♪ ♪
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting.
-We are pleased to present -(counting down in Japanese)
Maestro Rodrigo DeSousa!
(applause)
(indistinct greeting)
(slow-tempo Introitus of Mozart's Requiem)
♪ ♪
We're gonna start with number seven.
-HAILEY: The whole orchestra? -RODRIGO: No, just the choir.
-Okay? -Just the choir.
♪ ♪
(choir intoning)
(indistinct chatter)
-Where are you going? -We need more help.
Yuki, Daisuke.
-DAISUKE...in the Confutatis. -Cut the minor harmonies here.
-No more WAM. No more WAM. Just Wolfgang.
(choir accompanying)
♪ ♪
All winds gone.
RODRIGO: Flutes, oboes, horns gone.
Okay, so for the Lacrimosa,
it's only the strings.
Yes, just violins, cello...
All right.
♪ ♪
Where's the rest of the Requiem?
What is he doing?
He's not doing WAM's version, he's doing Mozart's.
But only the bits he wrote before he died.
Just so you know, the Blowfish is super puffed.
GLORIA (quietly): Shit!
♪ ♪
(music, singing stop)
(crow cawing)
-Is that the end? -(applause)
Bravo!
-FUKUMOTO: Maestro, can I speak to you? -Excuse me.
What happened to the rest of the music?
-This is not what we discussed! -Hey, we got to go.
-Maestro. -Rodrigo...
Maestro!
Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.
GLORIA: Mr. Fukumoto,
I am so, so sorry.
Go talk to him.
And say what?
That thing was like a son to him.
I think they found the arm. Oh, no, sorry.
False alarm, that's a log.
Apologize on behalf of the orchestra.
He'll listen to you.
Rodrigo should apologize. Why should I?
You're a member of my board.
I saved your ass once before.
It's gonna take more than a little whiskey this time.
THOMAS: That's the motherboard.
How about a players lounge?
Don't try to negotiate with me, Betty,
you're not at my level.
What is wrong with you girls?
I'm tired of your girlfriend running my orchestra
into the ground-- I quit.
And I think I will go talk to my man.
What are you going to say?
Whatever I goddamn want.
Ah...
This house was built a hundred years ago
as a city house
for a family that lived in the country.
They came back and forth until the war.
What are we doing here?
This place is perfect for what we need, Hai Lai.
I can't go back to a hotel.
I have to do something first.
Okay.
(thunder, rain falling)
(Symphonie Fantastique playing)
♪ ♪
Holy shit! What are you doing?
What is going on?
It is done, Hai Lai.
It is done-- it didn't work. It didn't work.
Okay, what are you doing?
I'm doing a sacrifice, Hai Lai.
A cremation.
-All right... -I'm burning the Requiem.
Come back now and let's get you to bed.
-Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes... -All right.
-Yes. -(sighs)
Let's get you to bed.
-No, Hai Lai, no. -Yes!
Mozart is gone. He's gone.
He's completely lost, but Berlioz, he needs us.
-Right? Because he's in love. -Yes.
Because he's 26 years old, and he's fucked up with opium.
-Yes. -Now, he's waiting for the bells of hell.
-Bells. -The bells of hell.
-The bells. -Bells.
Won't you sing it to me?
Come on, just sing it to me.
Just, just sing... sing it to me.
(Hailey humming tune)
(Rodrigo chuckles)
(Hailey continues humming)
(continues humming)
(wind hissing in trees)
(dog barking in distance)
(hollow, wooden percussive sounds)
(grunts, speaks in Japanese)
Ah!
Konichiwa.
Uh, who are you?
I'm Izumo no Okuni.
I'm a Kabuki dancer, an actor, and a writer.
I thought Kabuki was only for men.
Well, I am a woman and I started it.
We were scoundrels, drinking and dancing by the river.
(loud clatter)
My friends and I were tired of the old plays
so we created our own.
We called it "Kabuki."
(bell chiming)
(flute playing wistfully)
They said it was immoral for women to perform in public.
People are so stupid.
Then they passed a law that only men could do Kabuki.
Even the female roles.
(sighs)
I couldn't even watch
the plays that I'd created.
-(percussion accompaniment) -But we knew what we'd accomplished.
(flute sounds)
You're also a strange one.
Go play down by the river.
(flute plays wistfully)
No, I wanted to stay in the hotel.
-What? No, no. -I didn't want to come out.
No, no, no. You come with me.
I've got a great surprise. You're gonna love it.
-There's some jewelry... -Come on, come on, come on...
What the fuck is this thing?
It's a hedgehog, darling.
The cafés like this are all the rage here now.
People come here just to hold a hedgehog?
Yes, because it has a calming effect.
Oh, I don't want to be calm.
-I'm pissed! -Shh...
He didn't play the piece.
He destroyed the robot. He's a psychopath.
You hired him. (chuckles)
-Oh! -Too tight.
You kill hedgehog.
Whoa, you don't want to kill the hedgehog, darling.
No, no, no, no, you don't want that
on your conscience.
You know, to be honest,
I think it's the first thing he's done in yonks
that had any integrity.
The music was incredible, but it's not
just about that.
Great art, it sometimes needs
a little destruction.
You ask Fukumoto about that.
Have you talked to Hesby?
He's not returning my phone calls.
Eh, no, I don't think so, no.
Well, you know Hes, he just drops off the grid.
Ooh, look, look, look at that.
Mine's touching himself.
(loudly): Goddamn it, why can't anything
ever just be straightforward?!
-What? What? What? -You make him scared.
Oh, don't take him. Don't take my hedgehog.
(Hailey humming)
Hai Lai, can I watch?
Come on, I've only seen you conduct inside the apartment.
Come on, you know?
Uh, yeah, sure. Okay.
-Yeah? -Yeah. Yeah.
Cool. Excellent. Yes.
Hey.
Let's go. That's our train. That's our train.
Round two.
This is where we need you to step forward
and distinguish yourself.
So today...
we watch you rehearse.
-That is where conducting truly happens. -(door opens)
We'll be watching you, seeing how you contend
with the orchestra.
The piece for this round will be
-Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique... -Antacid?
(whispering): Yes. Thank you.
It's my first time.
SADAKO: ...20 minutes to rehearse.
When we get bored...
you'll hear the bell.
(playing Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique)
♪ ♪
(bell dings)
(orchestra stops)
They let her go seven minutes. Not bad.
HAILEY: Mm-hmm.
SADAKO: Next--
Hailey Rutledge.
(whispers): That was great.
(man coughs)
(playing Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique)
(playing lyrical melody)
(music becoming more intense)
♪ ♪
As far as I'm concerned,
Hailey blasted it out of the fucking park.
I mean, she was way better than she was in the first round.
How long has she been doing this?
Less than a year.
Rodrigo coached her within an inch of her life.
THOMAS: Rodrigo?
-Yeah. -No, no, no, no.
There wasn't one Rodrigo move.
She has plenty of ideas herself.
What about Yuki?
She is very similar to Hailey.
Oh, really? And in what way?
Their lack of male genitalia?
Both of them approach the music
in a more intuitive, emotional way.
What's he saying?
He said she's too feminine.
Tell me, in Japanese, what is "asshole"?
Why is everybody singling me out for attack?
THOMAS: Yeah, asshole!
TAKASHI (loudly): I...
agree...
with...
Noburo.
I think...
Yuki should be cut!
Hmm.
(instruments warming up)
(whispers): It smells like munchies.
(door opens)
Maestro.
Ai, Gloria. Hey.
What-what are you doing here?
We're going to go see Mr. Fukumoto.
No. No, no, no. I don't want to apologize to him. No.
You don't have to.
But he deserves an explanation.
Remember the Youth Orchestra.
What is that voice that you're doing?
It's my hedgehog voice.
So... come on.
No. But we don't know if Hai Lai got in.
Oh, oh.
She got in.
-You okay? -SADAKO: Here are the names...
-Not as good as you. -...of the five finalists.
Daisuke Ueno.
(scattered, quiet gasps)
Umberto Panetta.
-(one person claps) -Andrei Novak.
Roger Wilson.
And...
...Hailey Rutledge.
(scattered clapping)
Thank you to everyone not moving forward,
and good luck to all the finalists.
And the piece will be
Mahler 6.
Mahler. Fuck.
(whispers): Now we'll see what you've really got.
(whispers): Yuki.
Yuki!
Oh, Hailey.
I don't know what to say. You were so amazing.
Oh, what can you do?
Besides, they'll never have two women in the finals.
You really think that's true?
Trust me, I've seen it over and over.
(sighs): Oh. That's it for me.
I'm officially too old for these competitions.
(crying): What am I gonna tell my parents?
(sighs)
Yuki, translate for me.
I need to make sure she hears this.
(speaking Japanese)
You know that only four of the top 150 orchestras in the world
are led by a woman?
-Four. -(speaking Japanese)
(whispers in Japanese)
Take the fucking Mahler
and ram it down their throats.
I'll do my best.
GLORIA: Mr. Fukumoto.
-(indistinct talking) -Oh. The m...
the maestro would like to say something to you.
I'm sorry.
Oh. You are... That's good.
Yes, yes, but for killing the robot.
That was unnecessary. But...
not for the music.
You know, you asked me to do the Requiem--
Well, that was my Requiem.
Don't-don't be... m-mad.
Well, okay, be angry at me.
But not... not with Gloria, not with the orchestra,
not with the building...
or the Youth Orchestra.
I'm not angry.
And WAM isn't dead.
Oh. Th-That's good, that's good. He's-he's not dead.
WAM: Hello, Maestro.
Hey.
-I thought you were dead. -To be precise,
I short-circuited.
I now understand the dynamics of fragility.
Thanks to you, I truly know how to finish the Requiem.
FUKUMOTO: Maestro, I am disappointed in you.
I always thought you were an out-of-box kind of guy.
The Requiem was beautiful, but it didn't move us forward.
RODRIGO: I am an out-of-box
kind of guy, I mean, like an inside-box...
-GLORIA: Uh, uh, arigato... -I don't even see the box.
...uh, gozayamishita, Fukumoto-san.
I look forward to continuing to discuss
our partnership.
(piano playing mid-tempo melody)
-♪ ♪ -(Betty gasps)
(laughs)
(gasps)
Oh...!
-(door opens) -Scotch, please.
-(door closes) -THOMAS: Hello, Jerry.
(stammers) Aha.
So, you found my little haunt.
Yeah, if Gloria sent you, I'm not interested.
No, I'm not here from Gloria.
I snuck out.
Well, don't tell Gloria that Fugu
is seriously rethinking his donation.
Aw, fuck, no.
But hey, not my pig, not my farm.
Oh, no. God almighty, she will be crushed.
Mm-hmm.
On the other hand,
there are other orchestras in New York.
What are you getting at, Maestro?
I don't know, this music, it's, like, an abyss,
and you go through the abyss and come out on the other side,
and there's just even more fucking darkness.
Yeah. I just don't know if I can do that.
Hai Lai?
Hi. Where did you go?
Are you talking to him?
No, I was talking to... someone else.
-(sighs loudly) -Oh, that's really good, Hai Lai.
-Just-just keep your... be in touch with that. -Listen,
for the finals, they chose Mahler 6.
Mahler 6! (gasps)
-Oh, my God, you're gonna win. You're gonna win. -No!
Yes, you're gonna win. Yes. Yes, I can see it.
I mean, yeah, you're gonna win. I can see the future.
-Please don't say that. -Yes, you're gonna win,
and you know what, everything's beginning now for you.
-You can do anything. -I really just don't think
that I have a handle on this.
What? But look what you did with the Berlioz.
You were incredible.
You were so good. You were just...
completely... magical, you know?
(chuckles): I mean, you didn't have a...
a very clear concept of what you were doing,
but you just... I mean, you just played the music.
What do you mean that I didn't have a clear concept about it?
You know what I mean.
I mean, you were just...
you know, from the instinct coming out.
And I w... I was listening to you,
and I stopped being your coach, I was just an audience.
You know? It was music, there was music happening.
Okay, well, I really need to ram this Mahler
down their fucking throats,
so if you could be my coach for a few seconds,
that would be really great.
Just be honest with me.
Complete honesty?
Yeah.
-You sure? -Go for it.
All right, okay.
Well, all right, at the top,
your hands were in the right position,
but then you just got really excited
and you went for it and the legato was a little bit off.
You know, it didn't sink in.
-Right, okay. -Right?
It was a little bit like, ah, almost there,
but then the problem is that the fermata,
there was something, that it was a little bit too short.
So the trumpets, for example, came in a little bit too late
-and then the oboe, it came in a little bit too loud. -Yeah.
-And it was... -Wait, so that's...
-that's the first 20 bars. -Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Yes, when the flutes, for example, they come in,
you didn't really show them how to phrase,
so they didn't know where to breathe
and that's the problem, you know?
It happened with all the winds...
You know, it wasn't orange or white,
it was just like something there in the middle...
You know this thing we've been talking about, you know,
like, not underlining everything.
These guys, they know what they're doing, you know?
But just let it play, you know?
Like, listen to them... I don't know, but next time,
you have to get it really perfect, Hai Lai,
really, really perfect.
To be a great conductor requires many things.
A good ear.
Knowledge of the repertoire.
And above all, a great conductor must have
a compelling vision
and the ability to communicate it.
GLORIA: Oh, Hesby!
How wonderful to hear from you.
Wha... could you just repeat that?
I-I... the reception here isn't...
What? When did he say that? When?
What in the name of Mozart
and motorcycles and everything else
in the damn world is wrong with you?!
Hello, darling.
What the hell happened in your childhood
-to make you like this?! -What, darling,
are you talking about?
Still play dumb?
You stay out of this.
I just spoke to Hesby.
He said you met with him
and now he can't decide who should perform the Asyla.
He said that we should sort it out amongst ourselves.
(stammers)
How dare you go sneaking around behind my back?
Me?! Oh, that's the pot calling the kettle black.
-What are you talking about? -Oh, please.
You think I'm stupid?
I mean, all the gifts, the flowers, the love letters.
I mean, all right, if you're having an affair,
why don't you just say so?
After all, I might want to step out myself sometime.
I mean, heaven knows monogamy was never one of my things.
Those aren't love letters.
They're from Daniel Mahajan.
He wants me to come and run the Guggenheim.
What? Mah... Mah...
that's ridic... you...
Well, why didn't you tell me?
Because, Thomas, I love you,
but you have a big fucking mouth!
-Are you gonna take the job? -No.
No, no, because I am going to get the piece back
and I am going to crush your amateur borough orchestra.
Fine!
Well, fine!
No, fine.
(dramatic classical music playing)
♪ ♪
(applause)
(tempo increasing)
(dramatic classical music playing)
♪ ♪
(music continues playing)
♪ ♪
(music ends)
(applause)
FUKUMOTO: In second place, Andrei Novak.
(applause)
And the winner is...
Daisuke Ueno!
(cheers and applause)
BETTY: The Queen's Phil
isn't afraid of technology or new ideas.
They want to make people excited about the music again.
For example, uh, we just had a sensational new first oboe,
Betty Cragdale.
So I get to hear you play.
Does your girlfriend know about this?
THOMAS: Don't ask, don't tell.
DAISUKE: Hailey.
-Hey. -Hi.
Daisuke, congratulations.
You really deserved it.
Thanks.
What happened out there?
You were a different conductor.
Yeah.
I choked.
Sure.
We are not robots.
-Yeah. -RODRIGO: Hai Lai.
Hey.
-Hey. -You're the fake.
You're not the real Rodrigo!
Ah, the-the-the Rodrigo thing, yeah.
(men shouting in Japanese)
Rodrigo is dead! Rodrigo is dead!
Yes, yes.
Guys, guys.
Hai Lai! Hai Lai!
-(men continue shouting in Japanese) -Hai Lai!
Hai Lai! Hai Lai!
Hai Lai!
(song by Maki Asakawa playing)
♪ ♪ Maki Asakawa playing)