The Real Maestro: Leonard Bernstein Interview (1988)

On 29 April 1986, Leonard Bernstein spoke to ITN about his influence on the creative arts. Speaking at the Barbican Concert Hall in London, the humble Bernstein was reluctant to accept the phrasing of Channel 4's Stephen Phillips when he referred to Bernstein's "great influence". But the words were well chosen. After all, the composer and conductor was in London to attend a music festival celebrating his life's work. Bernstein dropped in to the Barbican to see how the acclaimed conductor Bramwell Tovey and the London Symphony Orchestra were getting on with preparations for the show.

Maestro, a biopic of Leonard Bernstein directed by and starring American actor Bradley Cooper, will be released on 2 September 2023. Cooper has received criticism for the decision to wear a prosthetic nose while playing Bernstein, with some accusing Cooper of furthering anti-semitic stereotypes and others questioning whether a non-Jewish actor should be allowed to play a Jewish historical figure – a question also raised when Cillian Murphy portrayed J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's biopic of the so-called father of the atomic bomb. But the family of Leonard Bernstein spoke out in defence of Cooper's artistic decision, saying they were "perfectly fine" with Cooper using a prosthetic nose to "amplify his resemblance", adding that "our dad would be fine with it as well".

#LeonardBernstein #Bernstein #Maestro #BradleyCooper #Composer #Conductor #Music #MusicalTheatre #Theatre #Biopic #Jewish #AntiSemitism #Oppenheimer #JRobertOppenheimer #ChristopherNolan

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[davidmayhew]

That was GREAT? What a WILD piece of music! Thrilling to see him as usual!

[FreakieFan]

The thumbnail makes it look like this is a Zoom interview hahaha

[mattbernabe]

I don't understand that annoying mumbling accent Bradley Cooper did to portray Bernstein. As you hear from this interview, he sounds nothing like that.

[lisbetsoda]

What a silver fox! Thean did have a great nose. I think it was one of those noses that grew as he got older. I have no problem with Bradley Cooper's prosthetic nose.

[richardkastlemusic]

Very informative! I posted a new video explaining how Beethoven's loss of hearing made created a massive increase in his capacity to process variables between Symphony #2 and Symphony #3

[GiuseppeSavazzi]

Sairam

Prof. Giuseppe Savazzi head of the WORLDWIDE CIA SAIRAM secret services in India member of Rotary Club of New York District 7230 blessing to all of you from India 🇮🇳
Music Director and Founder of the Sathya Sai Universal Symphony Orchestra in Putthaparty
Founder and music Director of the Rotary Youth International Orchestra with Lufthansa Sponsor since 1990. in šāʾ Allāh إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ Sairam 🙏🇮🇳❤️🙏