Music for Life —Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti (DeutGram 427386)
An extraordinary event took place at Carnegie Hall on November 8, 1987. Music for Life was a fund-raiser for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc. All the artists—among them Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Horne, Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Murray Perahia, Leontyne Price, Samuel Ramey and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center—made substantial contributions to either the GMHC or to local AIDS organizations. Deutsche Grammophon released a 2-CD set of the concert, and during this week of observation of the Bernstein Centennial, WCLV features seven selections from Music for Life in which Lenny took part. He conducted Mahler’s Adagietto and Charles Ives’s The Unanswered Question, along with selections featuring Pavarotti, Price and Horne. Just one more example of Bernstein’s generosity of spirit and advocacy for the powerless and less fortunate.