Conductors: Laureate's Farewell

For his three scheduled concerts with the New York Philharmonic last week, Leonard Bernstein chose a single work:

Mahler's exalted but nostalgic Symphony No. 3 for contralto, massed choruses and orchestra. It was an appropriate choice: Bernstein has done more than any man alive to popularize Mahler. The concerts were the last that he will give as the orchestra's musical director. At the end of the 105-minute performances, Bernstein received standing ovations, and he was near tears as he embraced the soloist and first-desk musicians. The orchestra, at an emotion-laden private party, gave him...

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