On Christmas Day, 1955, the CBS Television Network broadcast an Omnibus program in which Leonard Bernstein conducted the Symphony of the Air and Schola Cantorum in Handel's "Messiah." Enjoy this excerpt of baritone William Warfield singing "But who may abide the day of His coming" from the program. | Leonard Bernstein

What's your favorite ensemble number in an opera or musical? Ensemble numbers in opera "provide a thrill that no other art form can provide: the thrill of being able to hear several emotional statements at once. You could never do it in a play. People just can't speak simultaneously—that is, if they want to be heard. It would be a jumble ... A mess. But music accomplishes the miracle, because notes are born together, as words are not." Leonard Bernstein, 1958 Omnibus: "What Makes Opera Grand? |

We wish a very happy 90th birthday to American comedy and television icon (and our friend), Carol Burnett! In 1956, at the age of 23, Burnett appeared on the cultural TV program Omnibus, in an episode titled "American Musical Comedy," hosted by Leonard Bernstein. In a segment in which Bernstein explains the difference between an operetta and musical comedy, Burnett performs "Give 'Em the Ooh La La" from Cole Porter's "DuBarry Was a Lady." Enjoy this excerpt! | Leonard Bernstein