Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin served as Bradley Cooper’s consulting conductor

Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, currently music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, served as a “consulting conductor” on the upcoming Netflix film, which Bradley Cooper co-wrote, directed, and stars in.

The 48-year-old Grammy winner says conducting is much more than just waving around a stick and says he has seen many films that poorly portray conductors. He wanted to make sure “Maestro” was an accurate representation of the profession.

In order to do so he used a secret weapon to teach actor Bradley Cooper how to conduct like Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming arthouse film “Maestro”: an earpiece.

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Nézet-Séguin sometimes asked the American actor to don the device so he could guide him through arm and hand movements that would be believable to music-savvy viewers as well as those familiar with the style and distinctive physics of Bernstein.

According to Nézet-Séguin, the hardest part for most actors is maintaining a precise tempo with the baton, especially when the other hand is moving fluidly to convey expression.

Idolizing Bernstein

Bradley Cooper studied videos of Bernstein to understand the way the “West Side Story” composer moved his body, but that mimicry captured only part of who the man was, Nézet-Séguin argued.

When it came to Bernstein’s technical prowess, that was harder to master. “I was there to try to frame it (and say), ‘Yeah, but the rhythm has to be credible,'” explains Nézet-Séguin.

Nézet-Séguin, who also conducted the music for “Maestro,” described Bernstein as a long-time “idol.”

“He’s also very physical and every part of his body expresses and so I’ve always loved that. But of course, the film is also about tortured relationships and complicated moments where he’s a closeted but married gay man, which is very far from what I am”, laughs Nézet-Séguin, openly homosexual and married.

Much has also changed in the way conductors are perceived, too, adds Nézet-Séguin, whose bleached blonde hair and navy blue nail polish belie the stereotypical image of a serious and stuffy conductor.

“Maestro” will be released in select theaters on November 22 and will arrive on Netflix on December 20.

-This article was translated from French by CityNews