Leonard Bernstein conducts "West Side Story"

Leonard Bernstein is one of the most prominent composers of the twentieth century. He composed great symphonies as well as intimate chamber music, but people generally know him best from the score he wrote for the musical West Side Story. The musical was performed on Broadway almost a thousand times and the film version won as many as ten Academy Awards. Surprisingly, it would take 27 years after the premiere in 1957 before Bernstein would pick up the baton himself to conduct his own composition. For that occasion, an all-star cast assembled. Opera singers Kiri te Kanawa and José Carreras sang the roles of Maria and Tony. Leonard Bernstein conducts "West Side Story" is the account of the rehearsals and eventual recordings, of which Bernstein said that he finally heard the parts as he had written them. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)