[Wikipedia-l] Leornard Bernstein, for Helga

Mon Sep 9 14:34:15 UTC 2002

The [[Leonard Bernstein]] article says,

"Especially unforgettable is Leonard Bernstein's last production with Unitel. On Christmas Day, December 25, 1989 Bernstein featured Beethoven's Symphony No. 9? at the Berlin Celebration Concert in order to celebrate with Berlin and the world the Fall of the Wall. Over 100 million people shared this unique experience by watching Leonard Bernstein's Berlin Concert performance, broadcast by live Television in more than 20 countries. For this occasion Bernstein had reworded Friedrich Schiller's text of Ode to Joy, substituting the word "freedom" (Freiheit) for "joy" (Freude). "I'm sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing", said Bernstein."

And I added the following to the [[Berlin Wall]] article:

"On Christmas Day, December 25, 1989 Leonard Bernstein did a concert in Berlin celebrating the the Fall of the Wall."

Why? Although I am Jewish, I do not hate Germans. I love German and Austrian composers.

Ed Poor