What Does the Recent Batch of Movies Say About Classical Music?

In Wednesday’s (12/6) San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman writes, “The latest cinematic trend [is that] the movies have taken an interest in classical music. Last month marked the arrival of ‘Maestro,’ Bradley Cooper’s high-gloss cinematic tribute to the late conductor, composer, pianist and educator Leonard Bernstein. The film … follows on the heels of last year’s Academy Award-nominated ‘Tár,’ writer-director Todd Field’s conversation starter about a fictional orchestra conductor who falls afoul of her own thirst for artistic eminence and erotic conquest…. In April, ‘Chevalier’ brought out the fascinating life story of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the half-Black composer, violinist and fencing prodigy whose career in 18th century Paris was cut short by a combination of racism and the French Revolution. In … ‘She Came To Me,’ writer-director Rebecca Miller envisioned as her male lead an opera composer, played to perfection by Peter Dinklage, who is freed from crippling writer’s block by a romance with a tugboat captain (Marisa Tomei)…. The documentary ‘American Symphony’ traced bandleader Jon Batiste’s work creating his first large-scale orchestral work. And there are more efforts slated for the big screen…. Tales of power and its abuses, of glamour and creativity—these can land with particular specificity when set in glitzy concert halls and dressing rooms, but they have something in common with similar narratives from politics, literature and show business.”