Very enjoyable daily occurrences with LB. There are quite a few twists and happenings that are totally unexpected in Berstein's daily life. He was not the easiest person to work for, but we're glad to have a record of it!

Charlie Harmon with a degree in orchestral music from Carnegie-Mellon, finds himself at 31 acting as assistant to Leonard Bernstein, one of the towering figures in the field of music of the twentieth century. After a three-hour interview in which he learns of the upcoming schedule for 1982, he was reluctant to take the job since he felt he was a "low energy person" and the position required someone younger and more up to the demands. But his qualifications got him the job without having even met the maestro himself, and he is required to spend a number of weeks at the Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana. And thus began four years of the frenetic task of taking care of the personal needs of Maestro Bernstein but also getting somewhat of an education. It was great fun learning about LB -- his flamboyant, demanding nature but also his genius and flashes of warmth. At times it felt like he was almost a cliche of the temperamental divo, and Harmon left his role as personal assistant, and moved upstairs so to speak as personal archivist, a role he continued to occupy after Bernstein's death in 1990. Worth reading if you have interest in well known personalities of the arts.

As a long time fan of Leonard Bernstein's music I was excited to read this book. I loved the behind the scenes look into Bernstein's life. I really enjoyed this book.

A fascinating look at the private and public life of a musical genius. This book humanizes Leonard Bernstein and gives great insight into what made him and his music so important to generations.

"Please look after my music"

The Maestro's last words to his long-time assistant Charlie Harmon. But in many ways, he wasn't the Maestro to "Charlito", he was LB as their relationship evolved over the four plus years that Harmon worked for him. Longer than any other assistant. Some of the Bernstein stories are iconic and oft told, but I learned a lot about the man and his attendants as Harmon traveled with him from Bloomington, Indiana to western Massachusetts, Vienna, Jerusalem, Tokyo and beyond in the early to mid 80s.

This is in many ways a testament to the music world - LB Aaron Copland, Harry Kraut, Gore Vidal... They're all gone. The Orient Express and the Concorde are gone. James Levine is no longer conducting the Met Opera. But the orchestras remain. Vienna Philharmonic, La Scala, Tanglewood. The Maestro's beloved New York Philharmonic still performs its annual concert for peace on New Years Eve.

"But I had betrayed LB's trust in me"
Harmon may have thought so once he quit working for Kraut some years after Bernstein died, but I don't think he did. Is Bernstein gone? I think he lives on in his music, and in the memories of those like Harmon who worked along side him, protecting the Maestro and his legacy from "Mississippi Mud"

While its fitting to read this as the centennial begins with the Maestro's 99th birthday, I wish I'd been more aware of the significance of November 14th and read this then.

A solid read, whether or not you're already familiar with Bernstein, Harmon's stories will teach you a lot about the man behind the Maestro, LB.

"Be curious, stay eager to learn. Ask all the questions you can think of. And then listen. Carefully, quietly, deeply."

Pretty soon into this helter skelter memoir of the narrator's time with Leonard Bernstein, it seemed to me it was somewhat payback to the orchestral manager working with LB as well as a self-regarding way to find out why the narrator had started on with this impossible life of putting himself at beck and call of an impossible devouring man. It's not that the life wasn't exciting, and we get glimpses of the hectic world LB lived in, surviving on drink and dexedrine, meeting Zubin Mehta, Jessie Norman, and other greats with glimpses of movie stars and high ranking politicians as well as cooks, house keepers and major domos working for LB .. our narrator feels a bit of a failure and throughout there is a recurring theme of his needing therapy, obtaining it, and finally being deemed suicidal. The focus of book is wonky in a way because we are reading it just to read about the very man he found destructive and yet a genius. Only for real aficionados ..

An unkempt and redolent drunk greeted Charlie Harmon, a socially insecure gay job seeker, when the door opened for Charlie’s interview. It was Harmon’s first glimpse of a music icon and he was hired by the man to be his assistant. Little did he know that the next four years would be a time of turmoil, exhaustion, world travel, and frustration, all tempered by a wondrous journey into the world of classical music. His life would be filled with responsibility, trying to keep the celebrated conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein on a hectic schedule while dealing with the Maestro’s frailties and peccadillos.

Harmon was immediately ensconced in a frenetic world with little free time to get any rest. His regular duties were immense and, to top it off, there seemed to be some resentment towards Charlie by Harry Kraut, Bernstein’s long time manager, who seemed determined to make Charlie’s life miserable. Somehow he managed to juggle it all and find the time to chronicle his experiences in “On the Road and Off the Record with Leonard Bernstein,” written after Bernstein’s death in 1990.

Bernstein was in constant demand. He was constantly on the move, traveling from country to country as he conducted world famous orchestras, lectured exceptional musicians, organized top-level symposiums, and collaborated with other celebrated composers and musicians in his role as the most famous maestro in the world.

Bernstein traveled big with huge stacks of luggage, vast portfolios of music, and huge groups of people that needed to be coddled. There were deadlines to be met, transportation details to attend to, important meetings to be held, prestigious functions to be attended, important big-wigs to be indulged, and it was up to Charlie to make sure his undependable boss carried out all his obligations. That was his main job.

Other auxiliary duties included being the gatekeeper to Bernstein, his valet, music copyist and librarian and he had to pack twenty or thirty huge trunks of luggage every time a new location was in the offing. He was Bernstein’s pharmacist, sounding post, drinking partner, and companion, although he often had to stay up getting everything ready for another trip while Bernstein slept off another drunken night.

When I finished the book I was exhausted. It was threes weeks before I could even start this review. Before Charlie finished his term of employment, he was seeking professional help, suffering from a number of stress related ailments. But, oh, the places he’d been, the people he hobnobbed with, and the wonderful musical performances he experienced. His role as the Maestro’s personal savior makes Charlie Harmon a wonderful guide, introducing us to magical places and legendary celebrities. I’ll not be a namedropper, as was Bernstein, but rest assured you’ll thrill at the people you meet.