Beautiful music: Composer Leonard Bernstein is profiled in ‘Maestro’
One of the greatest musical minds in American history is the focus of the new biopic “Maestro,” premiering Friday, Dec. 20, on Netflix. Bradley Cooper (“Nightmare Alley,” 2021) is Leonard Bernstein, the classical composer responsible for the music of “West Side Story” on Broadway, the 1954 classic film “On the Waterfront” and his own symphonies.
“Maestro” details Bernstein’s life and relationship with his wife, Broadway actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, portrayed by Carey Mulligan (“She Said,” 2022). The film chronicles Bernstein’s career, beginning with his unexpected 1943 Carnegie Hall debut that made the cover of the New York Times, through to his “autumn years,” per Netflix. “Maestro” paints a moving picture of the composer’s life.
Bernstein had an illustrious career that skyrocketed after an unexpected chance to conduct the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, filling in for a conductor who’d fallen ill, without even time for a rehearsal. As years went by, Bernstein collaborated on ballets “Fancy Free” in 1944 and “Dybbuk” in 1974; the opera “Trouble in Tahiti” (1951) and its sequel, “A Quiet Place” (1983); and scores for film classics such as “On the Town” (1949) and the big screen version of the musical “West Side Story” in 1961.
Leading actor Cooper has quickly become as respected for his work behind the scenes as he is for his performances in front of the camera. The multi-hyphenate wrote, directed and produced the 2018 phenomenon “A Star Is Born,” making his directorial debut with the project.
When it comes to writing, directing and starring in the same project, as he did with “Maestro,” Cooper told CBS Mornings that, “it’s all one thing,” adding, “I really see it as filmmaking. You know, it starts with an idea, and then you write it. And then there’s something in me to be the character.”
Rather than detailing all of the conductor’s life, “Maestro” is focused on select years important to Bernstein’s legacy. “After doing a year of research on Lenny and the family and letting everything soak in,” Cooper told People magazine, “I realized the most interesting and relatable aspect to me was this marriage between Lenny and Felicia. It was an unorthodox, genuine love that I found endlessly intriguing.”
The two married in 1951 and had three children together (all of whom were involved with the production of “Maestro”), and were married until Montealegre’s death from lung cancer in 1978. The “unorthodox” aspects of their marriage include Bernstein’s affairs during their time together. Bernstein had relationships outside of his marriage with both men and women, one in particular being with clarinetist and producer David Oppenheim, portrayed in the film by Matt Bomer (“Fellow Travelers”).
“Maestro” doesn’t shy away from Bernstein’s personal life, lending a sympathetic lens to how he expressed his sexuality in a less socially empathetic time. “He was bisexual and had this whole other life having relationships with men,” Jamie, Bernstein’s eldest daughter, told People. The official trailer for “Maestro” hints at the complications of living that double life, with a pointed glance from Montealegre being thrown toward Bernstein as he holds the hand of another man in the relative privacy of an opera box.
Also starring in “Maestro” are Maya Hawke (“Asteroid City,” 2023) as Jamie; Sarah Silverman (“History of the World: Part II”) as Bernstein’s sister Shirley; Gideon Glick (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) as the conductor’s protege, Tommy Cathron; Josh Hamilton (“The Last Thing He Told Me”) as art critic John Gruen; Sam Nivola (“White Noise,” 2022) and Alexa Swinton (“Billions”) as Bernstein children Alexander and Nina; Miriam Shor (“American Fiction,” 2023) as actress Cynthia O’neal; and Scott Ellis (“Eastenders”).