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Leonard Bernstein took a bit of a thrashing here recently in the Sid Caesar spoof and some of the 
comments that followed it. So, it is only fair to let Maestro Bernstein (1918-1990) redeem himself. The Rifftides recommendation of Rudy Royston’s new album mentions that he includes Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus.“ The opening seconds of the performance that you’re about to watch show the sort of Bernstein mannerism that was fodder for Caesar’s satire. Still, eight months 
before his death, Bernstein and the Bavarian Radio symphony orchestra and chorus gave a gorgeous performance of the piece that Mozart wrote in 1791. “Ave Verum Corpus†inspired Lizst, Tchaikovsky, no doubt countless other composers—and Rudy Royston. This was in the basilica of the parish church in Waldsassen, Bavaria.