75 years ago, on September 7, 1950, Leonard Bernstein made his first appearance with the Concertgebouworkest, becoming the first American to conduct the ensemble. Bernstein returned to conduct and record with the group - one notable televised event was his conducting of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Concertgebouw in 1978, his first return since that initial debut. Enjoy this video of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in an excerpt of the Sanctus from Beethoven'

On 9/9, we share with you Leonard Bernstein’s examination of the superstition surrounding “Ninth” symphonies. What's your favorite Ninth? In an introductory trailer to his Dmitri Shostakovich 9th Symphony performance with the Vienna Philharmonic / Wiener Philharmoniker, distributed by Deutsche Grammophon, Bernstein explains how Shostakovich “thumbed his nose” at the tradition of Ninth symphonies of the great composers. "The mystique of the number nine exerted itself in an odd way, so typical of

“Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.” - composer Leonard Bernstein who would've been 100 years old today. | Biography