Vocalist Disagrees With Bernstein's Tempo

Bernstein describes this passage as "always impossible" and suggests that the audience won't understand the words anyway, so what's the big deal? Awkward.

[Kyle-urmr]

What I love the most is that they argue bilingually because they both speak German and English

[sampathgunasena]

Musicians disagreeing with Lenny Bernstein is my favourite horror sub-genre.

[ArchieCaine]

“It doesn’t matter nobody can hear the words anyway”

[gghtsmv]

clicked on this thinking, one does not simply _disagree with Bernstein_ and found myself doing exactly that

[hiyadroogs]

The problem for Christa, is that she isn't being given the time to literally breathe between phrases.

[owlcu]

She's suppressing her anger because she's right and she knows it, but he's the boss so she has to pretend otherwise. I guarantee she went home and screamed into a bottle of schnapps.

[dscott]

I came here to see a singer dare to argue with Bernstein over his interpretation and, immediately upon watching it, said to myself, "Damn, that's much, much too fast. She can't even breathe." And she has such a lovely voice too!

[undercrackers]

She is a professional who is accustomed to delivering her very best performance. I appreciate her frustration at being prevented from doing so.

[Antaios]

I love that she's 100% correct, and the conductor is like "yeah, but whatever, who's even listening to the words." 😂

[cowboycurtis]

"It doesn't matter, no one can hear you anyway"
**cries in viola**

[ralphmarshall]

Conductors always rush Mahler, they don’t want to pay the orchestra overtime.

[scazzasofija]

This is a normal and natural rehearsal process. She’s a legend as well, and she’s talking about the ability of her breath and legato to keep up. You hear more of the colors of her voice in the slower tempo. Lenny wasn’t known for his work with singers.

[MichaelFineMusic]

Not just a 'vocalist' but one of the world's greatest mezzos to ever grace the stage.

[matthewhrdlicka]

Ms. Christa Ludwig, one of the greatest singers to ever walk this Earth, should never be referred to as “Vocalist”. 😬

[nicholasfox]

Before we all leap to melodramatic conclusions (too late for that, I guess), Christa Ludwig **adored** Leonard Bernstein, and said so in many interviews, including one in which she stated that no other conductor freed her up musically more than Bernstein. She continued to perform and record with him frequently after this, all the way up until his death.

These things happen. You're witnessing a conflict between two great artists. I agree that Bernstein happens to be incorrect in this instance--he's pushing the orchestra too hard too soon, and they're also overreacting and themselves pushing so hard that it becomes out of control. But just because they're disagreeing doesn't mean they hate each other, or that she lost respect for him suddenly, or that he was not a great artist--"always being correct" is not the definition of a great artist. No one is free of misjudgments or errors, including the greatest artists. Colleagues have conflicts sometimes, and we're talking about two extraordinarily strong personalities here. And again, "The audience can't understand the words anyways" is not a broader statement that Bernstein is making. He's not saying, "A singer's text is not important." He's trying to assuage a frustrated colleague; i.e., "The music is so fast and Mahler has set it in such a way that absolute clarity in the moment is nearly impossible anyways." Musical artists say things of this sort all the time in the pressure cooker of a rehearsal.

This is normal. It's fascinating and interesting, but it's not as dramatic as we would like to believe.

[janetkenny]

Ludwig was a consummate musician and understood Mahler's intentions as well as Bernstein. She knew that sharp rhythm and clear attack would make it work on every level. Speed doesn't always sound 'faster' or more exciting. I can see that she is close to tears.
I can remember a music coach telling an ensemble not to bother with the words in a Rossini patter piece. "Just say bodabodaboda--the audience will never know." But Rossini knew.

[bobgreen]

"Who can hear the words anyway?" What a great thing to tell the vocalist, especially one of HER

[jimmy]

Um...she wasn’t “arguing” about the was saying his tempo was physically too fast for her to sing all those words.

[coffeeseven]

"No one's going to hear the words anyway". What a nice fella.

[willrobinson]

And then after that brief, but tense exchange, she sings the following slower section like an angel. Musicians are amazing how they can keep moving and deliver regardless of outer circumstances. They have a training which allows them to perform at a certain level no matter what is going on.