Leonard Bernstein Conducts the New York Philharmonic in West Side Story’s Symphonic Dances (1976) (Video)

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

In the stage version of West Side Story (1957), Bernstein composed a careful balance of staccato and lyrical elements. Although Robert Wise’s 1961 movie adaptation maintained some of the lyricism (“Maria,” “One Hand, One Heart,” “I Have a Love,” “A Place for Us”), he had Bernstein add app. two-and-a-half minutes of pure staccato for the opening fighting sequence (where the gangs wage a war of attrition), making it about seven minutes long, and completely cut a scene that had to be a favorite of Bernstein’s, thereby gutting his dream of an urban pastoral, not in the sense of some sort of Garden of Eden, but of an idyllic garden among the broken bricks and cement.

After Tony and Maria make love, they fall asleep in each other’s arms and share a dream. In a vacant lot, a sprite begins dancing around to lyrical violins (8:12). They’ve found their magical place. However, suddenly the two gangs appear, each hoisting its champion on a member’s shoulders. The killing from earlier that evening is re-created, and the lovers awaken. (This is a memory from January, 1982, when I last saw the Paris company perform the show.)

The scenes at this point in this movie are all out of order. Since most moviegoers (like me, prior to July 1980) never saw the stage production and thus wouldn’t know the difference, anyone who loved the original version would be crestfallen. Thus, although I saw the movie version during the early 1970s, and will have to watch it again for a project of mine, I am not looking forward to it.

Not only did Robert Wise cut the most beautiful scene from the picture, but the Belgian director of the current Broadway revival, Ivo van Hove, has even cut it from the stage production, along with all of Jerome Robbins’ choreography! (Robbins was both director and choreographer of the show, and shared producer-director roles with Wise for the movie.) In spite of my criticisms of Wise, both men won deserved Oscars for producing and directing the movie version, which I consider one of the two greatest movie musicals ever made.





8:17-10:12 Urban pastoral. Begins with clash of the cymbals.
10:12 Dance-off music (out of sequence).
12:38 “Maria” (Tony & Maria see each other, experience love at first sight, and forget about the dance floor).
14:12 “Cool”
18:12 The Big Fight
19:41 “I Have a Love”