Debut: This series of six weekly concerts, featuring Leonard Bernstein with some of the world's top orchestras, opens tonight with a mix of Broadway and Beethoven.
The Maestro leads the New York Philharmonic in his own Overture to the 1956 musical "Candide." The performance of this sparkling and melodic work was taped at London's Royal Albert Hall.
In the hour's major and concluding segment, Bernstein returns as conductor and soloist for a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major (Opus 15) work reminiscent of the Classical concert of Haydn and Mozart, published in 1801. The piece was written in Vienna, and is performed here, appropriately, in the City of Musikvereinssaal by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.