«Maestro»

La Voz de Galicia – January 19, 2023 →

Cristina PatoI’ve been contemplating the multiple realities we navigate in our lives for a while now, pondering the fact that we are not always aware of how important they are to us…

This week I decided to watch Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s film about the orchestra conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It’s a work that showcases Bernstein’s relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre, over the years and made me reflect on the complex decisions an artist makes throughout their career and what that means for their personal life. Suddenly, in the middle of the movie, recognizing the scenarios, I began to think about an idea that I’ve mulled over many times in my career as a musician. The concept of “borrowed life,” which was my way of describing the life I lived when I toured with artists of Bernstein’s caliber and popularity. Every time I worked with them, I felt like both a spectator and a protagonist in something larger than myself. But I also knew that my reality had nothing to do with theirs, and as I boarded the plane back home, I would return to a different reality while they continued in theirs. I felt fortunate not to have to bear the responsibilities they carried, and at the same time, I wondered if they could set aside all of that to build a different kind of reality around them.

Maestro reminded me of the reasons I changed course, the reasons why, despite the glamour, that other life stopped making sense to me. It reminded me of the importance of being present to recognize what truly matters in life and perhaps try to build a reality in line with that

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