(Editor's Note: Classical Insites disappeared with the absorption of N2K into CDNow. The Bernstein site was taken over and is maintained by Primate, LLC, as agents for the composer's estate.)

But something still seems to be missing, something that, for want of a better word, we'll call passion. Bernstein was an electrifying musician and a charismatic (and frequently controversial) public figure; these qualities do not come through clearly in the site as it presently stands. They should, because Bernstein's powerful presence helped to legitimize the very idea of an American on the podium, and helped to elevate the standard of American music-making in general. Conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Gerard Schwarz, along with myriad popular and classical composers, owe much to the protean, trailblazing aspect of Bernstein's legacy.

It's not that Bernstein's passion doesn't come through in the music on offer here—it does, even in brief excerpts (provided in both MPEG-2 and RealAudio formats). But the site's organization (using a studio metaphor) and tone (Bernstein as musical statesman) somehow miss the raw excitement and impact that Bernstein repeatedly generated, in concert and in life.

We admire this site nonetheless, and rate it highly for what it does provide. However, given the declining audiences and general disarray that characterize classical music today, we believe this site could offer more. A enlivened Leonard Bernstein site, one that stretched the Web's current multimedia and narrative boundaries to reflect Bernstein's mercurial life and work, would help the legacy live on for a new generation.

(Reviewed December 13, 1996)