Released to critical acclaim on Netflix on Jun 21, 2025,Maestrois a historical biographical drama that traces the personal and professional exploits of Leonard Bernstein, arguably the most famous American conductor of the 20th century. The prestige picture is a passion project for Bradley Cooper, who co-wrote the script, directed the film, and stars as Bernstein in a transformative performance that will almost certainly garner several nominations this award season.
The timeline inMaestrotakes place between the 1940s and 1980s, exploring a vast portion of Bernstein’s life and career. On the stage, Bernstein grapples with his creative isolation as a composer and his public persona as a conductor. Off-stage, most of the dramatic conflict concerns Bernstein’s devoted marriage to aspiring actress Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan) and his sexual encounters with several men throughout their marriage. Despite Bernstein’s sexual indiscretions, he and Felicia raised three children whose lives were affected by their rocky marriage and Leonard’s growing celebrity. For those wondering ifMaestrois based on a true story, here’s how much of the story is based on facts.
Opening Inscription
Maestroopens with Leonard Bernstein playing the piano at his home during the 1980s as he gives a candid TV interview. Just before Bernstein plays a piece from his 1983 operaA Quiet Place, the character is heard reciting a quotation that more or less establishes the theme ofthe rise and fall biopic. Bernstein tells the interviewer, “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them, and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.”
The quote attributed to Bernstein in the film was stated by the composer in reality. The quote is lifted from Bernstein’s 1966 book,The Infinite Variety of Musicin which he breaks down his affinity for several symphony composers. By opening the film with an authentic quote from Bernstein, Cooper is informing the audience that what they’re about to see is largely historically accurate. Moreover, the thematic weight of the opening statement also lets viewers know up front that Bernstein’s personal and professional life is filled with provocative contradictions.
1940s New York Philharmonic
Following the opening scene in the 1980s, the movie flashes back to 1943. In the film, a 25-year-old Lenny has become the assistant director of the New York Philharmonic. Suddenly, when the director Bruno Walter becomes sick and has to bow out, Lenny is quickly named as his replacement. In his very first performance, Lenny proves to be a massive success and gives such a rousing performance as a conductor that he earns riotous applause from the crowd. Afterward, the unknown artist officially launches his career.
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The events of this portion of Lenny’s life depicted onscreen more or less happened in real life. However, minor liberties were taken to increase the dramatic stakes of the story. For instance, in the film, Lenny hastily rushes to the stage after being named Walter’s understudy, making it appear as if Lenny was unprepared and conducted with improvisational gusto. In reality, as assistant director, Bernstein was required to be familiar with the contemporary scores performed at the New York Philharmonic. While it’s true that the orchestra was unavailable for rehearsal ahead of the performance, in reality, Lenny visited Walter for advice,telling The New York Times, “I found Mr. Walter sitting up but wrapped in blankets, and he obligingly showed me how he did it.”
Lenny’s Extramarital Affairs
In the 1940s, Lenny is seen striking up a romance with a clarinetist named David Oppenheim. Shortly after, Lenny meets Felicia Montrealegre, an aspiring actress from Costa Rica. Given the societal taboos of homosexuality at the time and his adoration for Felicia, Lenny’s sexual affairs begin to briefly wane.The Bradley Cooper moviedepicts Lenny falling for Felicia, breaking up with David, and eventually marrying and having three children with Felicia. While events were compressed for the sake of time, all of this more or less happened in Lenny and Felicia’s time together.
However, it’s worth noting the differences between what’s seen onscreen and what truly transpired. In the movie, Felicia is swept off of her feet by Lenny, and it’s Felicia who suggests the idea of getting married. In reality, it was Lenny who proposed to Felicia on a trip to Costa Rica. Moreover, Felicia wasn’t instantly wooed by Lenny. Instead, Lenny and Felicia met in 1947 and became engaged to marry a few months later. The couple ended their engagement soon after and Felicia became romantically involved with an actor named Richard Hart (who appears briefly in the film, but not as a romantic partner). Hart passed away in 1951, at which point Felicia gave Lenny a second chance and the two eventually married and had three children. This part of Lenny and Felicia’s marriage was omitted from the film, as was Lenny’s fling with an Israeli soldier from 1948 to 1949.
Lenny & Felicia’s Loving Devotion
By the 1950s, Lenny was at the height of his Broadway success following his work onWest Side StoryandCandide. Felicia suspects Lenny of continuing his sexual affairs after witnessing him with musician Tommy Cothran. Despite Lenny’s dalliances, Felicia is determined to remain as his wife and hold the family together. However, their marriage continues to erode until a massive row takes place on Thanksgiving in the 1970s, at which point Felicia confronts Lenny over his inability to cure the “hate in his heart.” While streamlined for the sake of a 2-hour run time, these scenes are generally accurate.
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Despite their rocky marriage, the movie portrays the loving devotion between Lenny and Felicia until she succumbs to cancer. According toThe Leonard Bernstein Letters, published by Shirley Bernstein, Lenny and Felicia did remain devoted to each other even if their marriage wasn’t founded on true love but instead a mutual bargain. In the letters, Bernstein wrote:
Ever since I left America she has occupied my thoughts uninterruptedly, and I have come to a fabulously clear realization of what she means — and has always meant — to me. I have loved her despite all the blocks that have consistently impaired my loving-mechanism, truly and deeply from the first. Lonely on the sea, my thoughts were only of her. Other girls (and/or boys) mean nothing.”
In response, Felicia reciprocated the sentiment, stating:
You are a homosexual and may never change — you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depends on a certain sexual pattern what can you do? I am willing to accept you as you are, without being a martyr or sacrificing myself on the L.B. altar. (I happen to love you very much — this may be a disease and if it is what better cure?) … The feelings you have for me will be clearer and easier to express — our marriage is not based on passion but on tenderness and mutual respect.”
The Conclusion of Bernstein’s Life and Story
The end of the movie depicts Lenny’s professional success neutralized by personal tragedy. In 1973, Lenny gave a searing performance of Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony at the famed Ely Cathedral in England. Inthe acclaimed musical biopic, Lenny conducts the piece in an unbroken six-minute that is almost an exact recreation of Bernstein’s real performance. Cooper studied the footage of the real performance and did his best to accurately recreate the performance onscreen.
Following Lenny’s performance of Resurrection Symphony, the movie shifts to chronicle Felicia’s cancer diagnosis later in the 1970s. After rounds of chemotherapy, the illness spread to Felicia’s lungs, and she eventually passed away in 1978. The movie then cuts ahead to 1987, where Lenny sits alone and confesses his undying love for Felicia despite the pain and heartache he caused her during their time together. While there’s no way to confirm what was in Lenny’s heart and mind, the performance he gave in Ely Cathedral and the subsequent cancer diagnosis that took Felicia’s life are accurately depicted in the movie. In the end, while some liberties were taken and some facts were omitted for the sake of time, most of what transpires inMaestrois based on a true story.
Why is Maestro Rated R?
As an LGBTQ+ biopicabout one of the most celebrated American conductors of all time, it’s easy to wonder whyMaestrois rated R. After all, there is no graphic violence in the movie, and there is very little in the way of gratuitous sex scenes and onscreen nudity. Some characters are seen kissing and lying in bed together, but that’s about it. According to the MPAA,Maestrohas been given an R-rating for its profane language and brief depiction of drug use.
Of course, it’s hard to overlook the disturbing emotional treatment of Felicia in the movie, which deserves its own adult categorization that is not suitable for children under 16 to witness. The massive Thanksgiving fight that takes place toward the end of the movie when Lenny hits rock bottom and Felicia finally musters the courage to confront him is loaded with hurtful insults and foul-mouthed tirades. In many ways, it’s the emotional content of the movie that earns its R-rating, not the visual displays.Stream on Netflix.
