Some years back I had a Youth Orchestra in Lexington, Kentucky and we went on tour in the state and played this music. For a lot of the kids it was their first time encountering Bernstein and his/this very special creation. I can still remember their faces and their delight in hearing, learningand performing the score.
I'm listening to this now, right now, on the Internet radio from Michigan State University (WKAR - an internet treasure) and remembering seeing it ages ago in a community production that was probably awful but seemed like magic back then.
The music is as fresh as wet ink on manuscript. The sounds hang like moonbeams.