Posts in Narration
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY

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After many, many travails, our heroine, Cunegonde, has become an expensive courtesan in Paris. As she laments her sordid circumstances, she suddenly remembers her dear Dr. Pangloss’s theory of optimism: that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds – that’s right: even war, disease and deadly earthquakes! So Cunegonde scolds herself to look on the bright side –that being, of course, the cascades of jewels ornamenting her from head to toe. Here is “Glitter and be Gay” – Broadway’s very own ode to bling.

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NarrationJamie BernsteinBroadway
MOZART, YOU KID, YOU!

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Hello, everybody! It's me, Wolfgang -- you know: MOZART. Surprised to see me? Well, I just had to show up for my birthday party. I love parties! And I certainly couldn't miss my 250th. Okay, so it was two years ago, but hey: I’m still celebrating!  I'm looking pretty good for 252, don't you think??

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NarrationJamie BernsteinMozart
COWBOYS, CABALLEROS & COPLAND!

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Yep: Billy the Kid was one of the most famous outlaws in the Wild West. When Billy was just fifteen, he went to jail for stealing some butter -- but he was so skinny, he managed to escape from the jailhouse by climbing UP the chimney! Sort of a backwards Santa Claus thing. For the next six years, Billy the Kid was the meanest outlaw in the Wild West -- until Sheriff Pat Garrett shot him dead. At the age of 21, Billy the Kid’s short and nasty life was over.
 
Aaron Copland was so fascinated by this Wild West story that he wrote the music for a whole ballet about “Billy the Kid.”

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NarrationJamie BernsteinCopland
THE BERNSTEIN BEAT

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Hi everybody! I’m Jamie Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein's daughter, and this is the wonderful Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and this is our conductor, Maestro Michael Barrett. Didn’t that music make you want to tap your feet and bop around in your chair? Well, that’s what it’s supposed to do! My father wrote that music to wake everybody up…

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NarrationJamie BernsteinBernstein Beat