The Maestro of NYC

It's hard to imagine but once upon a time, back in the 20th century, orchestra conductors used to be actual celebrties. Arturo Tosconini lead the NBC Orchestra and Lawrence Welk had his own popular TV show.

But no conductor was more famous, or more acclaimed, or left a greater legacy, than Leonard Bernstein.

Leading the New York Philharmonic for many years, Bernstein was the most famous conductor in America between the 1940s until his death in 1990. He was so famous that he was constantly on television, including with the "Young People's Concerts" series, and he also composed the scores for symphonies and requiems such as Mass. And his impacted popular culture too, writing the gorgeous scores for such musicals as On The Town, Wonderful Town, and, most historically, West Side Story.

And he was a true blue New Yorker, a keeper of the cultural flame at time when people loved to hate the city, and (even though he was a Massachusetts transplant), the spirit of his work -- as those three musicals prove -- was imbued with NYC.

Bernstein is the subject of a big new movie about his life called Maestro that was written, directed, and stars Bradley Cooper. It's an extraorindary movies but focuses mostly on his fraught relationship with his wife and the fact that he was a deeply conflicted bisexual. You should also listen, after watching this movie, to this Bowery Boys podcast episode about Leonard Bernstein's life in, and work about, NYC. His career could never happened without NYC, and NYC is a better place because of his work.