I kept looking for the man who I saw on TV, in his legendary shows to introduce kids to classical music, and who I saw conduct at Lincoln Center's new Philharmonic Hall (which had horrid acoustics and since has been gutted and rebuilt twice and renamed twice), and at the Metropolitan Opera. My dad still has the first-ever complete recordings of the Mahler symphonies: Lenny and the NY Philharmonic (from the 1960s; not his horrid 1980s Mahler recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic used in the movie), which has about 12 LPs packaged in a binder with sleeves each holding one disc, tucked into a black monolithic sleeve decorated with a faux bronze medallion of Mahler - I grew up with this! I read an early bio and did an oral book report on him in fifth grade. I even saw Felicia in a mime role in an opera at the Met.
Late in his life, I met Lenny several times through a mutual friend, a young conductor. If anything, the constant cloud of cigarette smoke was underplayed in the movie.
This could have been any "lavender wedding" story. In fact, there was just a TV/streaming series about one called "Fellow Travelers" which ALSO had Matt Bomer, who I guess will now be the de facto face of the LGBTIQ+ community in film, as anything from a secret boyfriend to an ego-maniacal man who destroys everyone in sight.
But where was Lenny? I kept looking for him, but all I could see was the massive, egregiously overextended ego of Bradley Cooper, who sounded like he had lifetime massive nasal congestion.
If you are looking for a film about Bernstein, the great conductor of great music, or his true life as a politically active gay man (he was highly condemned for hosting a party for the Black Panthers in 1970), this ain't it.
Bradley: if ya gotta make another movie, please ration the unrelenting close-ups!
Late in his life, I met Lenny several times through a mutual friend, a young conductor. If anything, the constant cloud of cigarette smoke was underplayed in the movie.
This could have been any "lavender wedding" story. In fact, there was just a TV/streaming series about one called "Fellow Travelers" which ALSO had Matt Bomer, who I guess will now be the de facto face of the LGBTIQ+ community in film, as anything from a secret boyfriend to an ego-maniacal man who destroys everyone in sight.
But where was Lenny? I kept looking for him, but all I could see was the massive, egregiously overextended ego of Bradley Cooper, who sounded like he had lifetime massive nasal congestion.
If you are looking for a film about Bernstein, the great conductor of great music, or his true life as a politically active gay man (he was highly condemned for hosting a party for the Black Panthers in 1970), this ain't it.
Bradley: if ya gotta make another movie, please ration the unrelenting close-ups!