title.
Chris Nelson but those things happen on practice...even good singers, you make mistakes..your coaches or your conductor give you deadly stare and stops the music/songs
+The Purple Moonwalker Carreras is a great tenor as long as he sticks with his own musical genre, but it's clear that he was a clueless _nobody_ as he struggled to interpret the music in this video.
That's actually pretty standard. Most world premiers are conducted by the composers, dating as far back as recorded (written history, not audio recording) music.
@@omovitruviano "especially a shitty". If your music writing/taste is on par with your english, I suspect you struggle in all areas of life. OOFFF. But Im sure mom still loves you :)
@@omovitruviano Art is the constant chase of beautiful, we perceive art, as something beautiful. I believe this piece is beautiful, therefore in my regard it is art of highest degree.
@@jimjones9900 Not true. Most world premiers are *not* conducted by the composers. The world premiere of West Side Story was not conducted by Bernstein, the world premiere of The Music Man was not conducted by Meredith Willson, none of the famous musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein had their first performances conducted by Richard Rodgers as far as I know, the world premiere of My Fair Lady was not conducted by Frederick Loewe, etc. It is actually quite rare for the first performance of a famous musical (or for that matter classical piece or any music with orchestra no matter what its genre) to be conducted by the composer.
This was tough to watch. I’m a lyric mezzo and I know when I’ve prepared Bernstein or even Sondheim going back over a section that’s super difficult on many levels can make you feel so defeated! Jose Carreras took this like a pro, and I applaud him for it!
For sure. I'm sure we have all been in rehearsal settings like this before and it is just agonizing. Tensions get so high and you can't create a good product when you're on pins and needles.
Don’t forget, there is a lot of money involved (studio time, musician fees, label investments, etc). Yes, must. is fun but to do it at this profession level is a lot of work too. Music is a business too and there are high expectations. Fun is saved for when it is all done and everyone is satisfied with the product.
@@drummer78 totally understand that it’s a business as I am a professional musician. I’ve been in many very stressful situations like this and it doesn’t make the music better. It’s possible to make it exceptionally high level and enjoyable.
@@violindiscoverywithms.lesl4396 I agree. I think perhaps Bernstein was of a different era when conductors, bandleaders, producers, etc would yell and bark orders. Benny Goodman was an example of a band leader who routinely put his Big Band through the paces mentally. I’m regards to the money, I do think these big soundtrack recordings with a full orchestra are probably more intense because I am sure there was a lot of money on the line and it wasn’t a small group environment where the dynamic would be more relaxed.
The fact is has his nose in the score, almost certainly because he is underprepared, he misses the tempo and the spirit. Like you said, it is a great score and he simply is not qualified for singing it absent much, much more practice before recording.
Carreras’ discomfort and chagrin is so palpable that you can find the sequence on RU-vid under the title “Tenor Keeps Screwing Up while Bernstein Conducts-Awkward Sequence,” as if he were some weedy upstart, still wet behind the ears, when in fact, he had just flown in from Verona, where he’d been appearing as Don José in Carmen. I read in the comments that Bernstein wanted another singer to do the part. Maybe it'd have been better giving it to Bernstein guy, in fact to any guy provided that he would have one day to study the score and another day of rehearsal with the orchestra before the recording. He could have got Billy Joel. Or Phil Collins. If you ask me, after knowing all the circumstances, I think Carreras is quite amazing, in his place it would have been me who would have left the room and said "so long", Bernstein, Karajan or Jesus.
Yeah, poor Carreras looks just like I did when I took my first singing lessons at age 9 and I completely messed up. That was my last singing lesson lol
It's normal to expect perfection. Bernstein was probably very demanding, and having Carreras being a huge singer already, kinda makes you expect him to be able to sing this perfectly. Quite astounding that Carreras was just rehearsing that for maybe 1 day and was already quite close
i just watched this whole Doc last night, honestly Bernstein was pissing me off. through the whole thing he kept berating Jose in front of everyone, while he practically gushed over everyone else. he has a great voice but a pretty strong Spanish accent and he did not have as much time as all the other people to rehearse as he was called in to take another guys place at the last minute. so Bernstein can get a great performance from him with a little patience rather than making him feel like shit in front of every body.
Oh wow, thank you so much for sharing! I saw this as part of a documentary on TV when I was a kid. I loved it and bought the vinyl disc, I still have it. With Bernstein in his red jumper on the cover… I listened to it for hours on end. As a kid, I didn’t realize that Carreras had problems with his part. I was just overall fascinated
+baritonebynight Jose Carreras is a great tenor, but this music was completely wrong for him. The problem wasn't his English, it was his lack of timing, He just didn't 'get it.'
***** and you couldn't be more wrong. unless you believe you have the best ears in the world and ONLY if YOU could tell then others might also. that was quite an arrogant statement on your part.
+NativePrairieWolf You "couldn't tell what he messed up" because you don't know anything. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on you though....you're just a prairie wolf.
Thank you for positing. This is a great view into the process of getting the performance right and it shows how hard even the greats have to work to get the job done. Incredible.
It's not screwing up. It's called a rehearsal. This is how performances are moulded into perfection. We become better artists by making mistakes and learning from them. This situation happens even to the best of us. I'm glad this video was uploaded to remove stereotypical misconceptions that great artists don't need a lot of practice. This video here depicts reality. We all have to work hard to become incredible artists. Those who become legends even go the extra mile. :)
Good point. This album was totally unnecessary--and was a commercial flop. Not many opera singers can sing 'broadway' or jazz or folk, they have to make everything formal.
Agreed. I watched this documentary when it was first broadcast on TV and it was truly, toe-curlingly awful. Opera singers, even Dame Kiri, dreadfully miscast.
This is entirely at the feet of wacko Bernstein. He wanted an operatic version and he conducted it for the first and only time. He changed things and was an A7+&457
Ah, the good old 70's & 80's when composers were perfectionists & expected everyone else to be too. Then really laid into them when they couldn't perform as expected. I remember those days
This is a fantastic doco. The Role of tony is difficult, particularly rhythmically. It’s definitely out of his comfort zone, but this is how you grow as an artist.
The role of Tony is actually unreasonable. One needs the timbre of a lirico spinto tenor and the jazz feel of a pro broadway or jazz performer. Usually you get the latter, along with nasal, strained high notes and that wobbly "rotten egg" AA vowel that dominates American musical singing.
Some singers naturally move within different quantizing measures in songs, and some just need to exercise that muscle over time. Love this example of hard work and patience shown here to get an intended end result. Excellent post! Cheers to music!!!
Art takes a lot of work, even from great artists. Whatever the longer story here, Jose Carreras will always have my admiration for his talent, determination, and passion. The beauty of his art and the dedication of his humanitarian work have made this world a better place.
This is young pre cancer Carreras. What a gorgeous lyric tenor voice he had. I have worked with singers on these kinds of rhythms myself, in my own scores as well as others. They are not used to it and one must be patient, but when they finally get the rhythms worked into their bodies and combine them with those glorious voices it's well worth the effort. Bernstein was a genius, a brilliant pianist, a great composer, a great humanist, and the greatest American conductor of his generation. As a singer however his own voice was dreadful. he could sing in tune, but with absolutely no singing quality to the voice. He understood nothing of what it is to take a singer's breath, nor anything from a technical standpoint about vocal production. That's not his fault, but putting a great singer into a panic is not how one achieves the best effect. There is another video floating around wherein the great mezzo Christa Ludwig is singing a spot in a Mahler work and Bernstein is burying her with the orchestra. Ludwig had a very large voice, so the fault there was his, not hers. He replied by saying "well no one is ever heard there anyway". Sorry but it's the conductor's job to make sure the singer is heard. So while I have the utmost respect for Bernstein in general he is not perfect, because no one is. If Carreras did not have the rhythms already worked out in piano rehearsals he should not have been thrown into this situation by the maestro.
Sorry. If he couldn't show up knowing the rhythms cold - and they are syncopations which any professional singer should be able to handle - then he shouldn't have taken the gig. I have zero sympathy for him.
No reason for anyone's heart to break. Just a very long rehearsal. What was that? Take 130? After several hours of recording, and obviously wanting everything right, they just seem and frustrated.
Very insensitive capture on title of this “tenor keeps screwing up” … we don’t even know the circumstances of this recording. Jose Carreras a LEGENDARY tenor, who along with Domingo and Pavarotti, dominated the opera world on stage and movie productions and sung the most complicated scores of opera. Bernstein, chose him to do a more operatic version of his crossover masterpiece musical “West Side Story” along with Kiri Te Kanawa. Carreras was not known for singing in English. He was Lenny s choice. I find the title of this video segment offensive to the world of music and musicians. Thank you for posting it though. You can still attract visitors and viewers by generating something positive and not on the expense of great Artists. This is coming from a good place, do not attack me ❤
+BloodValeOfficial Carreras may be a great tenor singing his own musical genre, but he was _worse_ than fucking ordinary as he struggled to interpret the style in this video..... _Duuuude_ !
Faustus (or Fuckus, Fucked, or whatever), you appear to have a personal matter with Carreras. "He may be a great tenor" ... Berstein wanted opera singers for this Project, looked for the best ones and payed the best ones of that moment. And he should have known the risks of working with opera singers singing certain parts. Anyway the final product was good, a different sound and approach of the work. By the way, why do you say this fucking part is jazz? you may have a torpedo in your ears as in your fucking mind that pretend to know something of music. "Ears expert" ... You are one of those ignorant and usefull stupids that can't sing, compose, or play and give opinión on those who can do it. Good bye Fucked Fuckus Faustus. Put your expert ears in your ass and will hear the "jazz" you want. Expert ...
Why does every single RU-vid comment have to descend into name calling and swearing? C'mon guys, we're all better than this. Carreras was and is one of the greatest singers this world has ever known. He wasn't the best choice for this music. Renata Tebaldi would have been a bad fit for Santa Baby, and Eartha Kitt would have been a bad fit for Madam Butterfly.Because he's a great singer, and because he was working with Bernstein - a great composer and a great conductor - the problems are ironed out (that's what rehearsals are for) and the final recording is wonderful - but I doubt that anybody, not even Carerras himself, would cite this recording as the one which best showcases his talents. Don't forget, often artists are more critical of their own work than any critic...
When you are NOT brought up on Musical Theatre and come from another country without the nuances of the American languages. it is very difficult to sing. He should have had more coaching on this piece. I wonder why Jerry Hadley was not asked to do this recording ?
Not complex; the instrument that Carreras was far finer than Jerry's, he was also a far bigger star during this period. . This is a very different role than Candide. As to coaching, well, that was Carreras own responsibility, by the time the sessions begin, you have to know it cold.
And if you keep missing the conductor and instead looking at the score it is most likely that you will miss the beat. He should have learned the part before going to rehearsal.
... what I was thinking as well. How could he come into this session so ill prepared? Wishful thinking? I suppose when you're as amazingly accomplished in operatic performance as Carreras was, you can become blind to areas where you haven't yet become amazing.
@@willin1 he is referring to measure numbers, where they are in the piece. The written music doesn't number every measure, but most musicians add at least a few markers for rehearsing.
@@xxTrumpetBoyxx all the musicians have numbered measures(although they may differ slightly between editions), but the piano vocal scores in most cases (perhaps all) lack the large numbers that the orchestra members and conductor have.
Jeeezus wow!...every 6months or so I am reminded why RU-vid is the greatest thing that happened to all of us since sliced bread. Bernstein the genius working with extremely talented humans. The comments give context and even more insight. Thanks for posting!
Oh my god, I mean. It’s a professional setting. And as a composer, you know exactly what you want, and you imagine every note in your mind. So the singer just has to deliver, no one can read peoples mind, so it’s just a journey. But it turned out beautiful
This dude seemingly being not as experienced or comfortable with jazz and him having a different native tongue.... That's like a cellist being given viola music to play in a marching band. Rough.
Using this clip as an example of Bernstein's vicious cruelty. Can't figure out whether it is because he was racist, or just a nasty personality loving to tear people down Thank you for posting this. Sad, because Bernstein was so generous to my piano teacher when she performed in a Young People's Concert and she loved him so.
Can we take a moment to appreciate this is actually one of the best operatic tenors in the world? Why on Earth is he even singing something that is not opera??
And why did anyone think that having heavy operatic voices sing this score, over a beefed-up symphonic orchestra, was a good idea? It just doesn't work.
One feels for him. Sometimes you just don’t “ hear it “ and then nerves kick in and confidence wavers and it gets harder and harder. These days the orchestra would be recorded and the vocalist would be overdubbed
It was probably extremely stressful however because they went through all of this, we were able to hear a masterpiece. Practice no matter how frustrating it is, is absolutely necessary for everyone to work together to create something wonderful, and Bernstein knew that.
@@ludgatecircus15 ...are you serious right now? The others had like 6 months to prepare, Carreras had apparently a couple of weeks - and he just had travelled from Verona, where he’d been performing in Carmen. So, Bernstein could have been at least a bit more reasonable. Good God.
In 1976 the Indianapolis Youth Symphony, in which I played 1st clarinet, played a couple of pieces for Butler University's festival of Bernstein's music. The maestro attended the opening concert, in which we played. The conductor fouled up in "The Age of Anxiety" by beating a measure of three that was in a long, uninterrupted section in two, throwing everyone off. He tried unsuccessfully to recover, but fortunately the piano soloist managed to get back in, and we got it together. Afterward there was a reception, and the great man spoke. He congratulated a few people and then said, as I recall, that we youth orchestra kids were amazing because we go to school and do our homework all day, so it's no wonder we're tired. What a jerk. We had violists who were eleven. I think that was the moment I decided not to try to play professionally.
That's a bit sensitive. He obviously assumed that it was the players who messed up (a reasonable assumption, even if incorrect) and ascribed it to their being tired rather than to a lack of talent or ability. Someone in the know should have piped up and said that it was a conducting error--Bernstein might well have appreciated it!
It is amazing that Bernstein didn't need the technician or the recording to know immediately when Carreras makes a mistake. Bernstein is in total control and very theatrical about the state of affairs obviously having to deal with a tragedy here. Poor Carreras why did he choose to sing this part ? Did they in the end cobble together enough recorded bits to pass muster. Glad we have it on tape both funny and an insight into the maestros stile. There is another one when he conducts the Berlin Philharmonics in a piece by Mahler and Relentlessly scolds the orchestra in his limited German until he gets the best possible performance from them. We miss him dearly.
I think sometimes it's easy to forget how much harder it can be to sing in a language that isn't your first language. Plus, that, "Something's coming, I don't know what it is.." passage is rhythmically tricky on top of it. My heart was breaking for Carreras just a little bit.
About Bernstein: I happened to be in Vienna Austria in 1978 when I was traveling as a student and saw him conduct the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein in a program of Beethoven Sym. 5 and Schubert Sym 5. Just before the music started the crew was rolling a big TV camera into position on the stage and the thick cable for it was making noise on the floor. Bernstein got upset with that and made furious swinging motions up and down with his arms to get him to stop. His impatient behavior must have looked rude to the crowd, but that's the way the man was. The performance was pretty good too. Lean, solid sound with a moderate tempo. Very straightforward.
God, the courage you need to have to try and retry with such a disdainful taskmaster. Given the circumstances, I think Lenny could’ve been a bit kinder, a bit more gracious. Bravo, Carreras!
Carreras is really good, but Bernstein was very demanding and Josep knew he would be. Bernstein also had to worry about a lot more than just Carreras, so I can understand him not wanting to lower the bar
@@melmatthews5876 That's right. The circumstances were unfortunate, too. Rushing to get ready "at the last minute", so to speak. I'm sure Carreras knew about Bernstein's personality, but he accepted - after all, if you're an available tenor and Bernstein calls on you in a situation like this one, I suppose it would have been a bit hard to turn him down, even knowing what he's like, and even if you're Josep Carreras.
You can literally see Jose Carreras growing as a singer and musicians through this experience. Interesting how they didn't multitrack this (I'm sure Bernstein would have never allowed it), something that would have likely been done today to allow the singer multiple takes without the orchestra.
No one should have to go through the humiliation Bernstein subjected Carreras went through on this horrifying clip. This is not professionalism: this is bullish, obnoxious behavior.
Do you know who isn't mentioned a single time by name in this documentary? The lyricist of the show, Stephen Sondheim. A reflection of his chilly relationship with Bernstein.
The part that Bernstein was singing because Carreras didn’t have numbers could have led to two separate keys in the written music depending on the rehearsal number, then Bernstein blames him for going to the “wrong key” what a peach of a person!
Wonderful we can see this rehearsal! Carreras was so young...Oh my God he was so I was so nervous. I heard an interview with Bernstein's assistant at the time, in which he said that Carreras was not initially the tenor who was about to be hired. Carreras was called at the last minute, he came on a flight and his luggage didn't arrive... It would have been a difficult situation...
Remember, that the Bronx would have been made up of different migrants during the time period. I think Bernstein may have been trying to capture this somewhat within this performance.
This was not so much a “cast recording” of West Side Story in the regular sense, they didn’t stage the show with dialogue/costumes etc. it was a Studio Album to record the score that Bernstein wanted to conduct himself, Jose did a couple of these studio albums as well for shows like South Pacific. I think in the whole documentary of this recording, Bernstein actually said he wanted “operatic” or classically trained singers for this as they normally wouldn’t do those parts in the show.
Who ever decided to have opera singers do this was nuts. There are plenty of fantastic musical theatre vocalists who could have done this perfectly. The person who decided to have opera stars do this just wanted bragging rights for the promo of it. Completely impractical to have these singers sing musical theatre.
@@kchrules775 Shows that even the maestro himself can make errors in judgement. Bad move having these opera greats do this. Might as well have had them sing country-western.
Christ, that is the problem. He did NOT learn it. He was underprepared in a number of respects. If he was a new Juilliard graduate he would be booted off this in a minute.
A masterpiece in the making ✨✨✨ All wonderful, each artist in their role, seeking perfection ✨✨✨ José Carreras young and beautiful, what a voice ✨✨✨ Noone can surpass his interpretation✨✨✨
@@1106gary Nowadays these castings are not done. But they were common in cinema and opera at that time. Luckily 1. José Carreras' accent blends with all the immigrants' accents of that time in New York City 2. His voice and interpretation are so wonderful that they remain stellar and unforgettable, for all times 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
"screwing it up" The rhetoric here suggests that what we do and what he had to perform was some menial task. Recording vocals with a full orchestra is extremely taxing and something only the most skilled performers are capable of. Even so, fatigue can set in and mistake WILL be made.
the irony here imo is there are literally thousands of lesser-known tenors that know this piece inside and out and would a have nailed this performance or at the very least performed the rhythm accurately but they apparently wanted a name
To many many people: I strongly suspect the mentioned number of takes here (150) are the TOTAL number of recorded takes, as in including every single take of every other song from the show they d recorded up to this point. 150 takes of 1 single song is kind of insane. No production would allow for anyone to take that much time. Also: a tonedeaf studio janitor without any former knowledge of music, West Side Story or the English language would be able to render enough usable material after 150 takes... And yes: at this level people DO get this upset after just a few imperfect takes!
150 takes means his voice was overworked. This is why Les Miserables film adaption sounded so rough. Aside from singing while doing too much acting and crying, the actors did 10 - 12 hour marathon days in filming, which isn’t unhealthy in most films, but doing it all day every day for the course of a production, everybody with a large role has damaged vocal chords throughout the film and just sound rough
@@JRibs Les Mis sounded so rough because the director insisted on live singing during takes be used for the final audio...and some of the actors just aren't THAT good. Carreras sang Verde and Puccini...WSS (especially "Something's Coming" is a jazz masterpiece that melds the perfect mix of precision and finesse. It is so difficult for a classically trained singer.
@@JRibs The core problem with the Les Mis film adaptation is that the majority of the cast aren't singers. Even if they on their best day sound decent, that to me is not enough to sing Les Mis. Just hire musical actors to play the roles, why is hollywood so infatuated with putting mediocre singers in every musical adaptation?? There are literally THOUSANDS of musical theatre actors that would do an AMZING job performing these films but noooo, let's put Russel freaking Crowe in it...
@@TheBlueSledge Amen to that. Hollywood seems to have developed a theory that if someone is a good actor, you can say "ok, act like you can sing," and then they'll be able to. Crowe and Jackman were just straight-ahead cringeworthy in "Les Miz" (although I thought Redmayne and Seyfried and Hathaway knocked it out of the park). And then there were Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in "La La Land," and the less said about Peter Dinklage in "Cyrano," the better. Being a big box-office draw does not equate to being a singer.
I’m no conductor, but I felt myself too getting frustrated when Carreras was speeding. But it’s incredible to see the work build into a wonderful collaboration.
I am a conductor and I can say that when Bernstein says "watch me" it isn't all that helpful. Bernstein was more of an "inspirational conductor" than a guy with a great stick technique. The beat is not all that clear, which is why Carreras looked up and didn't get any further wiht the syncopations. That one is on Lenny. Give Bernstein the NY Phil and he could work miracles. They didn't need a clear stick. They needed emotional direction. Carreras needed a clear stick here and he didn't get it.
Bernstein even if he's pissed off protects the integrity of his singer when he's on his wing. Bernstein is tough but he knows his artists and he pushes them to their limits. He makes their people become better at what they do. Bernstein is tough but he's righteous doing his work.
