As conductor, pianist, composer, television personality and, above all, communicator, Leonard Bernstein (1918-90) was one of the most famous and documented musicians of the twentieth century. The creator of the Broadway masterpiece, West Side Story, Bernstein was the first American conductor to conquer Europe on its own terms, and the first classical musician to exploit the power of television. Critics rejected his flamboyant conducting style, his extravagant persona and many of his serious compositions, but to aspiring musicians he was of great influence. This new biography draws onthe author´s acquaintance with Bernstein over a period of twenty years, and explores the series of contradictions that are revealed in the composer´s publicand private worlds.