♪♪
[rhythmic tapping]
♪["Chanson boheme" from Carmen]
♪ Les tringles de sistres tintaient ♪
♪ Avec un éclat métallique ♪
♪ Et sur cette étrange musique ♪
♪ Les zingarellas se levaient ♪
Beppi: I love this idea. It makes me cry.
You know who doesn't love this idea?
The mayor, the city council,
the-the head of the Vaporetto drivers union,
the Gondolieri.
Convince them.
You can convince them.
You make my life very difficult.
But I convince them.
Grazie, Beppi.
- Buttafuco. - "Budda."
- So T is like D? - "Buddafuco."
Yeah, yeah.
- ♪ Tra la la la ♪ - No breath, no breath.
♪ Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck ♪
♪ Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck ♪
Beppi: Five more seconds and she'll be walking on stage.
You have to hurry.
Okay. Sorry, guys.
Ey? [chuckles]
Too what?
Too big, too small?
This barge has not wings-
-to fly into the cloud of harmony.
♪ Cela montait, montait, montait ♪
♪ Montait ♪
Okay, okay. It's very nice, it's very nice,
but, uh, I think we can carry that through.
You know, the montait, montait-- In one go.
I'm not a violin. You have to follow me.
I'm sure you have the control.
Show me. Sing it for me.
Okay. Okay, I'll show you.
♪ Plus vive ensuite et plus rapide ♪
♪ Cela montait, montait, montait ♪
♪ Montait ♪
[laughing]
[clapping]
Okay, Maestro. I get it.
♪ Cela montait, montait, montait ♪
♪♪
Take them both! They belong together.
I think they do.
Wait! It's you.
[camera shutter clicking]
What do you mean, I'm being tentative?
Like, uh-- you're being like a little puppy dog,
instead of being a pantera.
Oh. Maybe because your tempo is a little bit disco.
- D-- Did you say disco? - [chuckling]
Disco? Vlad, is it disco?
No, it's not disco, Maestro.
- Vlad! - No, no, it's not disco.
Hailey?
It's a little disco.
[groans]
The implement of dreams is there.
This boat-- This is not even a barge, it's a raft.
It's a raft? Ai, I always meant raft.
I didn't know.
I meant a raft, not a boat.
Ecco, eh?
Where the hell is he going?
♪ Sous le rythme de la chanson ♪
[speaking Italian]
Okay, like a-- like a shattering glass, okay?
Degue chanson. Chanson?
La chanson. La chanson.
Don't speak to me like that in front of them.
Next time I'm gonna kill you.
- Now laugh. - [chuckling]
♪♪
El Guapo. El Guapo.
[speaking Italian]
Why? You don't think you are handsome?
♪♪
♪ La la la la ♪
♪ La la la la la la ♪
♪ Ah ah ah ah ah ♪
[whistling]
Dee Dee, you are gonna take that diaper off
before we go in, I hope.
It's called Fundoshi.
I wear it when I teach my Taiko lessons.
- All right, huh? - Hey, guys.
Sorry I'm late.
Just dropped off another happy customer.
Cynthia: Can't believe you're driver for Uber.
Yeah, actually, you know,
you meet some really interesting people.
- Where's Betty? - Uh, she can't make it.
- Didn't she tell you? - Tell me what?
She's subbing with the Honolulu Symphony.
Oh, Jesus, guys, we gotta stop the bleeding
before they take all of our people.
What are we gonna do?
Maybe we should look at their offer again.
No. We looked at the offer, it's not good enough.
- Yeah. - I tell you what we're gonna do.
We're gonna stay strong and dignified,
and Dee Dee, your left testicle is falling out.
- Aw, man. - Look, I'll figure out what we're gonna do.
Okay? I just need to think.
Come on, we're late.
♪♪
Hai!
♪♪
[cheering, applause]
[school bell rings]
Before you leave, remember, you're all invited to our show,
"The Dirty Filthy Stains."
- Good work. - Hey, thanks.
- Okay. - Come, yeah.
Cynthia: Thanks for having us, Lars. The kids are great.
Yeah. It'd be a lot cooler
if we had real instruments to work with,
but, uh, yeah, they're trying.
Yeah, well, it felt really good to be playing something.
We needed this.
Well, hey, you know, if you need an escape,
we're playing a few gigs on the road after the New York show.
- You should come. It'll be fun. - Yeah?
I mean, Lindsay and the kids are comin'.
It's gonna be great.
God. You have kids already.
That's what they call life, Cyn.
It take it there's still no Mr. or Ms. Taylor.
Nope. [sighs]
My last relationship sort of fucked everything up, so...
I'm, uh, giving it a break for a while.
Hey. At least come to this gig.
Come on.
♪♪[rock]
[phone rings]
Where the fuck are you?
Hailey: Oh, you know, in Venice.
Walsh fired me.
He fired you? That prick.
Yeah, I know. I know.
Don't you know anyone who needs, like, an oboing nanny, or--
It'll be fine. Welcome to the life of a working musician.
Oh, shit, I have to go.
- Gotta go rehearse. - Yeah, I'm coming.
Is Rodrigo there?
- Uh, yeah. - I need to speak with him.
- It's really important. - Cynthia.
- No. - Cynthia?
- Maestro, I can hear you. - She needs you, it's really important.
You can't ignore me forever.
- Hello. - Rodrigo, I've been trying to get hold of you for weeks.
Hey! Cynthia. I thought you were dead.
The mayor has called us to a meeting.
The mayor? I don't know nothing about the mayor.
Everybody's talking about the mayor, but I don't know what you're talking about.
- Yeah, we need you here. - What? What-- What are you talking--
Because he's trying to resolve the lock out.
You know, I just heard the word lock out,
and that's it. Okay? I'm not-- I'm not interested.
No, this affects all of us.
I can't talk about the lock out. Okay, ciao. Ciao.
- Rodrigo. Rodrigo. - Scuze. Attensione.
Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, No! No!
- What? - Stop it.
- My fucking cell phone. - But it's to liberate you.
This is my cell phone. You can't just take people's things.
- Guys. Guys. - Cynthia, I'm really sorry about that.
[sighs]
He was gonna throw you into the canal.
Come on, let's-- let's go rehearse.
No, I'm having a really good time.
♪♪[accordion]
Ahh. They found me.
[yelling in Italian]
Alessandra! My beloved! You're as beautiful as ever.
Maestro, it's an honor and a privilege.
Antonio Parlotti, a friend of La Fiamma.
- Oh, ah. - A viper.
- Ah. [laughs] - Oh, oh, no.
No, she means it in a nice way.
You're breaking my heart. I only wrote the truth.
Alessandra, tell me-
What makes you think you'll succeed where Callas failed?
Speak not Callas' name!
You creature of the underworld!
What about this tour? We've heard rumors often.
- Will you be joining her? - I don't know what you're talking about.
Perhaps you know she'll never make it that far. Huh?
- [scoffs] - And what's her current tranquilizer dose?
- Tranquilizer dose? - Yeah.
Tranquilizer? You want a tranquilizer?
[breathing heavily]
Hey. Alessandra.
Hey. Don't pay attention to that idiot. Okay?
He only invents lies. That's it.
[panting]
He's an idiot, but he told the truth.
Maestro, amazing!
That picture will run in every paper in Europe.
I could kiss you, but I don't. [chuckles]
You tipped them off you scoundrel!
Me? Never!
But a little drama helps the box office!
Since you both refuse to do interviews...
Man: Where's the Maestro?
I specifically asked that he be here.
- He's in Italy. - Hmm.
He left when Gloria's Bubbles moved in.
We'll have him back as soon as--
I don't care about your Bubbles,
or your excuses.
What I do care about is Tuesday night.
Jeanine and I have been long time subscribers.
So, we're solving this thing today.
Okay.
Let's go.
- Go where? - Now! Right now! We're going.
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."
Do you know who said that?
Audrey Hepburn.
- Oh. - So there's your seeds, your fertilizer,
and some tasteful German shrubs to frame the blooms,
and no talking about the lock out.
Dig your hands in,
and make something that grows together.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Wait, wait. Don't just drop them in there.
- Oh. No? - Pour them in your hand.
Go ahead.
Yeah. Now...
feel their energy?
Yeah.
Feel the seeds. [laughs]
I've stopped a lot of fighting in this garden. [laughs]
That bush, the teacher's strike.
The cedar, the firemen.
Those daisies-- [laughs]
The garbage men.
Cynthia: I think we should start in the middle right here.
We need to dig these holes further apart, so--
make sure the flowers have room to grow.
Here we go.
Oh. Oh. I hope I didn't get mud on your Pradas.
Uh, these are the diffusion line.
I got them on sale,
and aren't those Stella McCartneys?
Fair point.
You know, this has been hard for everyone,
and I'm really sorry.
You know, Warren over there
has had to sell his Bergonzi.
Bob's driving for Uber, Tanya's moved in with her mother.
Betty's in Honolulu, which, you know,
now I say it out loud it doesn't sound so bad,
but you get my point.
I'm worried when we do resolve this
that we won't have a symphony to come back to.
Do you know how many donors we're losing?
Yeah, that's how this works.
A mutually assured destruction.
It's the only way we seem to get you back to the table.
But every day we lose money, we have less to give you.
Cynthia, please.
- As a friend. - No, not the "F" word.
Not after you locked us out.
But if you hadn't let that lawyer of yours--
You know what? There was a deal
right in front of your face on the table,
and you were too proud to take it.
Oh, please, you don't know what I was doing.
You think I don't know what's going on here?
Huh? You keep us waiting, losing our minds,
and then suddenly he called and you want to talk?
You know what we want, Gloria,
so why don't you call me
when you're ready to give it to us.
I'm gonna- I'm gonna take a 10 minute break
if that's okay with you.
You better figure this shit out, Gloria.
We got a budget meeting in a week and a half,
and this city's not gonna keep pouring money into
an orchestra that doesn't play!
And before that, apologize to these damn plants.
I'm very sorry.
Every single one of them!
♪♪[piano]
♪ Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix ♪
♪ Comme s'ouvrent les fleurs ♪
♪ Aux baisers de l'aurore ♪
I'm sorry.
♪♪
[seagulls squawking]
Look out there at my city.
You can hear them laughing.
[seagulls squawking]
Strange, I can only hear the seagulls.
Because the people...
they won't be laughing at you.
Your plane will take off even if I-- I'm in ashes.
Everybody knows that you walked off stage once.
Nobody knows why.
Do you know?
I started to lose my high notes.
I heard it in my head again and again.
Whenever anyone talked to me,
I couldn't hear anything else.
Just my voice becoming...
old.
I understand, Alessandra.
They want me to fail,
and when they're eyes are on me, I--
I also want to fail.
Then sing to me, then.
I'm your audience.
You're my audience.
Yes, I am.
Then I hate you.
Maestro, can I speak to you in here for a moment?
It's about some programming.
Oh, very-- Well, yes, uh, absolutely delighted.
Oh, come on. Oh, wow! We are frisky. [chuckles]
- Oh, my morning. - Oh, my God.
Oh, it must have been a heck of a good meeting.
Oh! It was a disaster.
I just need-- I need to think about something else.
- [moans] - Oh!
I am coming to Venice with you.
- You are? That's great news. - You were right.
I know a little place, it's so romantic.
- Okay, good. - Listen--
So, I guess you heard about the tour, right?
What tour?
Oh. Oh, God.
Um, well, here.
This is gonna put a damper on your mood.
[sighs]
He's not coming back.
[timer beeping]
Rodrigo: [vocalizing]
[singing in French]
I didn't know that you were such a good singer.
I have to know how it feels, Hai Lai.
I have to know.
[sighs]
How do you know if you're good at it?
At singing? Hai Lai, I'm terrible at singing.
Conducting.
Okay.
You surprise me, Hai Lai.
- Good. - Come, come, come.
Okay.
- [chuckles] - Oh, my God.
Okay, the podium.
And the orchestra.
- Okay. - All right?
Okay. Look at them. Connect with them.
- Lift your hands, remember-- - What piece are we doing?
Oh, you have to know what piece you're doing.
Don't ask me.
Which piece are we doing?
- Sibelius 5. - All right.
Hm. North Carolina enters the big leagues.
Okay? You ready? It's in two.
- Yes. - So--
Inhale. Ah, bah.
♪♪
Yes. Yes. Bah.
Yes. Got it?
- Yeah. - Si?
Yeah.
Now look at them.
All right.
There's that little batutta section which you have to know by heart,
because if not, it's gonna choke you,
you know, it's gonna win you,
- Okay? - Okay.
Connect with them, okay?
Like a little teasing thing with flow.
Bah. They're so-- bah, da, da, da, da.
You know that Sibelius called this his struggle with God?
You know that?
Are you ready to join the struggle?
Yeah.
Okay. Okay.
That's it, stronger.
♪♪
And now, if you want to make them play, Hai Lai--
[sighs] You have to become a child again.
Yeah, how do I do that? [chuckles]
Go away.
Close your eyes for a little bit.
♪♪
Rodrigo: Yes.
For me it's going back to Mexico with Maestro Rivera.
♪♪
And... open your eyes.
Give it to them.
Big.
♪♪
On the left side here, you get Warren Boyd.
If you mess up, he'll always save you.
He'll always be there for you. Always.
I owe you one Warren Boyd, I owe you one.
♪♪
Bob the union. He's very good.
He's always rushing a little bit,
but it's out of joy, out of love for the music.
You know. All right?
Betty Cragdale.
Okay, the best. She's-- you know, she can do anything.
She's like the salt in the dessert.
And Cynthia, she plays with such passion and such sadness.
I-- I don't know where it comes from.
Use it. Okay? Sublime.
Now, once you've connected with everybody,
at that point--
You feel you're home.
That you're not alone.
Hey.
[chuckles] Hey.
Man: Hailey.
Hey!
Maestro. It's good to see you.
We miss you in New York.
- Everything okay? - Yeah, yeah.
I'll be right down.
Erik: So what's she like, you know?
The great Alessandra.
It's like a little scary.
- Really? - She's like the Stevie Nicks of opera.
What's goin' on? Are you all right?
Yeah. No, no. I'm--
Just wondering what's going on with the strike.
You know I'm not supposed to really talk about it.
I know, I know, I just, like--
It can't go on that much longer, right?
What's Rodrigo said about it?
Nothing, really.
Maybe that's part of the problem.
He just has a bad relationship with red tape.
Core responsibility.
He didn't cause this.
The board are the ones that locked us out.
I mean, maybe we should just change the subject.
I'm sorry.
I know it's not your fault, I know you're on our side.
I need to tell you something.
What?
I voted against the orchestra's counter offer.
- Hailey. - Goodbye.
Hailey, sit down. Come on.
Look, Hailey, it-- Come on, it's complicated.
It was to contain Biben, protect Rodrigo.
Yeah, but I've been complaining to you
about how screwed up all of my friends' lives are because of the strike,
and the whole time you're the one who fucking caused it.
So go fuck yourself, Erik.
[bell tolling]
How did you do it?
What?
How did you leave the thing that you love most?
It left me.
Why do you think I asked you to come here?
♪♪
[moaning]
[panting]
Alessandra: You're too tentative.
You think that I'm too tentative?
Too tentative.
- [grunts] - [screams]
♪♪
creams]