Top 10 Things Maestro (2023) Got Factually Right & Wrong

Comments · 393

• GO

  @gordonsokoloff8660 · 2 years ago

  Steven Spielberg (one of the producers) stated what I believe as well…this movie is mostly about: “an anatomy of a marriage”.  It doesn’t really tell a whole more about the genius of Leonard Bernstein.  However, it’s left so many of us ‘googling’ about him to find out more.

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• EL

  @elizabethgatesdodge8320 · 2 years ago

  I grew up listening to the Maestro every weekend with his Young People's Concerts. Despite living with musicians (Mom and Dad, violins; uncles, piano/organ and guitar), NO ONE fostered this little mix-raced girl's LOVE and appreciation of music the way Maestro Bernstein ever could. The fact that my dyslexia (which wasn't even quantified in the '50s) made trying to learn to read music an absolute NIGHTMARE was countered by Leonard Bernstein's teaching. The Maestro demonstrated a constant faith that ALL children can and should be encouraged to and can understand, learn, and create their own love of music. As an adult, I could not and have not cared LESS that he was gay or bisexual or whatever. I LOVED him as a WONDERFUL humanbeing, whom I NEVER met, cried like a 36-year-old baby when he died. I still get a tear in my eye when I see videos of him directing, playing the piano, or just simply speaking in that beautiful, sexy voice. That he was man enough to refuse to "anglicize" his name tells me all I need to know about his integrity. ❤❤❤

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• XT

  @xtbmlguy · 2 years ago

  interesting comments and video. Another thing Bradley Cooper and team got right is the baton he used for conducting Candide choral piece and finale of Mahler's 2nd. I made the batons. Dad, Dick Horowitz, made Lenny's. Aiming for authenticity in both action and objects, he took lessons, i believe, from Gustavo and Yannick. Since dad made Lenny's batons for decades but died in 2015, Joel Weaver found me, a retired software actuary, and baton maker, to make them for the movie. Jamie saw one and her reaction (shedding a tear on holding one), validated my work. Seeing Cooper leave the podium after both conducting scenes, holding the handle toward the audience, i knew immediately that i made those batons. Mom, who sometimes took calls from other conductors calling to get dad's batons, was initially disappointed that the movie was not more about what she cared about; namely, the music. I like the job which Bradley and team did in what story they were telling. I also sang in the Tanglewood Chorus and was fortunate to have done Mahler's 2nd in 1970 with Lenny, as well as Beethoven's 9th and Missa Solemnis. I was in tears for much of Maestro.

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• DO

  @donbrown1284 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Leonard Bernstein lived in my dorm (Eliot House) during his semester as the visiting Norton lecturer at Harvard. Eliot house had been his dorm in the 1930s, so it was a nostalgic homecoming for him, though he could have lived more comfortably at any hotel. A piano was hauled up to his third floor room since he was in the middle of composing an opera about the White House staff.  His daughter Jamie was also in my class, so we saw quite a lot of him and noticed the young man mention here that was his "assistant". I imagine this is when some of the rumors mentioned started to percolate.  I thought the scene where she questioned him, which happened in real life, was done with exquisite tact and realism, including his disappointment at her "relief".

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• TA

  @tateandemmy · 2 years ago

  Carey Mulligan so deserve an Oscar!

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• LA

  @ladyj3474 · 2 years ago

  Maestro is a great movie with amazing performances. What is not being stressed enough in my humble opinion is the sheer brilliance of Leonard Bernstein's talent, contribution to humanity, his range and diversity. In order to understand him; read a biography. A musical genius and he worked very, very hard at it. An inspiration of a human being. The sexual stuff is his personal life. Listen to the music.

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• VI

  @virginiakramer9055 · 2 years ago

  When I was a kid, I watched Bernstein's Young People's Concerts on TV. He was magical.

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• DE

  @denisefreitas6727 · 2 years ago

  Carey Mulligan is brilliant as Felicia. She deserves an Oscar!

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• NE

  @neileddinger6863 · 2 years ago

  I saw Felicia Montealgre perform the mime role of Andromache in the Metropolitan Opera premier of Berlioz's "LesTroyans" in 1973. I also saw Leonard Bernstein conduct Bizet's "Carmen" at the Met, the same season.

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• DI

  @diegoulate6544 · 2 years ago

  "Maestro" is almost perfect! The story told is one of love, nothing else

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• MA

  @marklinlionel7163 · 2 years ago

  My high school class regularly attended week day rehearsals lead by Bernstein. What impressed  me was he was always nice to us kids but abrasive to the orchestral players.

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• PI

  @pierre-andrebeauchamp728 · 2 years ago

  I am openly gay, and I never knew this much about Lenny! This great movie was an eye-opener. I had never heard of Felicia, as she was Broadway, not Hollywood. Apparently, Bradley Cooper got most of it right, according to your review. This movie is meant to be a popular film, not a documentary!  Thank you for your wonderful review and its insights. I will now listen to his MASS, with includes A SIMPLE SONG (LAUDA LAUDE),  one of my favorite of Lenny's compositions... Thank you very much!

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