How did Leonard Bernstein die? Exploring the legendary conductors life amid Bradley Cooper’s Maestro release

American musician, conductor, composer, pianist, and author, Leonard Bernstein was one of the most celebrated and influential musicians in American history. Born in 1918, Bernstein passed away in 1990 in his apartment. Bradley Cooper’s Maestro delves into the colorful life of the legend across decades and focuses on his love life with wife Felecia Montealegre. Here is everything you need to know about Bernstein’s life and death. 

How did Leonard Bernstein die? 

Leonard Bernstein died on 14th October of 1990, just after five days of retiring from his profession as a conductor. The famous musician was found in his apartment in New York. The cause of his death was determined to be a heart attack caused by mesothelioma, which was in turn caused by a lifetime of smoking. 

Bernstein was buried next to his wife Felicia Montealegre in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Felicia, who was the love of his life, passed away at the age of 56 in 1978 due to lung cancer. Bernstein never fully recovered from the death of Felicia and never remarried afterwards. In August of 1990, Bernstein conducted his last concert in Tanglewood and he was noticeably sick during this time. The master passed away two months later in his apartment. 

Bernstein life and how it’s portrayed in Maestro 

Bradley Cooper’s Maestro is a homage to the legend and it mostly focuses on his relationship with his wife Felicia whom he married in 1951. The film also goes on to detail the tragedies of his life, especially the loss of his wife in 1978. 

He took a break from conducting after Felicia’s death but his passion for music continued for the rest of his life until death. One of the most important details of his life that the movie left out is Bernstein’s lifelong struggle with his sexual identity as a gay man. Even before marrying Felicia, he had affairs with both men and women and his wife also acknowledged knowing about his sexual orientation in a private letter. But it was only after her death that Bernstein was able to accept this part of his identity. 

Bernstein was dedicated to music all his life. Not only did he composed, wrote, and conducted operas, but he also taught music to educate the next generation of musicians. Even with the tragic ups and downs of his life, music was Bernstein’s only refuge. It is not surprising that he passed away only days after officially retiring from his lifetime passion of conducting. 

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