Netflix is currently offering a biography of the incredibly influential and versatile musician Leonard Bernstein, who was the first American conductor to win praise from around the world.
Maestro (available on Netflix) is a film directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Cary Mulligan. It is based on the life of Leonard Bernstein, a multifaceted and incredibly influential musician who is still regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western classical music.
What is the background of Bernstein, the subject of multiple documentaries in the 33 years since his death, and the inspiration behind this Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg film?
In August 1918, Bernstein lovingly referred to as Lenny, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the eldest child in a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants.
Leonard’s first musical experiences came from listening to popular and classical music on the radio and singing hymns at the synagogue, thanks to his father, Samuel Bernstein’s business of supplying beauty salons.
When Bernstein was ten years old, one of his aunts gave him her piano, which is how he started taking piano lessons. Bernstein continued his education by majoring in music at Harvard’s Boston Latin School.
Dimitri Mitropoulos, a conductor and pianist, taught Bernstein the basics of conducting. In one of his final interviews, Bernstein stated that he learned “what the composer of the piece meant” at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where Mitropoulos had recommended that he study conducting.
In 1940, Serge Koussevitzky, the music director of the Boston Symphony, opened Tanglewood, a summer music school, and Bernstein enrolled.
He joined the New York Philharmonic at the age of 25, and a few days after taking over as assistant conductor, he was asked to step in for the renowned conductor Bruno Walter, who had become ill. Without rehearsing, Bernstein’s performance left the classical music community abuzz.
Bernstein was appointed director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra two years following the triumph of the 1943 concert at the esteemed Carnegie Hall.
He gave concerts throughout Europe in the ensuing years, captivating audiences with his extraordinary talent. He performed in Milan’s esteemed La Scala opera house in 1953, making history as the first American to do so.
Bernstein notably asked jazz great Louis Armstrong to perform with the New York Philharmonic in 1956 to demonstrate his dexterity. He was the first conductor of American descent to lead the orchestra when he was named director of the New York Philharmonic for the 1958–59 season the following year.
According to Bernstein, the orchestra should sound like him, not the other way around. His talks and conversations about the craft of performance were broadcast on television and recorded, which increased his popularity. As a result, classical music attracted a new audience of progressively more people.
He was one of the most animated conductors in history and had a passionate style. With energetic, colorful, and theatrical movements and mannerisms, he worked the music with his whole body. Occasionally, he would perform leaps that would have carried him off the podium.
Additionally, in 1951, Bernstein married Felicia Montealegre, an actor of Chilean descent, with whom he had three children. Throughout his life, Bernstein maintained relationships with both men and women, despite their close relationship.
It is clear from her letters that Montealegre accepted and was aware of his relationships.
After moving out of Montealegre to live with music scholar Tom Cothran, Bernstein returned the following year, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. He took care of Montealegre until she died in 1978. He had quite a few relationships after his death, too.
August 19, 1990, at Tanglewood, was his last performance. In his 50s, Bernstein—a chronic smoker—became emphysema. While conducting Beethoven’s Seventh, he had a protracted coughing fit, but he continued and finished the piece.
The following month, he declared his retirement, exited the stage in obvious pain, and passed away five days later.
Bernstein is buried in Brooklyn alongside his spouse, with a copy of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
