I recently watched two movies featuring classical music as a backdrop. Like most dramas, the story lies in the characters’ personalities and their environments. Both ‘TÁR’ and ‘Chevalier’ use classical music as a stage to tell the stories of strong personalities operating at the height of their profession.
‘TÁR’ felt more like an episode of ‘Law and Order,’ where the main character’s personality is a fusion of several conductors. Drawing from my own flawed memory of conductor personalities I’ve read about and had the pleasure of seeing perform in person. However, the scandals that follow this protagonist are relatively recent in our history. In contrast, the career upon which Cate Blanchett’s character is based belongs to a phenomenal conductor and educator, possessing none of the scandals depicted in the movie, at least to my knowledge.
As a person of color, ‘Chevalier’ resonates most profoundly with me as a performer. Recognizing that the movie couldn’t fully share the multifaceted story of Joseph Bologne due to time constraints, my hope for viewers is to delve deeper into his life and explore the surviving compositions attributed to him. While learning about the musical legacy of the Chevalier St. George, I encourage audiences to also discover the works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Nathaniel Dett, whose musical contributions deserve equal appreciation and recognition.
Ed Castro's Blog 