THE TACIT AND THE TALKATIVE

A lot of people are talking about Joan Peyser’s biography of Leonard Bernstein and a lot of people aren’t.

The ones keeping silent are:

Bernstein himself, who, through his publicist, Maggie Carson, has turned down all interview requests with a “no comment.”

Bernstein’s mother, Jennie; brother, Burton; sister, Shirley; son, Alexander, and daughters, Jamie and Nina, who “all have no comment,” according to Carson.

Assistant conductor and longtime Bernstein champion Maurice Peress, quoted extensively by Peyser, who also issued a “no comment . . . How could you even ask?”

Composer/critic Virgil Thomson, who denied reading the book. “I have two copies,” he said. “But I wouldn’t offer a comment even to the advertising department (of a newspaper).”

Charles Webb, Indiana University’s dean of music, who said he had “heard nothing” about being referred to “in any book about Bernstein.” (Webb is the butt of a prurient rhyme allegedly written by Bernstein and sung at a party that took place in Bloomington.)

London Symphony Orchestra Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who also said he hadn’t read the book. His descriptions of Bernstein’s various households and entourages are quoted throughout.

The ones talking are:

Composer/conductor Lukas Foss, who dismissed the book as “gossipy.” Further, he took no personal offense at Peyser’s using him to illustrate a typical Bernstein ploy: demeaning colleagues in public. “Lenny has always liked embarrassing his friends,” said Foss, “especially the heterosexual ones.’

Peyser, who wasn’t surprised at the silence of many of the book’s figures: “There are always the Establishment hangers-on who want to ingratiate themselves with Bernstein.” She said she suspects that Carson’s position “is designed to make my opus just go away.”