The Musician Centric Podcast
Two professional violists, Liz O'Hara and Stephanie Knutsen, explore diverse perspectives in the music field through conversations together and with friends. Whether gaining fresh insights from industry innovators or laughing their way through a show like Mozart in the Jungle, Liz and Steph hope to inspire musicians, particularly freelancers, to feel a sense of agency in their lives.
**Note: This podcast was formerly titled the ViolaCentric podcast**
The Musician Centric Podcast
Mozart in the Jungle Recap! Season 2, Episode 4
Stories? Questions? Thoughts? TEXT us here!
Unlock the backstage pass to an evening where classical music meets wild party vibes, and where industry giants cameo as themselves, merging the highbrow with pop culture. Episode four of "Mozart in the Jungle" has us wrapped around Dermot Mulroney's fingers just like his cello strings, as we gush over his performance that's as captivating as his '90s silver screen magic. And who wouldn't want to party with Lang Lang, Josh Bell and Emmanuel Axe? Laugh along with us as the orchestra gets ready for an international tour, and the seeds are being sown for all sorts of new relationships, musical and otherwise!
*If you enjoyed this episode, please consider rating and writing a quick review for our podcast!
We have a Patreon site! Support us and get perks and bonus content!
www.patreon.com/musiciancentric
************************
Our website: www.musiciancentric.com, for merch, joining our email list, and contacting us with stories and feedback!
Episode edited by: Liz O’Hara
ViolaCentric Theme by: JP Wogaman, www.wogamusic.com
Additional music by: Freddy Hall with www.musicforpodcasts.com
Thank you to our Sponsor for this season:
Potter Violins: www.potterviolins.com
Interested in starting your own podcast? We can't recommend our host Buzzsprout enough! Click here for an introductory offer from them!
Welcome to the Musician-Centric podcast. We are two freelance violists living and laughing our way through conversations that explore what it means to be a professional musician in today's world. I'm Steph.
Speaker 2:And I'm Liz, and we're so glad you've joined us. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:Well, here we are, continuing our Mozart and the Juggler journey. Yep, this is episode four. Touche, maestro, touche, that was the title I didn't know.
Speaker 2:I was glad that you. I was glad you got the title. I never pay attention.
Speaker 1:I do. I'm constantly pausing and looking at people's names, characters' names and actors' names and recordings. It takes me a while to get through an episode.
Speaker 2:Right away. I was just very excited about Durbin. Well, rony, who actually plays cello? Right, he does actually play the cello? Yes, yes, I thought that I remembered this as a detail in his life. And then he played and I was like, I mean, he looks like he knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1:Yes, I said actually faking, pretty convincingly. So we open up and it's a concert and he's playing. So his character's name is Andrew Walsh, German moron and he's a cellist and he's playing this Lalo, I don't know what the piece is I think it's a Lalo cello concerto.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think he wrote at least one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so anyway, the cello playing is very convincing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he looks like he knows what he's doing. It was really nice it was really nice, and also for those of us who are of a certain generation, like are we absolutely in love with Durbin? Well, rony from my best friend's wedding, yes.
Speaker 1:We love him.
Speaker 2:Except as a feminist. Now rewatching that I'm kind of like oh, this movie's annoying, but but.
Speaker 1:Yes, he was still very nice to look at, yeah he's very nice to look at.
Speaker 2:Still, and still very nice to look at. Yeah, he's aging well, as they say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's okay for men right.
Speaker 2:That's right. Oh, so many tangents.
Speaker 1:Speaking of men's choices, fashion choices the rat tail has multiplied. There are like three rat tails clipped to the back of Rodrigo's hair.
Speaker 2:I don't know when this is going to be over, but I think it's.
Speaker 1:I wonder if they're just going to keep getting more and more.
Speaker 2:It's always a whole head of rat tails, please know.
Speaker 1:Anyway, he does it, he does a stellar job and the audience goes crazy and he walks off stage with Rodrigo and makes a comment about Rodrigo's waistline. He's like you mean too many cupcakes or something, do you guys?
Speaker 2:do this to each other? I know I would be curious to know that too. I mean, who does that out loud to anybody?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's not like I don't know if they're like really close friends. I was trying to figure out what the dynamic was.
Speaker 2:They seem to be like jovially ribbing each other in a way Like I don't think it's meant to be super mean, but it's certainly catty.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a little like alpha right. Yeah, totally, which make definitely makes sense, that's that's definitely two alphas going at it there.
Speaker 2:But Andrew knows everybody in the orchestra. He's like being real friendly with everybody. Obviously he's played there many times and I love that he compliments the concertmaster on his playing. What's the concertmaster's name? Again, I always forget his name and the concertmaster goes thanks, I've been focusing a lot on my bow technique and we're like okay, this, there's no way that two string players for professionals that someone would say You're like you sound great these days, liz. I'm like thanks, I've been focusing a lot of my bow technique.
Speaker 1:There's also no way that one musician, one string player, would say to another string player you're playing as supple. I don't think I've ever used that to describe anyone's play, but then for Didi it's a bearded tsunami.
Speaker 2:He's a bearded tsunami. I got a lot of rage. Didi says, yeah, I hear it. Yeah, there's a lot of nice little shop talk there. It's kind of funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and of course, a guy of this caliber, a soloist of this caliber, who looks like he does, is quite a ladies man, shall we say. He knows all the ladies and he immediately, immediately, hones in on him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, has to know her. Of course, that's typical.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, he recognizes her from her photos that are representing the New York Symphony.
Speaker 2:Which, by the way, this is jumping ahead. But when you see the photo, it's not that obvious that it's her, like it's a beautiful face. No, but you're like there's no way he'd look at her and be like, oh, you're the one from the yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I kind of got like kind of sleazy vibes from him right away.
Speaker 2:And Cynthia had that look on her face that she knows what he's all about. Cynthia's probably been down that road before and she's like not going to go down it. But Haley's enamored and she says she's a bootleg version of this recording of something or other, which is hilarious. And then, yeah, at some point he said something about how her photo sexes up the entire operation, which that's when you really know he's a sleaze.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, this is very what 2014, 2015?.
Speaker 2:Right around the time where we stopped being able to see these things. Right, I'd have it be okay. Yeah, but he asks if she wants, if either of them wants to go see Lang Lang play, which you know it's like, why wouldn't you right?
Speaker 1:I was also like looking at my watch. I was like what time did their concert end and where is Lang Lang?
Speaker 2:playing 10, 30 pm.
Speaker 1:After an evening symphony concert.
Speaker 2:Such a good question, one that we find out later. We do find out later.
Speaker 1:And yes, so I'm just going to say upfront that I was like screaming this entire episode, as all of these cameos came up. Yes, so anyway. So the next scene we see Gloria and Rodrigo outside after the concert and I totally forgot that they were living there. That's. Rodrigo Godavict did from the convo Too many gobes Rumi's. Yeah yeah, they're friends and I like it.
Speaker 2:I know, I like their dynamic. They're like really truly roommates, housemates, right now. Yep, yeah, doing their thing.
Speaker 1:So then Thomas swings by in his limo and basically invites Rodrigo to hang.
Speaker 2:Scoops him up, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then Thomas says, let's go do something.
Speaker 2:We don't know where they're going. Now we get to go to the party and Longlong is playing. He's playing ping pong.
Speaker 1:He's yeah, so yeah, they're at this bar, yep, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That doesn't happen until later.
Speaker 2:Oh, I have that right after.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, no, no, no, he's Andrew schmoozing with the donors right.
Speaker 2:And Haley interrupts I didn't.
Speaker 1:And she says, she says there's a very important emergency photo shoot.
Speaker 2:She like snags him away and then they met them at the bar and they go to the party. Yeah, I forgot the part where she steps in and takes him away from the donors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very forward move. Yeah, yeah, I liked it. Yep, I was there for that yeah that's good. And then, yeah, and then they make it to the bar Right and Long Long is playing ping pong and you play ping pong, yeah, but who else is there?
Speaker 2:Oh my god, Emmanuel Axe is there? Emmanuel Axe is there? What? Just like playing a video game by himself in the corner, Like it's so fun. Hey, who's the guy with the blue glasses?
Speaker 1:The guy with the blue glasses.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, actually we probably haven't shown that yet. I don't think we've gotten there yet Never mind, we'll wait till the next scene this might be later, because I know who that is OK. Ok, I think I know who that is OK, good.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, it's a who's who of the classical music world at this bar.
Speaker 2:And Haley's part of it and it looks like a lot of fun. Looks a great time I wish I was there.
Speaker 1:Yes, totally yeah. So then we flash over to Thomas and Rodrigo, who are back at Thomas' apartment and they're looking for food. They're hanging out, doing what we all do typically after a concert.
Speaker 2:Thomas has been. Thomas is going through his divorce papers, which is that's a good thing that he's got Rodrigo there to be hanging out because he calls it yeah he was just served. Yeah, calls it a bittersweet symphony. And then Rodrigo goes the verve. That was a deep cut it was a deep cut Also, just a funny reference. Anyway, it's a great song, great song.
Speaker 1:He calls it. I love this line. If this were a fugue, it would be a fugue of despair, so depressing. Yeah so, maestro Thomas, he wants to drown his sorrows, but Rodrigo's like, wait, let's not go down this road. And he stops.
Speaker 2:Let's go down a different road.
Speaker 1:Let's go down a completely different road.
Speaker 2:We can step on each other's hands and something about stepping to the abyss. And I have to say from I may or may not have some information related to this subject matter that happens at this night at this party. I won't go into too many details of that, but I will say that this thing that Rodrigo pulls out, it's like have you seen this?
Speaker 2:before it's a gummy. It's essentially a gummy that looks like it's been just like kind of stuck together and then there's like actual herb on the outside of it which is very, very homemade, and he refers to it as resin, and resin is definitely a thing. It's like highly concentrated. So the fact that the two of them have this giant thing and then they split it, they basically eat the whole thing I was thinking, well, they're going to be in for quite a ride.
Speaker 1:There were mushrooms in that mix too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he said there were mushrooms in there, there was like all kinds of things going on, and yeah, it is. I mean that's one way to have a night.
Speaker 1:I mean and they did. They really did. I'm so glad you filled me in, because I looked at that and I was like what is this thing? This looks terrible yeah.
Speaker 2:It's definitely a thing and definitely very homemade.
Speaker 1:Very homemade.
Speaker 2:Did he say where you got it from? I can't remember.
Speaker 1:And now I don't remember.
Speaker 2:He probably got it from somebody like in a park somewhere.
Speaker 1:Probably yeah, he does frequent the park.
Speaker 2:So we're party hopping now we're just. That's the rest of the rest of the episode. Is party hopping right? It's so fun.
Speaker 1:We are all busy, especially those of us who teach music. We give everything to ensure our students' abilities and love of music are always growing and developing. We want to make sure each one has the right set up an instrument, but we barely have enough time to practice for ourselves sometimes.
Speaker 2:That's where Potter Violence can come in. Their sales team and technicians are also players and experts on all string things. You can send your students to try instruments, get properly sized, have their current instruments adjusted or to pick out a new bow or other string accessory. You can have total confidence that they'll be taking care of. Potters will even ship what your students need anywhere in the United States.
Speaker 1:So take one thing off your plate and send your students over to Potter Violence, no matter what they need, and Potter Violence loves teachers so much they want to offer you a 10% teachers discount because you deserve it.
Speaker 2:Visit their flagship location in Tacoma Park, maryland, their rental location in Gaithersburg, maryland, or shop online from anywhere at PotterViolencecom.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So then at this bar this must be like a Dave and Buster's kind of situation, because there's like bowling, they're bowling, there's ping pong, there's like DDR. But I love this because Haley Andrew Longlong and the guy, his name's Alan Gilbert. He used to conduct the New York film Okay, that's funny Cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then, of course, it's not a New York classical musicians party if Joshua Bell doesn't.
Speaker 1:I was just waiting for that too. I was like that dude is going to make it appear he had to. He had to right, he had to yeah.
Speaker 2:But, also okay to flip this around, though. Like how cool was it for the classical musicians who are making cameos to be like hanging out the actors and being on the TV show? You know, like it's like, it's like had to have been mutually like super fun, like, yeah, yeah. Like even if you were kind of famous in the classical music world, you'd be like oh yeah, I'm going to be on TV and you're getting like filming, blocking and learning lines and yeah, yeah, and you know this just makes me think of you know how this show was like, made classical music kind of cool for a minute.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for a minute.
Speaker 1:But that did not stick. So it's not little ploys like this that are going to bring classical music into the mainstream right.
Speaker 2:Yep, it's true. You know, it's also funny to continue to remember. Is like anybody in our lives who asked us when they watched the show like is that what your life is like? And weirdly, sometimes, yes, like I can answer yes now Random things happen. Yeah, very funny. So back to the other party.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh, I have to just say that Emmanuel Axe was playing DDR and he was my favorite. He was my favorite. Did you ever play DDR Dance and Dance Revolution? No, oh my gosh. Okay, so this was a really fun game where you actually had to, like, do the dance moves on the oh my gosh we had. We bought two mats for our house and played it. That's so fun. Yeah it was a very fond memory that he was bringing back, but also. He was just so deadpan and so funny.
Speaker 1:The whole time. Emmanuel Axe, who knew.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's always one guy at that party though. That's like that right They've got to do their thing Super serious. He was great. He was great, so fun.
Speaker 1:So yeah, then we go to the other party.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, I'm jumping around all over the place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they're tripping. Thomas is saying.
Speaker 2:I don't feel anything. I don't feel. He's literally like melting onto the floor while he's saying I don't feel anything. I have a huge tolerance. I'm so Irish, blah, blah, blah, British or whatever, and Rodrigo's already made a tent out of sheets and blankets.
Speaker 1:They made a fort.
Speaker 2:Yes, somehow he's made a fort. I do love it. I love the whole conversation. They're just talking about all these existential things and getting really deep with each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this game that they were playing I don't quite understand. They would like it's a point of the stop clock, some kind of stop clock, and ask each other a random question, and then the other one had to respond yeah, and I don't understand what the rules of this game are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why did they have two separate game clocks? What was the? I don't either, but I mean.
Speaker 1:I don't think that their characters really even knew either.
Speaker 2:Right, because they're super high. They were so high, super high.
Speaker 1:Yes, and they were getting very deep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely I liked Thomas's. Like Rodrigo said of what point did you become an adult? And he said when I was bored.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I understood that in a way.
Speaker 2:I understood that I feel like, but no, it was cool. It was like, yeah, they were just chilling, having a good time on their own, doing their own thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And then we go back to the bar and we see this montage of Josh Bell and the crew just partying it up at the bar and I wrote this looks like the best hang. Yeah, I think they were having a good time. It looks like so much fun. I would love to do that.
Speaker 2:Yep. And then we have a big plot development. I know I love this plot development. Finally, we see Gloria sing for real.
Speaker 1:They're finally putting Burnett at Peter's to work.
Speaker 2:They're finally putting Burnett at Peter's to work. And she sings this saucy little number.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, yes, come on over. Yeah, yeah, and she's at this. It must be like an open mic kind of situation. Yeah, she's at this bar, very sexy little, dimly lit bar, that's right, and so she puts her name on the list. We don't get to hear a sing yet because we flash over to what Haley and Andrew are doing, and he's doing the very cliche painting F-holes on her back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was literally. I wrote how many women has he done that to?
Speaker 1:Yes, seriously.
Speaker 2:How many photos does he have on his phone of a woman's back with F-holes on it?
Speaker 1:He could have a whole montage he probably does. Yeah, and he's way too good at that to be his first, that's right.
Speaker 2:I'm not entirely sure she cares. I mean, I think she knew what she was up for, like in for so you know good for her. Like it's great, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then we're back at Thomas' apartment where Rodrigo is kind of taking care of him. He puts a blanket over him because Thomas has passed out on the couch and then Rodrigo is going to do a little light air conducting of the Lello.
Speaker 2:Just a light a little bit in a fever dream, yes, or everybody's sitting in that room, but like the speakers are much bigger than them and kind of trippy yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so he sees different sections intermittently just pop in front of him. So the oboe section and then the violin section, bob and then Bob. Yeah, the flutes and the timpani, who always sit next to each other, by the way. By the way, by the way, in case you didn't know, that is 100% true. And of the very last flashback, or his imagining, is Hailey and she puts her oboe down. I don't know what this is supposed to symbolize, like I see you or I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know either. I don't know if he knows. I was curious about that.
Speaker 1:But I mean, we know that they end up together. So when does that happen and how? So then we're back at Andrew's hotel or apartment, wherever he is. And this is where I realized holy crap, german Bovaroni plays the cello for real.
Speaker 2:Ha ha, ha ha. He can actually play the cello.
Speaker 1:He can actually play and not like it at elementary level. Like he can play Pretty well, yeah, I think he does stuff.
Speaker 2:I think he does more stuff with like bands and things. I think he. I think he plays like non classical stuff with it. I feel like I don't know, I didn't look, I didn't bother to look it up. Maybe he is recording somewhere, who knows? Yeah with a group.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was great. Yeah, they're having a cute sexy time yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just having a good time, just having a nice little dalliance, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he does say something that's really interesting. He's reflecting on the difference between being a soloist and what Hailey does, which is kind of in the bureaucracy of orchestra life, and I thought this was a really interesting. Like he's having a sliding doors moment. Yeah, like what? What it would have my life would have been like if I had gone down that road. Maybe it would have been easier, but I wouldn't be able to be the artist that I am today.
Speaker 2:Yep, I thought it was very interesting.
Speaker 1:It felt very relevant Totally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's like the thing he said about you're always serving someone else's vision. I was like, yeah, we have that conversation a lot. We have that conversation a lot, and what does it? What does it feel like to if your whole life is devoted for that, as opposed to your own vision? I mean, yeah, it's interesting to think about the sliding doors aspect of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, even if that's what you choose, that's never going to be your whole life, right? Right, you always have the opportunity or the ability to do something different with your own time yeah that's true, that's true. So yeah, Anyway, that was very interesting.
Speaker 2:It was, it was nice.
Speaker 1:And then we go over and we see Gloria perform at the at the sexy little club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for a little sexy little song.
Speaker 1:And who's there?
Speaker 2:Pa-va.
Speaker 1:Pa-va with the bad, whatever accent he is going for. What is that?
Speaker 2:accent. It's supposed to be some kind of Eastern European something or other, yeah, or like Russian or something yeah. I assume it's. Yes, it's supposed to be generic, yes, some sort of?
Speaker 1:Okay. Well then Eastern block who does that? Accent yeah but they have a moment yeah.
Speaker 2:She goes up and sings to him and very saucy, yes.
Speaker 1:And later he says that it relaxes him to be around amateurs, which I thought was really cute. Yeah, he's around professionals all the time. That's right, but this somehow is, I don't know he enjoys this time Look for a year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah that makes sense I know. I wonder what's brewing with the two of them.
Speaker 1:I hope something, me too, something dimly lit and, I don't know, sultry, sultry.
Speaker 2:Can Bernadette Peters not be sultry?
Speaker 1:No, she's so great.
Speaker 2:It's in her DNA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like she just came alive when she was singing that yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, that's her thing. Man oh man.
Speaker 1:And then we see that the orchestra is packing for their tour. They're going and I loved seeing what people were putting in their suitcases.
Speaker 2:Did you know that? No, I did not. Actually, to be totally honest, I must have had a moment, a distracted moment, there.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay. So Cynthia is putting off packing. She's just smoking a cig on her couch, laying with her cello out. You know, like as we do, and then we flash her for to someone's suitcase and it has drugs, like prescription drugs and hand sanitizer, and it has toilet paper, Just a whole suitcase full of that stuff. Because you know, in South America well near a toilet paper to be found Apparently Like they're staying somewhere where it doesn't have toilet paper.
Speaker 2:I don't believe that that's hilarious B-Y-O-T-P. Maybe that they have a special kind they need, you know, for sensitive skin, sensitive bottoms.
Speaker 1:Well, it flashes out and you see that it's Eugene Bob who's packing, called the TP Enhanced Hand Hanger. Of course it is. Yeah, that's great. And then the very last scene that we see is pretty amazing. They're at the bar which miraculously has like some kind of performance level piano. It's like a baby grand. That was not an upright piano.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And Long Long is playing Brahms. Very Hungarian.
Speaker 2:Yep, I wrote on-core. Yes.
Speaker 1:Well, haley just lounges sexily in the background, which was great. I was sitting there wondering. I was like is she pretending to be Haley, or is she just sitting there enjoying this? I got the feeling she was just sitting there enjoying it.
Speaker 2:It was like it felt like an outtake thing, like they are just hanging out afterwards. It just happened to be filmed. I'm sure they did it on purpose, but it felt that way, like it was just because it was sort of after they wouldn't have been in the bar anymore. So it was like, yeah, it was literally like an outtake or an on-core kind of thing that they just threw at the end, which I loved, I think. I feel like it was genuinely the actress just being like holy crap, I can't believe.
Speaker 2:I'm sitting here, watching this up close, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's very cool. So I wonder what it was. Like you said, I wonder what it was like for the classical musicians to be among all these actors, what it was like for these actors For sure To be among all these musicians. Yeah yeah, I was kind of shocked. We didn't see Josh Bell like whip out his violin and like do a ho down with long, long or something.
Speaker 2:Well, they already paid him to do that at the beginning of the series.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's right, he played the Chekhovski.
Speaker 2:They could only shell out money for one huge soloist in a season or something.
Speaker 1:I wonder if they did it for free. Probably a nominal fee. I doubt it. I bet an agent.
Speaker 2:I bet an agent negotiated something for them.
Speaker 1:I hope so.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But anyway I loved it. It was a very entertaining episode yeah, it was fun. It was not as cringy as previous ones.
Speaker 2:100% true yeah, fascinating to see what tour is like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bring on the cringe. I'm sure we're gonna see a lot of faking, so much faking and fake South America.
Speaker 2:Yep, here we come.
Speaker 1:Like what's the most South America part of the Bronx we can find to film in. What LA set can we make look like South America Hilarious?
Speaker 2:So stay tuned. Thank you so much for listening today. If you loved this episode, consider writing us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, amazon Music, spotify or wherever you listen.
Speaker 1:Thanks also to our season sponsor, Potter Violence.
Speaker 2:If you'd like to support the podcast and get access to bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community.
Speaker 1:You can buy all your Musician-centric merch, including shirts, water bottles, koozies and a variety of other fun items.
Speaker 2:Our theme music was written and produced by JP Wogerman and is performed by Stefan Myself.
Speaker 1:Our episodes are produced by Liz O'Hara and edited by Emily McMahon.
Speaker 2:Thanks again for listening. Let's talk soon.