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Bradley Cooper's Maestro, an exploration of the life of legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, just released its trailer, Variety reported.
Maestro was first screened at the most recent Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2, to a seven-minute standing ovation.
Cooper, who starred, directed and co-wrote the movie, was not present due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Neither was co-star Carey Mulligan, who play Bernstein's wife, actress Felicia Montealegre.
Cooper initially faced backlash regarding the choice of wearing a prosthetic nose to more closely resemble the iconic composer. However, Bernstein's children came to his defense, saying that the actor-director “chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”
Maestro, which will premiere in limited theaters on Nov. 22, interweaves Bernstein's accomplishments with his relationship with Montealegre.
Cooper's Bernstein said at the start of the trailer, “If summer doesn’t sing in you then nothing sings in you.”
The couple's story is played out, switching from black and white to color to denote the passage of time.
“And if nothing sings in you, then you can’t make music,” Mulligan's Montealegre finishes the quote.
Bernstein was considered to be “one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history,” according to a New York Times tribute when he died in 1990.
In his lifetime, the conductor received seven Emmys, two Tonys and 16 Grammys. In 1981, Bernstein received the Kennedy Center Honor.
Most would probably know him for writing the musical West Side Story. The musical was then adapted as a film released in 1961, which won 10 Academy Awards.
Maestro will have a limited release in theaters on Nov. 22, and begin streaming on Netflix on Dec. 20.
