Leonard Cohen to be showcased in TJFF Sidebar Series, “The Three Lennys”

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

As part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival slated to run May 7-15 in Toronto, a nineteen-part Sidebar Series titled “The Three Lennys” will celebrate the lives and careers of Leonard Bernstein (conductor-composer) Lenny Bruce (comedian, social critic and satirist) and Leonard Cohen (singer, songwriter, poet, novelist, and laureate of The Ninth Glenn Gould Prize).

According to Ellie Skrow, Curator of Special Programmes, “The Three Lennys offers a rare opportunity to follow these artists at various stages of their lives and careers – through a series of rarely-screened documentaries, live-in-concert films, shorts and a feature biopic, as well as a live musical component and guest speakers.” Special guests include Alexander Bernstein (son of Leonard Bernstein, and founding Chairman of the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning) and Kitty Bruce (daughter of Lenny Bruce). “The three ‘Lennys’ are linked, in part, by their mastery of language,” explains Skrow, and the similarities concerning “the role of the artist in the social/political realm.”

In addition to six free screenings, highlights of The Three Lennys include Leonard Cohen: Bird On A Wire (UK, 2010), Night Magic (Canada/France, 1985), The Making of West Side Story (UK/West Germany, 1985) and A Journey to Jerusalem (USA, 1968).

The complete schedule is as follows:

Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note (USA, 1998) – FREE
2:00pm May 8, Bloor Cinema (includes Q&A with Alexander Bernstein)

A Journey to Jerusalem (USA, 1968)
3:45pm May 9, Al Green Theatre

Leonard Bernstein: A Total Embrace (USA, 2005) – FREE
5:30pm May 9, Bloor Cinema (includes Q&A with Alexander Bernstein)

Omnibus – The Art of Conducting (USA, 1955)
3:00pm May 10, Al Green Theatre

Wonderful Town (USA, 1958) - FREE
2:00pm May 13, Al Green Theatre

Young People’s Concerts: What Does Music Mean? (USA, 1958) - FREE
2:00pm May 14, Bloor Cinema

Trouble in Tahiti (UK, 2001) – FREE
4:00pm May 14, Bloor Cinema

Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (USA, 2004) – FREE
5:30pm May 14, Bloor Cinema

The Making of West Side Story (UK/West Germany, 1985)
1:30pm May 15, Bloor Cinema

*Leonard Bernstein series generously sponsored by Joan Sohn

Lenny Bruce
Looking for Lenny (USA, 2011)
9:15pm May 7, Toronto Underground Cinema (includes Q&A with Kitty Bruce)

Lenny Bruce: Without Tears (USA, 1972) 9:00pm
May 8, Al Green Theatre

Lenny (USA, 1974)
9:30pm May 9, Bloor Cinema

The Lenny Bruce Performance Film (USA, 1965)
10:30pm May 11, Bloor Cinema

Leonard Cohen
Ladies and Gentlemen…Mr. Leonard Cohen (Canada, 1965)
11:00am May 8, Al Green Theatre

Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (USA, 2009)
8:00pm May 9, Al Green Theatre

Leonard Cohen: Bird on A Wire (UK, 2010)
7:00pm May 10, Bell Lightbox

The Song of Leonard Cohen (Canada, 1980)
3:30pm May 11, Bloor Cinema

Night Magic (Canada/France, 1985)
11:45pm May 14, Bloor Cinema

Leonard Cohen: Live in London (USA, 2009)
7:00pm May 15, Bloor Cinema

*Leonard Cohen series generously sponsored by Marsha Bronfman

In a public announcement made on April 1, 2011 at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, Leonard Cohen was named the ninth laureate of The Glenn Gould Prize. An international jury, chaired by Paul Hoffert, was unanimous in selecting Cohen. “His poetry and music transcend national boundaries and cultures by touching our common humanity,” remarked Hoffert. The distinguished panel of jurors included Stephen Fry, Atom Egoyan, Dadawa, Gary Graffman, Phoebe Greenberg, Elaine Overholt, and Costa Pilavachi.

Regarded as the Nobel Prize of the Arts, The Glenn Gould Prize is an international award presented every two years, to a living luminary who has made a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts and manifests the values of innovation, inspiration and transformation. A tribute to Glenn Gould’s artistry and his multifaceted contributions to culture, the prize promotes the vital connection between artistic excellence and the transformation of lives. Past recipients include Dr. José Antonio Abreu (2008), founder of El Sistema, Venezuela’s free music education program for children and youth, Pierre Boulez (2002), Oscar Peterson (1993) and Yo-Yo Ma (1999). 

Gould scholars will recall the connection between the pianist and Leonard Bernstein, the latter having been astonished by the pianist’s 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations. Under the baton of Berstein, Gould debuted with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on January 26, 1957 in a performance of the Second Piano Concerto of Beethoven. “There is nobody quite like him, and I just love playing with him,” remarked Bernstein. In turn, Gould considered West Side Story “a masterpiece”.

The two joined forces again in 1960 for a performance of the first movement of J. S. Bach’s Concerto in D-minor, and in 1962 with the D-minor Piano Concerto of Brahms. The latter is remembered for the unusual interpretation proposed by Gould, which involved Bernstein – against his better judgment – giving “short shrift to the competitive absurdities of concerto form by taking an determinedly ‘unspectacular’ approach to the spectacular piece.” As Kevin Bazzana goes on to write in Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould, “Bernstein had more conventional ideas about the piece, and said so, but he was willing to play it Gould’s way, pour le sport, and instructed the orchestra accordingly.”

Providing everyone with the opportunity “to travel the Jewish world through film,” the 19th TJFF is set to screen a total of 118 films from twenty-one countries, including one world premiere, and thirty-four Canadian premieres at seven venues across the city. For ticket information, please call 416-599-8433 or visit www.tjff.com.