Music in ‘Maestro’ is as versatile as Bernstein - soundtrack review

Maestro, written, directed, and starring Bradley Cooper in the title role of Leonard Bernstein, is a biopic drama on the life of conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. The film depicts Bernstein’s meteoric rise to the stardom of conducting, his devoted relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre, and his homosexuality.

Cooper’s portrayal of Bernstein is absolutely mesmerizing and the film has already garnered critical acclaim. This also has a lot to do with the music on Maestro. Most of the film relies on Bernstein’s own compositions: “The whole movie is scored to his music, it’s written to his music, for his music, it is one symphonic element the movie itself,” states Bradley Cooper for Classic FM. The soundtrack to the film, released November 17, is a rare and powerful example for some of Bernstein most fascinating compositions.

Widely considered as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century, Bernstein gained mass popularity through the dozens of public broadcasts he gave starting from 1954. More importantly perhaps, in perspective of time, Bernstein reveals himself to be one of the leading composers of the 20th century.

The music on the soundtrack was handpicked by Bradley Cooper and it consists of new recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting. For the purposes of this film, Cooper has invested himself in the study of conducting with Nézet-Séguin and Michael Tilson Thomas. The outcome of that study is an extensive 6-minute scene with Bradley Cooper as Bernstein conducting the majestic finale of Mahler’s 2nd symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra. That entire scene appears on the soundtrack as can be viewed on YouTube, by searching: How Yannick Nézet-Séguin taught Bradley Cooper to conduct like Bernstein | Classic FM and there is also a link of Cooper conducting: Maestro | Ely Cathedral | Official Clip | Netflix. 

The featured music on Maestro is as versatile as Bernstein – from the more communicative pieces (musicals and operettas) such as West Side Story, On the Town, Candid, to the more serious vein of the Chichester Psalms, Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah,” or the Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish.”

Music reveals Bernstein’s affinity to his Jewish identity

Some of these compositions – as can be inferred from their titles – clearly disclose Bernstein’s affinity to his Jewish identity: “We weren’t particularly observant,” clarifies Alex Bernstein, the composer’s son for Sony Classical, “Although we grew up so entrenched – because our grandfather was almost a rabbi. Very religious. Our Dad (Leonard) knew Hebrew, he could sing all the prayers… We did Passover, we did Hanukkah, and Christmas. At Yom Kippur he would take me to what he called ‘shul hopping.’ We would go from one temple to another in the city. He loved the various cantors. He loved to listen to them sing.”

Bernstein was also a great advocate of Israel, on April 29, 1947, he conducts his “Jeremiah” symphony with the then- [British Mandate] Palestine Symphony Philharmonic – despite the great difficulties in entering the country; On November 20, 1948, he conducts the now-Israeli Symphony Orchestra in an open air concert in Beersheba for Israeli troops during the War of Independence with Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” or later in 1967, one month after the Six Day War that he conducts the Israeli Philharmonic with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, known as the “Resurrection” Symphony, and goes on a fascinating documented visit to Israel: A Journey to Jerusalem 1967 With Leonard Bernstein & Isaac Stern as can be viewed on YouTube.

The soundtrack still lacks something as it emphasizes Bernstein’s lighter more communicative music such as “New York, New York,” “I Get Carried Away” (from On the Town), or popular music such as Shirley Ellis’s “The Clapping Song.” These endow the film with some of its velocity, but are at the expense of the more dramatic challenging compositions that more adequately represent Bernstein’s music. Also, one cannot help but wonder why the soundtrack does not incorporate some of Bernstein’s exemplary recordings as conductor, which would have been interesting for the listener.

Bottom line though: the soundtrack for Maestro provides a truly immersive and enriching experience in Bernstein’s musical genius. It refers the listener back to the film’s narrative and themes owing to the different scenes and monologues embedded in it. The soundtrack would also be intriguing for listeners who would wish to further delve into Bernstein’s masterpieces that are as unique, varied and multifaceted as he was.