The reel lives of maestros

 

Editor’s note: Classical music of any kind often feels boring and inaccessible—but not with Narendra Kusnur. He offers an accessible and fun guide to Western classical music—which has shaped movie soundtracks and top 40 hits alike. 

 

In this month’s guide, Kusnur takes us through the lives of composers on screen. He goes way beyond usual suspects like Mozart and delivers a wonderful list of melody and mystery. And this time, he has a list of scenes and teasers to dip into. 

 

Written by: Narendra Kusnur has been a music journalist for over 40 years—including a decade-long stint covering the beat at the Mid-Day newspaper. He currently writes for The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Times, and Rolling Stone India—besides the in-house magazines of prestigious institutions—such as NCPA and Shanmukhananda Hall.

 

Don’t worry, this isn’t another column on the genius of Mozart or the brilliance of the movie ‘Amadeus’, though we begin with the reference. The reason is that whenever one talks of biopics of Western classical musicians, the Austrian composer comes to mind first, and the story about his infamous rivalry with Italian composer Antonio Salieri makes for juicy copy. And we’ll leave it at that. 

What’s worth mentioning is that numerous other Western classical biopics are worth watching. The lives of musicians, especially composers, have always attracted filmmakers, who enjoy depicting their affairs and hardships as much as their music. Even before he became the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock directed ‘Waltzes From Vienna’, a 1934 film about Austrian composer Johann Strauss II and his most famous piece ‘An der Schonen Blauen Donau’, better known as the ‘Blue Danube Waltz’.

 

The film, available on YouTube, stars Edmond Knight as Johann Strauss II, also known as Schani, and Edmund Gwenn, his father and an established composer. Jessie Matthews plays Resi, a baker’s daughter whom Schani loves. Here, we look at the famous bakery scene that led to the song’s creation.

 

Now, let's hear ‘The Blue Danube’ as performed by the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra conducted by László Kovacs.

 

The list of Western classical biopics is exhaustive. Here we shall name nine more movies, in chronological order of the musicians’ lives. The first five are available on YouTube; the others, as mentioned. 

 

Behind the greats

 

A good way to begin is with British filmmaker Bernard Rose’s ‘Immortal Beloved,’ based on the life of German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827). The 1994 film has Gary Oldman in the lead role, and the focus is on a mysterious woman who inherits Beethoven’s estate and music. Through flashbacks, we also see his struggle with hearing loss. Let’s see two important scenes—one where he describes his views on music to his assistant Anton Schindler:

 

The other features the piece ‘Moonlight Sonata’, when he’s struggling to hear what he’s playing, and gets upset when his first lover Giuiletta and her father interrupt.

 

One of the earliest composer biopics was the 1945 release ‘A Song To Remember,’ based on the life of Polish legend Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), enacted by Cornel Wilde. Directed by Hungarian filmmaker Charles Vidor, it delves into Chopin’s association with his mentor Professor Josef Elsner (Carl Muni) and his relationship with George Sand (Merle Oberon), a writer known for her masculine attire. Though the film did well, it was criticised for fictionalising many things and distorting specific events. It does introduce the larger audience to Chopin’s work. Here, we show a section where Chopin is shown playing ‘Polonaise Heroique’ in his debut concert in Paris, when he’s disturbed on hearing of his friends’ arrests and deaths in Poland. The piece is played in the soundtrack by Spanish pianist Jose Iturbi.

 

One of the most memorable roles in this genre was that of German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), played by the prolific Richard Burton. It was for the 10-episode television 1983 mini-series ‘Wagner,’ directed by Tony Palmer and originally intended as an eight-hour feature film. It is now available as a four-hour film on YouTube. 

 

The composer often drew controversy because he was said to be Hitler’s favourite. This film, of course, depicts his life and music, and the supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, and John Gielgud. In the absence of any film clips, let’s watch the Overture to Wagner’s 1845 opera ‘Tannhauser’—played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert Von Karajan. 

 

A director known for Western classical biopics was Ken Russell, who interestingly also directed the rock opera movie ‘Tommy,’ featuring music by rock band The Who. In 1971, Russell also directed ‘The Music Lovers,’ based on the life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Richard Chamberlain plays the composer, and Glenda Jackson is his wife, Antonina Miliukova. There are references to the musician’s homosexuality, too. Much of the film is without dialogue, and the story is presented through flashbacks, nightmares, and fantasy sequences set to Tchaikovsky’s tunes. The music was played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn. Here’s an excerpt from a fantasy sequence that uses parts of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812: Overture’.

 

Russell has also directed a TV documentary on British composer Edward Elgar in 1962 and ‘Lisztomania,’ a film on Franz Liszt in 1975, with rock star Roger Daltrey of The Who playing the Hungarian composer. He was also in the wonderful 1974 film, ‘Mahler,’ on Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), with Robert Powell in the lead role and Georgina Hale as his wife Alma. The story is set on a train ride where Mahler is returning to Vienna after a tour of the US. Various incidents on the ride make him remember things from the past, and his life journey is narrated through a series of flashbacks. Check out a scene from the beginning of the film, with the opening movement of his ‘Symphony No 3’ in the background. This is also a fantasy sequence, which became a trademark of Russell’s filmmaking style.

 

Symphony to screen

 

Wladyslaw Szpilman (1911-2000) is not a name that many would immediately recognise. But the moment one says actor Adrien Brody won an Oscar for playing him in Roman Polanski’s 2002 film ‘The Pianist,’ it would immediately ring a bell. The movie, which can be rented on Amazon Prime, is based on the Polish pianist’s exposure to Nazi atrocities during World War II and the humiliation of Jews. It’s not a musical biopic in the strict sense, though it talks of the experiences of a musician who was considered to be one of the greatest artists in Europe. 

 

In one scene, shown in the first video, Brody plays Chopin’s ‘Ballade In G Minor’ upon the request of Nazi captain Wilm Hosenfield, who begins to admire him and then helps him by offering food. 

 

The second video shows (the real) Szpilman playing Chopin’s ‘Nocturne No 20’ in Warsaw in 1997.

 

In contrast to Szpilman’s example, American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) is a name most classical lovers would know. He was the poster boy of classical music in the second half of the 20th century. His life story is captured in the 2023 film ‘Maestro,’ directed by and starring Bradley Cooper. It also talks of his relationship with his wife Felicia Montealesgre, played by Carey Mulligan. The film is available on Netflix, which ensures that clips of scenes aren’t available. There’s a teaser, which captures the mood of the film.

 

Talking of Bernstein, there’s this story about how in 1966, he hired a female double bassist, Orin O’Brien (born 1935), who became the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s first female musician. In 2023, her niece Molly O’Brien made ‘The Only Girl In The Orchestra,’ winning this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. Orin O’Brien retired in 2021 after playing with the orchestra for 55 years. 

 

The Netflix docu talks about how she was satisfied being in the background, without having the ambitions that many young musicians display. She also relays her displeasure over the remark made by Mumbai-born conductor Zubin Mehta, when he was 30 and still making his mark, that women shouldn’t play in orchestras. Being Netflix, there are no clips, but here’s the teaser.

 

All the composers featured above are real people. Let’s conclude this piece with a fictional character. In Todd Field’s 2022 film ‘Tar,’ Cate Blanchett plays a conductor named Lydia Tar, whose successful career is affected by accusations of misconduct and bias. Initially, there was speculation that her character was based on female conductor Marin Alsop, who was also mentored by Bernstein and had a woman as her life partner. But Alsop never went through Tar’s circumstances or fate. 

 

The movie, streaming on Jio Hotstar, is worth watching for Blanchett’s performance and the details of conducting and rehearsal. It may be a bit too technical for those new to classical music, though. We show two videos. The first is from the film, where Tar is rehearsing ‘Trauermarsch (Funeral March)’, the opening movement of Gustav Mahler’s ‘Symphony No 5’. 

 

 The other is British composer Edgar Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto’, featuring conductor Daniel Barenboim and soloist Jacqueline Du Pre, which finds an important mention in the film.

 

These ten films are a good place to start for those interested in this genre. Of course, other films focus mainly on affairs and scandals. Examples are ‘The Devil’s Violinist,’ a 2013 film on violinist Nicolo Paganini and his love for a young singer, the 1997 film ‘The Temptation of Franz Schubert,’ which is about the tumultuous events in the life of the early 19th century composer who died of syphilis at the age of 31, and ‘Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky,’ a 2002 French movie about the affair between the French fashion designer and the Russian composer. Many stories are waiting to be seen. Make the time.

 

Finally, like we always conclude the column, with a handy playlist of all the tracks on splainer’s YouTube channel.

 

PS: If you need a list of all the amazing music shared by Naren:

 

• ‘Blue Danube Waltz’ by Johann Strauss II 
• ‘Moonlight Sonata’ by Ludwig Van Beethoven 
• ‘Polonaise Heroique’ by Frederic Chopin 
• ‘Overture to Tannhauser’ by Richard Wagner 
• ‘1812: Overture’ by Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky 
• ‘Symphony No 3, Movement 1 (Entschieden)’ by Gustav Mahler 
• ‘Ballade in G Minor’ by Chopin 
• ‘Nocturne No 20’ by Chopin 
• ‘Symphony No 5, Movement 1 (Trauermarsch)’ by Mahler
• ‘Cello Concerto, Movement 1 (Adagio)’ by Edward Elgar