Summary

• Bradley Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein in the biographical drama Maestro, which chronicles Bernstein's life and relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre.
• Despite challenges and Leonard Bernstein's extramarital affairs, he and Felicia remained married for 30 years, highlighting their enduring bond and devotion to each other.
• After Felicia's death, Leonard Bernstein continued his career as a musician before retiring in 1990 and ing away shortly after due to a heart attack caused by mesothelioma.

Since a Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro, is now available on Netflix, audiences may be curious about his true story and relationship with his wife, Felicia. As reports suggest, Martin Scorsese was initially going to direct Maestro. However, after he stepped away from the project to take over as The Irishman's director, Steven Spielberg offered Bradley Cooper the part after watching A Star is Born. The rest is history. Not only has Bradley Cooper starred in the film as the titular Maestro, but he also helmed it, making it his first directorial endeavor after his debut with A Star is Born.

Barring the criticism surrounding his controversial nose makeup for Maestro, Bradley Cooper has received positive reactions from both viewers and critics since the movie's premiere. Since Maestro primarily focuses on the deep affection that helped Bernstein and his wife Felicia stay together despite all the challenges they faced, it is hard not to be curious about the real-life details surrounding the couple's marriage. Hence, a rundown of all the primary events in Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre's timelines seems necessary.

Maestro's True Story Covers 30 Years Of Leonard Bernstein's Life

From his evolution as a music conductor to his relationship with his wife

Chronicling 30 years of Leonard Bernstein's life, the Bradley Cooper movie presents an undaunted love story focusing on Leonard Bernstein's relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. The film is also a heartfelt tribute not only to Bernstein's artistic forte as a music conductor but also to the emotional bond he shared with his family. While 30 years may be a long time frame for a 129-minute movie to cover, Maestro focuses primarily on Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre's enduring marriage. Weaving their relationship's dynamic with Bernstein's music, the movie delves into the American conductor's evolution as a musician during that time.

Felicia Montealgre Broke Off The First Engagement With Leonard Bernstein

Their first engagement barely lasted for a few months

While Felicia Montealegre was a successful actress, playing roles in everything from Broadway theater to renowned television shows, Leonard Bernstein ranked among some of the most brilliant figures in the music space, especially after he made his debut at the New York Philharmonic. Their worlds collided when Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, Felicia Montealegre's former piano teacher, introduced her to Leonard Bernstein at a party he had hosted in 1947. A few months after this encounter, Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre got engaged, but Montealegre broke it off in less than a year.

How Long Leonard Bernstein Was Married To Felicia Montealgre

Despite the initial challenges, they got married and remained in wedlock for a long time

In the years that followed, Felicia Montealegre became romantically involved with actor Richard Hart after performing with him in various plays. Unfortunately, Hart ed away on January 2, 1951. Although Montealegre was well aware of Bernstein's previous affairs, she gave her relationship with him a second chance after Hart's demise. On August 12, 1951, their second engagement was announced, and less than a month later, they got married at Temple Mishkan Tefilah in Boston. Following this, they remained together till 1976, before Bernstein left Montealgre.

Leonard Bernstein Had Affairs With Men & Women While Married

Montealegre and Bernstein's marriage was marred by several trials and tribulations

Although Leonard Bernstein appeared to be a devoted father and husband in the public eye, he had multiple affairs with men and women while he was married. Felicia Montealegre knew about her husband's extramarital relationships and acknowledged his sexual orientation in a private letter. "You are a homosexual and may never change—you don’t it 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?," she wrote (via The Daily Beast). She also added that their marriage was "not based on ion but on tenderness and mutual respect.”

In the summer of 1971, Leonard Bernstein met Tom Cothran (played by Gideon Glick in Maestro), the music director for a classical radio station in San Francisco at the time. After bonding over their shared interest in music, Cothran and Bernstein reportedly had an affair and often took off on vacations. Five years after their first meeting, Bernstein left his wife Felicia to live with Cothran in Northern California. According to reports, Bernstein's decision infuriated Montealegre, and she told him that he was "going to die a bitter and lonely old man.”

Carey Mulligan opened up (via CBS News) about her thoughts on Felicia Montealegre and her relationship by highlighting that she not only found her "magnetic and wry and deeply intelligent," but was also blown away by the "devotion that she had for" Berstein. "It's just so beautiful, but there's a real ... struggle within her," she added. Sharing his insights on their relationship, Bradley Copper called their relationship "complicated" and "iconic" and also mentioned that the reason why he wanted to make the film is that he believed "they found each other's soulmates."

When Felicia Montealegre Died & How Old She Was

Montealegre ed away at a relatively young age

Shortly after Bernstein left for Northern California, Felicia Montealegre was diagnosed with lung cancer. After learning about her diagnosis, Bernstein came back to her and looked after her till she ed away on June 16, 1978. She was 56 when she died and was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Following her death, Leonard Bernstein remained friends with Tom Cothran until the music director died from AIDS in 1987.

When Leonard Bernstein Died & How Old He Was

Bernstein lived and conducted music for a little over a decade after Montealegre's demise

After his wife's demise, Leonard Bernstein continued his career as a musician and received the Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime Contributions to American Culture through the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., in 1980. Other great achievements in his timeline included him getting named an Honorary Member of the New York Philharmonic in 1984 and starting the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Salzau, . In October 1990, Leonard Bernstein officially announced his retirement from conducting.

Only a few days after his retirement, he ed away on October 14, 1990, at 72, in his New York apartment. As per reports, his cause of death was a heart attack caused by a type of cancer called mesothelioma. He was buried next to his wife at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, and to pay their respect, construction workers in Manhattan's streets waved their hands chiming "Goodbye, Lenny" during his funeral procession. To honor his legacy and highlight the intricacies of his relationship with his wife, Netflix's Maestro will walk audiences through his life's ups and downs, highs and lows.

Maestro is available on Netflix for streaming.

Sources: The Daily Beast, CBS News