Music and Film: Battle of the Conductors

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The year 2026 offers a feast for lovers of music and film. In our last column I mentioned the new TV show about Mozart, based on the play Amadeus by Peter Schaffer. The five-episode series began airing Jan. 5 on STACKTV. A few days later, the highly-anticipated film The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes as choirmaster, was released in some cinemas, including the Cinéplex Forum. We’ll talk a little about these two major releases—without giving too much away!

Amadeus revisited

You don’t need to have seen the 1984 film by Miloš Forman to enjoy the new version by Joe Barton. However, those of you who did see it will have double the fun rediscovering the characters and the intrigue, and comparing the two versions.

First of all, Paul Bettany is terrifyingly good as Salieri. He brings to Mozart’s rival a far more poisonous, sadistic dimension than that offered by Murray Abraham in 1984. Rory Kinnear plays the emperor as a charismatic and inspirational man, kind to his subordinates, while exuding authority as head of state and head of the armed forces. His is certainly the better version of Joseph II. The five episodes look more deeply at this political aspect, but it’s also worth noting that the role is better written here than in the Forman version.

Next are Gabrielle Creevy (Constance) and Jonathan Aris (Leopold), faithful to the memory and image we might have of their characters. However, some scenes depict too crudely the conflicts between Mozart and his father, and between Mozart and Salieri. A bit more subtlety might be in order!

As Mozart, William Sharpe offers less of a caricature than did Tom Hulce, putting him on a plane that’s closer to us and our everyday concerns—but there’s the problem: Mozart was by definition apart from the norm, being the incarnation of human genius, yet this Mozart seems not to exhibit much genius at all. Having said that, the series’ rendition of the first public performance of the Great Mass in C Minor, conducted by Mozart with Constance at his side singing the solo part, is one of its most memorable and moving scenes.

The Choral

Ralph Fiennes in The Choral
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Released in theatres on Jan. 9, The Choral also has a profoundly musical theme. Unlike the actors playing Mozart and Salieri, Ralph Fiennes gives a truly convincing impression of someone capable of conducting an orchestra, a choir or any large production. The British star—also known for The English Patient, Conclave and the Harry Potter films—naturally inhabits the role of a choirmaster who is capable of determining what is right, or not right, in a rehearsal. But he is no more the star of the film than are Roger Allam, director of a music society in decline; Amara Okereke, chorister with the voice of an angel; or Jacob Dudman, a First World War amputee who turns out to have a wonderful tenor voice.

We are in a Yorkshire town in the final months of the war that decimated Europe. Some soldiers are returning from the front transformed forever, while others are leaving their wives and families thinking they might never see them again. With varying degrees of success, most seek human warmth and closeness, while others reject this kind of contact to protect themselves from the horrors of war. The film treats its subject with infinite dignity, while clothing itself in music and musical culture—all thanks to director Nicholas Hytner, writer Alan Bennett and director of photography Mike Eley.

The visual composition is gorgeous, paying subliminal tribute to famous English landscape painters such as John Constable and John Crome. It powerfully encapsulates the drama with some scenes that are veritable tableaux vivants.

The masterwork that fires the choirmaster and his singers, rehearsal after rehearsal, is Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. We dive into a composer’s musical world that recalls the works of Gabriel Fauré, culminating in a concert against the backdrop of the First World War.

If you’ve ever sung in a choir, this film is for you!