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What We Love And Hate About 'Mozart In The Jungle'

Tom Huizenga

Anastasia Tsioulcas

Gael García Bernal (right), Bernadette Peters and Malcolm McDowell star in the classical music comedy series Mozart in the Jungle . Nicole Rivelli/Amazon Studios hide caption

Gael García Bernal (right), Bernadette Peters and Malcolm McDowell star in the classical music comedy series Mozart in the Jungle .

Pill popping, pot smoking, back-stabbing, bed hopping and tantrum throwing — now we're talking classical music! At least that's what the new Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle would have us believe is all in a day's work for orchestra musicians. The 10-part series is based on a tell-all book of the same name published a decade ago by oboist Blair Tindall.

The small-screen version depicts the fictitious New York Symphony on the threshold of its season-opening concert, the first with its charismatic but capricious new conductor Rodrigo (single name only, please!), played with goofy charm by Gael García Bernal and more than loosely inspired by Gustavo Dudamel , the dynamic Los Angeles Philharmonic music director. There's also a perky newcomer oboist named Hailey (modeled on Tindall), played by Lola Kirke; the orchestra's general manager Gloria, in a believable turn by Bernadette Peters; and Malcolm McDowell as the high-strung conductor replaced by Rodrigo. (The series is also stuffed with guest appearances, from violinist Joshua Bell as himself to Wallace Shawn playing a hyper-neurotic pianist in the tradition of Glenn Gould .)

Sex, Drugs And Wandering Batons: Classical Musicians (Finally) Get Some Screen Time

For classical music nerds (and a few critics ), the series has triggered something of a tempest in a teapot. Indeed, whenever the entertainment industry takes on a profession, be it doctors, lawyers or meth cookers, there are bound to be gaffes experts will grouse about. But Mozart in the Jungle seems to have more easily avoidable goofs than it should, from the music programming to the ways actors hold their instruments.

Still, the series tries to have fun. And when's the last time you saw a show in which classical music and pop culture collide? Here are a few of our favorite moments — for better and/or worse.

Sibelius on TV

Given the perceived disinterest in classical music in this country, I have to admit a certain giddy joy just watching a program about an orchestra. Alas, only occasionally is the music given enough breathing room to display its powers. Music does shine brightly in the final episode, where the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius has a glorious moment. — TH

"Hailey, will you please make my maté?"

The fresh-faced, oboe-playing heroine is recruited to assist conductor Rodrigo. One of her jobs is to concoct his beloved yerba maté tea, yet her dream is to play in the orchestra. Her personal crisis of identity is mirrored in the show itself. It can't really make up its mind what it wants to be. Is it a behind the scenes peek at classical music? Is it Hailey's story, a kind of Mary Tyler Moore in the symphonic world? Or is it just a comedic romp that uses a fictitious New York orchestra as a framing device? — TH

Betty: "What are you, some kind of masochist?"

Hailey: "Maybe, I don't know. Don't you kind of have to be to play the oboe?"

Very occasionally, the show is absolutely on point. While some may think that willfully secluding oneself in the confines of classical music is its own form of masochism — considering an infamous academic study in which orchestral musicians demonstrated less job satisfaction than federal prison guards — one could argue that oboists have a particularly sorry lot. They have to deal with an incredibly finicky instrument, constantly make and refine their equipment in a very time-consuming and mind-blowingly detailed process and, at least according to tradition, suffer a higher risk of serious and alarming injuries (especially to the eyes and brain). So yes, Hailey, you're probably something of a masochist. — AT

"Classical music has been losing money for people for 500 years. It's not a business."

Always looking for fundraising opportunities, Gloria, the head of the symphony, admits that the orchestra's finances are in trouble. I appreciate how the show at least touches on some of the contemporary concerns about classical music, including tensions between the musicians union and management and crazy marketing schemes drummed up to spin the music as something hip for younger audiences. — TH

Guest DJ: Gael García Bernal's Music Diaries

Jacques Ibert's Pièce .

For me, the best episode in the first season without question is "You Go to My Head," episode 7. Written by Adam Brooks and Kate Gersten, and directed by Roman Coppola (who along with Schwartzman and Alex Timbers created Mozart ), it's a lovely and dreamy episode artfully stitched with tons of tiny, emotionally truthful moments. We watch a very young girl, Alice, play this music by Ibert on her flute. Rodrigo, mesmerized, seeks her out and asks her what she feels when she plays. She says the most beautiful thing: "When I play in front of my teacher, I'm mostly thinking about how I don't want to make a mistake. But when I'm home, and I play to myself, I really don't think at all. And when I finish, it's like waking from a dream." — AT

Bending down on hand and knee to clean up bird poop with a scarf. (Really?)

In Mozart in the Jungle 's fake New York, almost none of the players we see are Asian — whereas in reality, many American orchestras have a significant number of players of East Asian background and descent. But the character of Asian descent given by far the most screen time in the series is Sharon, the weirdly subservient and sycophantic administrative minion who figures heavily in the first couple of episodes. One of her big moments is rushing to clean up some parrot guano with her own clothing — scrubbing off Rodrigo's shoe, no less. The pileup of ugly stereotypes gives me the heebie-jeebies. — AT

Performing Mahler's Eighth Symphony ("Symphony of a Thousand") is a Really Big Deal.

There are good reasons Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony is rarely performed. The difficult piece takes, at a minimum, hundreds of singers and players. Early in the series, Rodrigo decides at the last moment to change a program to include it. That would never happen because you couldn't pull all the moving parts together that quickly. And when they do rehearse the symphony, there are far too few musicians on stage. — TH

"Welcome Bach."

"That was Xenakis with Analogiques A et B . You're listening to another edition of B. Sharp , a musical podcast where classical music is our forte ... First question: Is classical music dead?" This is the introduction to a podcast interview hosted by one Bradford Sharp (played by Jason Schwartzman, one of the creators of this series). Between Sharp's choice of incredibly challenging music, the string of horrendous puns and his idiotic opening question , how could I not love this bit? — AT

And no, Hailey, you can't clean an oboe with wet wipes.

This is one of a gazillion tiny, telling details the show gets utterly wrong. (I won't even touch the glaring mistakes the actors make in pretending to play.) I'm sure that this is just as true for legal eagles watching Law & Order reruns, but it's galling just the same — maybe partly because a pop culture spotlight is so rarely thrown on the classical world. (The real answer, by the way, is to clean an oboe with a cloth swab. Or a turkey's tail feather. Seriously.) — AT

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Television Review

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By Mike Hale

• Dec. 22, 2014

For Amazon, “Transparent” was a little like the 1968 New York Jets of the upstart American Football League, the surprise winners of Super Bowl III. After Netflix scored the first two big victories in the original-digital game with “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black,” Amazon (in this metaphor, the A.F.L.) turned the tables with “Transparent,” one of the best- reviewed series of the year, when it appeared in September.

Which makes “Mozart in the Jungle,” a 10-episode show about classical musicians that Amazon will post on Tuesday, the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs. It’s Amazon’s second winner in a row, and suddenly the two major on-demand streaming video services look much more evenly matched, a perception reinforced by the yawns that greeted Netflix’s sand-and-sex drama, “Marco Polo,” less than two weeks ago.

“Transparent” and “Mozart in the Jungle” both stand out, in the first place, for what they’re not; neither is about crime, politics or the supernatural. Of course, they’re both comedies, technically, but they’re more serious in tone and more naturalistic in style than a great majority of television dramas. Jill Soloway’s “Transparent,” about three bruised Los Angeles siblings and their father, who’s working on becoming a woman, may be the closest a serial drama has come to replicating the texture of an indie movie.

The new show, based on Blair Tindall’s book , “Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music,” is a lighter and more diffuse production. At times, it feels like a smarter, less melodramatic version of a backstage series like “Smash” (or a less over-the-top version of a superior backstage story like “Slings and Arrows”). Its mix of uptown and downtown Manhattan locations and its satire of upper-crust cultural pretensions recall “Sex and the City.”

And in some scenes — especially those involving Gael García Bernal as the sexy, impulsive new conductor of a major New York orchestra, presumably modeled on Gustavo Dudamel of the Los Angeles Philharmonic — there’s a trace of the whimsical influence of Wes Anderson.

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Mozart in the Jungle: Season 1 Reviews

Between Tar, The Conductor, Maestro, and Maestra — conductors in Hollywood are having a moment. But before those films came the giddy, preposterously titled dramedy Mozart in the Jungle.

Full Review | Jan 3, 2024

For those of us who aren't familiar with his film work, it's as great a joy to discover Bernal and to watch a TV star blossom before our eyes in a performance that is comic, moving and sexy all at once.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 28, 2020

[T]he performances informing these characters remaining as intriguing as ever... and that's what would keep me on board should Amazon green light another episode of this odd, occasionally quirky (and very good) little dramedy.

Full Review | Feb 28, 2020

Attempts, and fails, to make classical music hip and sexy.

Full Review | Jan 7, 2019

One of the funniest, most charming comedies going. You could do far worse than spend a portion of a winter weekend submitting to its serenade.

It's rare for a show to feature such diversity in age without any characters coming off as afterthoughts or caricatures. And even the cameos are strong, particularly John Hodgman.

Food, dance, and impromptu jam sessions break out, all captured with a visual elegance and pacing rarely found in TV delivered in any medium.

Mozart in the Jungle is a slightly awkward comedy-drama that may or may not have audiences hooked when it becomes a full-scale show. But as a revelation of what producers, directors, and studios think that classical music is, it's fascinating.

Mozart's locations are its strongest point, followed only by its rich ensemble of characters... The series does improve as it progresses, and finally begins to resemble a movie.

Rather than lifting the curtain on classical music, however, this series focuses on the sex and drugs while almost gleefully flaunting its utter ignorance of the field, trotting out one cliche and stereotype about classical music after another.

Mozart in the Jungle benefits from the lack of filler. The half-hours fly by, which makes for perfect binging.

The individual scenes are almost invariably rewarding, with sharp comic writing and mostly excellent work from the ensemble, particularly a vital and fully engaged Mr. García Bernal and Debra Monk

Mozart, which is not remotely highbrow, has a surprisingly happy, youthful buzz -- much like Bernal, in fact.

Mozart in the Jungle succeeds most when it pulls back enough to reveal the economic and creative ironies plaguing classical music since its inception.

Full Review | Nov 7, 2016

There's a buoyancy to it that is absolutely as seductive as the music.

Full Review | Mar 2, 2015

There's a silly montage of various musicians and their sexual styles; hot maestros are besieged by crowds of autograph hounds. Yet the silliness can be infectious.

Full Review | Jan 21, 2015

An interesting, colorful look at a world I don't know well, filled with fun performances, and you can watch the show improve right along with the orchestra itself.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jan 7, 2015

What sets Mozart apart from MTV shows, though, is that here we have a handful of twentysomethings and a lot of older folks, not vice versa. It plays this fresh turf well, on both sides. If Mozart were here, he'd probably write the theme song.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 6, 2015

What works so well is that Mozart isn't afraid to throw you into a world you're likely unfamiliar with, but it doesn't swim so far into the deep end that you immediately drown in jargon and distanced dramatic stakes.

Full Review | Jan 5, 2015

The pushy tone of the pilot gives way to a kind of detailed yet dreamy naturalism, and the action moves out into the city and beyond.

Full Review | Jan 4, 2015

TV Review: Amazon’s ‘Mozart in the Jungle’

By Brian Lowry

Brian Lowry

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Buoyed by superb casting and an organic setting for flamboyant, larger-than-life characters, “ Mozart in the Jungle ” may not qualify as a masterpiece, but it falls squarely into the pleasant-addition-to-the-neighborhood category in Amazon ’s impressive package of original series. Indeed, on a conventional network, this half-hour show – whose producers include Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman – would feel like the perfect lead-out to “Alpha House,” the streamer’s D.C.-set comedy, which also provides a satirical window onto a world of money, power and egos that operates by its own arcane set of rules.

In what feels like a particular coup, “Mozart’s” ensemble features Gael Garcia Bernal as the new conductor of the New York Symphony, taking the baton from his imperious predecessor, Thomas, played with appropriate swagger by Malcolm McDowell. Bernal’s maestro Rodrigo is the sort who can get by with one name, Cher-like, while bringing a rock-n-roll vibe to classical music (his hair receives inordinate attention).

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That said, he’s uncomfortable with efforts to exploit that mystique by, say, trotting himself out like a prize pony in front of well-heeled donors, as well as a board led by a trustee (Bernadette Peters) seemingly more interested in marketing than music.

Popular on Variety

All this is witnessed largely through the eyes of the obligatory newcomer, Hailey (Lola Kirke), an oboe player who dreams of more than just giving lessons to snotty rich kids, and who gains an opportunity to audition for the orchestra when Rodrigo begins implementing changes, much to the chagrin of its elder members. Hailey is taken under the wing of Cynthia (Saffron Burrows), a cellist who moonlights by playing in an off-off-Broadway production of a Styx musical (yes, the “I’m Sailing Away” band), which is only one of her interesting extracurricular activities.

Adapted by Coppola, Schwartzman and Alex Timbers from a book by Blair Tindall subtitled “Sex, Drugs & Classical Music,” and directed by Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”), the premiere has a breezy quality that remains intact throughout. That’s helpful, since the sense of urgency surrounding the narrative fades after the first couple of episodes (seven of the 10 were previewed) establish the premise.

Much of the ongoing conflict stems from Rodrigo’s efforts to invigorate an orchestra where members fret a lot about non-musical issues like making sure their designated coffee breaks aren’t overlooked. (Schwartzman, incidentally, appears in a later episode as a podcaster who interviews Thomas, one of several amusing cameos.)

By introducing this series on the heels of “Transparent,” Amazon continues to make waves in the half-hour arena, a genre where others have conspicuously struggled of late. And while “Mozart” is surely a niche confection, the show generally shines by proving long on charm even when it’s short on laughs.

OK, so it’s classical, not a classic. “Mozart in the Jungle” is nevertheless another legitimate player to emerge from the teeming thicket of providers eager to garner attention with prestige programs. And while that might not be enough to bring the crowd to its feet, it’s still worthy of a few “Bravos.”

(Series; Amazon, Dec. 23)

• Production: Filmed in New York by American Zoetrope, Coconut Pictures and Picrow.
• Crew: Executive producers, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Weitz, John Strauss; co-executive producer, Alex Timbers; producers, Michael Zakin, Caroline Baron; director, Weitz; writers, Coppola, Schwartzman, Timbers; based on the book by Blair Tindall; camera, Ben Kutchins; production designer, Sarah Knowles; editor, Catherine Haight; music, Roger Neill; music supervisors, Randall Poster, Meghan Currier; casting, Douglas Aibel, Henry Russell Bergstein. 30 MIN.
• Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Saffron Burrows, Hannah Dunne, Lola Kirke, Peter Vack, Bernadette Peters, Malcolm McDowell

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Hailey (Lola Kirke) is a struggling musician that has dedicated her life to the oboe. As the New York Symphony Orchestra reluctantly welcomes its new conductor, the controversial Rodrigo de Souza (Gael García Bernal), Hailey gives her all and tries to join the orchestra. But getting to play with some of the world’s best musicians isn’t only a difficult goal to attain, it is also a life-consuming struggle. Inspired by the accounts of oboist Blair Tindall in her book Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music, the show follows the orchestra through its ups and downs , portraying the current state of classical music with all its power struggles, insane competitiveness , and reluctance to change. While Mozart in the Jungle has a strong cast (Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Bernadette Peters), Gael García Bernal steals the show with a golden globe-winning performance that perfectly fits the charming, lighthearted nature of the series.

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Mozart in the Jungle

Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries) stars as Rodrigo, the hotshot new conductor of the New York Symphony. He is joined by Malcolm McDowell (Franklin & Bash) as Thomas, a more seasoned conductor being forced into retirement by Rodrigo, Lola Kirke (Reaching for the Moon) as the impressionable oboist Hailey, and Bernadette Peters (Smash) who plays Gloria, the Chairwoman of the Board of the symphony. Mozart in the Jungle also stars Saffron Burrows (Law and Order: Criminal Intent) as Cynthia, a cellist in the middle of an affair with Thomas, Peter Vack (CBGB) as Joshua, a talented dancer out of Julliard who becomes Hailey’s love interest, and Hannah Dunne (This is It) as Lizzie, Hailey’s friend and roommate.

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Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle Trailer with Gael Garcia Bernal

Gael Garcia Bernal stars as the new conductor of the New York Symphony in the first trailer for Amazon Studios' Mozart in the Jungle.

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Protesters disrupt stephen colbert’s interview with nancy pelosi during live ‘late show’ broadcast, ‘mozart in the jungle’ review: dominic patten on amazon’s classical confrontation.

By Dominic Patten

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Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcolm McDowell square off delightfully in Amazon’s newest series,  Mozart in the Jungle , featuring the two as different generations of conductors for a troubled New York orchestra. As I say in my video review above, this adventurous show hits many high notes, with only a few quiet patches. The show launched today with all episodes on Amazon.

Other stars include Saffron Burrows , Bernadette Peters , Lola Kirke and Peter Vack. You’ll also see all-world violinist Joshua Bell. Roman Coppola , Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers created the series, and Paul Weitz directed the pilot (now the first episode). The show launched on Amazon today in its entirety, just in time for you to get in tune with some truly catty conflict between terrific actors in an unusual milieu for TV.

Will you watch the show? Let us know.

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Mozart in the jungle.

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Common Sense Media Review

Sex, drugs, and classical music in mature online series.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Mozart in the Jungle explores a little-seen side of classical music that features strong, unbleeped language (including "f--k," "s--t," and "pr--k"), drinking and drug use (mostly pot), and simulated sex that stops just short of showing any nudity. The show is based on a…

Why Age 17+?

Unbleeped cursing includes "f--k," "s--t,"and "bitch," plus sexually charged ter

Sexual content can be steamy, stopping short of nudity but featuring multiple pa

Characters engage in social drinking (including shots) and drug use (mostly pot)

Any Positive Content?

Talent is important in the classical world that's depicted, but it often takes a

Characters' musical talents are obvious and admirable, but the characters make a

Unbleeped cursing includes "f--k," "s--t,"and "bitch," plus sexually charged terms such as "t-ts," "shaft," "balls," and "pr--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual content can be steamy, stopping short of nudity but featuring multiple partners and salty talk such as "percussionists pound you like you're in a porno."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters engage in social drinking (including shots) and drug use (mostly pot) in party situations, often to excess.

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Positive Messages

Talent is important in the classical world that's depicted, but it often takes a backseat to bed-hopping and social connections. Characters' excesses also tend to be glorified, particularly when it comes to partying.

Positive Role Models

Characters' musical talents are obvious and admirable, but the characters make a slew of iffy choices -- from binge drinking to bed-hopping -- that diminish their power as positive role models.

Parents need to know that Mozart in the Jungle explores a little-seen side of classical music that features strong, unbleeped language (including "f--k," "s--t," and "pr--k"), drinking and drug use (mostly pot), and simulated sex that stops just short of showing any nudity. The show is based on a controversial memoir of the same name chronicling the seedier side of a young oboist's classical music career.

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Mozart in the Jungle is a good education for teens and above looking to venture into a career in the performing arts workd

Sex scenes not fit for children, what's the story.

Based on the titillating memoir of the same name by Blair Tindall, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE follows an assortment of classical music artists working in New York City, centering on talented young oboist Hailey (Lola Kirke) and her interactions with a variety of big-name players. While Hailey navigates the ins and outs of getting hired, the city's storied symphony is undergoing changes of its own with the retirement of the seasoned maestro ( Malcolm McDowell ) and the arrival of his replacement, a hot young conductor ( Gael Garcia Bernal ).

Is It Any Good?

Mozart in the Jungle isn't the only original series from Amazon Studios to harness the power of established stars (see also: Transparent ), but its credentialed cast is certainly impressive and exciting, from McDowell and Bernal, who play the dueling maestros in a battle of then vs. now, to Tony winner Bernadette Peters , who plays the chair of the symphony board -- not to mention Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman , and Alex Timbers, who penned the script. Several well-known classical musicians make cameos, too, making Mozart feel a little like Smash with a highbrow twist.

But, much like Smash , which drew a small but loyal audience of Broadway fans before it was ultimately canceled, Mozart might suffer from limited appeal, even in spite of its attempts to spice up classical music's stuffy image with sex and drugs aplenty. For consenting adults, there's enough here to like, but, for impressionable teens -- particularly those with aspirations to play music professionally -- Mozart roundly sets the wrong tone.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about classical music stereotypes and how Mozart in the Jungle often shatters them. How much of what you're seeing is based on fact, and how much has been sensationalized for TV? Does the show help or hurt classical music's image?

How does the televised version of Mozart in the Jungle compare to the memoir that inspired it? What changes were made, and do you think they were necessary?

Does the fact that Mozart in the Jungle airs on Amazon allow it to take more liberties in terms of content than traditional television shows? How has the advent of on-demand, original content changed the television landscape?

• Premiere date : December 23, 2014
• Cast : Gael Garcia Bernal , Bernadette Peters , Lola Kirke
• Network : Amazon Prime Video
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Arts and Dance , Book Characters , Music and Sing-Along
• TV rating : TV-MA
• Award : Golden Globe - Golden Globe Award Winner
• Last updated : June 20, 2024

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What is Mozart in the Jungle? A curious consumer’s guide to a show that exists

By Lizzie Plaugic

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Have you heard of the TV show Mozart in the Jungle ? I hadn’t until this morning, but apparently there’s already been an entire season of it, and season two premieres tonight at midnight on Amazon Instant Video. Now I, a person who has not seen Mozart in the Jungle , will answer all your questions about it.

Who decided it would be a good idea to name a show Mozart in the Jungle ?

Mozart in the Jungle is based on Blair Tindall’s memoir, Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music , about her time spent playing the oboe in high-brow orchestras like the New York Philharmonic. It was published in 2005, when everyone was still chasing the Kitchen Confidential "these professionals aren’t as buttoned up as you’d think" formula. Tindall also has a YouTube show called Where’s Blair in which she visits places around the world and plays the oboe to exotic trees. This is her website .

So the show is about Blair Tindall and trees?

It appears Mozart in the Jungle — written by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Alex Timbers — is only very loosely based on Tindall’s memoir, but I can’t say for sure, having neither read the book nor seen the show. It stars Gael García Bernal as the Gordon Ramsay of classical music, Rodrigo De Souza, a new conductor at the fictional New York Symphony. Rodrigo has been described by those who have seen the show as " childlike ," " eccentric but brilliant " and an " oversexed and unconventional enfant terrible ." All of this will be obvious from the first time you see Rodrigo: he wears kimonos and has long, unruly hair with gentle, carefully waved tresses that hang out of his ponytail and frame his tortured genius face.

The other characters in the show all revolve around the New York Symphony like little fretful moons in cocktail attire clutching woodwinds. Cynthia Taylor (Saffron Burrows), the second cello in the Symphony, is the wiser, older friend of Hailey Rutledge (Lola Kirke), a struggling oboist. Hailey starts sleeping with Alex Merriweather (Peter Vack), another long-haired charmer boy who has the blessed distinction of being both a bartender and a ballet dancer. Bernadette Peters plays Gloria Windsor, the president of the Symphony who wants her employees to be modern, cool, totally hip renegades. Malcolm McDowell plays Thomas Pembridge, the aging classical music wizard whose sole purpose is to hate Rodrigo, because everyone loves him, his hair, and his avant garde way of waving a baton.

This is what I have so far: good hair, flailing symphony trying to prove its relevance, angry old guy — What's the point of this show?

The elevator pitch of Mozart in the Jungle appears to have been, Hey, classical music can be cool, too . It tries to make the case that classical musicians are not the graceful, formal-attire-wearing, Chopin-discussing intellectuals you’ve always imagined them as. When Cynthia first meets Hailey, she says menacingly, "I thought I knew every oboist in town," which is something I also like to say to people I have just met. Oh, and woodwinds aren’t the only things being clutched here. The show has been described as having " gratuitous " sex scenes. You’re too bad, Mozart in the Jungle !

What dated cultural references should I keep an eye out for?

2009 is poised for a comeback in Mozart in the Jungle ’s second season. During the opening title cards of every episode this season, a different version of Phoenix’s " Lisztomania " will play in place of a theme song. It’s beautifully altruistic of Mozart ’s creators to bring this festival dance party relic back to the forefront of cool-kid consciousness. And just imagine what it would sound like on a flute! Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars is Roman Coppola’s brother-in-law?

Okay so maybe the soundtrack is off, but is the show actually any good?

Hard to say. Some people seem to like it, and some people don’t. It manages to seem both dramatic and generally plotless, which is an impressive feat even if it doesn’t make for great TV. According to the AV Club , one scene features Hailey and a flautist taking shots of liquor as they drunkenly volley challenging pieces of music back and forth; this has the potential to be a clever depiction of an illuminating new drinking game, or an attempt to shove comedy into a joyless show.

Because it’s a show about classical music, MitJ has also prompted several puns from publications reviewing the show, who have said it " hits the right notes ," " plays some passionate new notes ," and " hits a few flat notes ." So there you have it: Mozart in the Jungle , a show featuring Gael García Bernal, oboes, sex, and several kinds of notes.

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Review: ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ on Amazon gets good after woeful pilot

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All that follows the first several paragraphs of this review will constitute an endorsement, so I encourage you to keep reading past the negative opening remarks, as I would encourage you to keep watching “Mozart in the Jungle,” whose first season begins Tuesday on Amazon, past its so-so, sometimes off-putting pilot. It gets good thereafter — very good.

The 10-episode series, which comes from executive producers Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers — who wrote the pilot, as well — is based on oboist Blair Tindall’s 2005 book of the same name, subtitled “Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music.” Part memoir, part institutional analysis, it largely relates Tindall’s adventures in the New York music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, where, you may be surprised to know, classical musicians carried on like other New Yorkers in those years. (See subtitle, above.)

The sex, or the humorous suggestion thereof, begins at the beginning, the camera close-up on a woman’s mouth as she says, “It’s easier with the lips slightly wet.” This is Hailey (Lola Kirke); she is giving an oboe lesson to a 12-year-old boy, who later sends a text to reinforce the obvious metaphor.

Hailey is that figure familiar to stories of the wicked stage, the wide-eyed naif come to find fortune and creative fulfillment in the big city. She is the author, sort of, spruced up.

Substituting in a Broadway pit orchestra, she meets cellist Cynthia (Saffron Burrows), who takes Hailey under her wing in order to introduce her to the other characters and get her closer to the main action. This takes place around the fictional New York Symphony, where old maestro Thomas (Malcolm McDowell) is being kicked upstairs into an empty title to make room for new maestro Rodrigo (Gael García Bernal), a curly haired, feral, foreign wunderkind.

Possibly someone was thinking a little of Gustavo Dudamel in creating him. Chairwoman of the Board Gloria (Bernadette Peters) stands between them. I mean, it’s a cast.

Yet the pilot feels at once overdone and underfunded. It wants to shock us, a little, which is never a good way to start.

Everything feels a little too obvious, the characters a conglomeration of clashing attitudes rather than a collection of real people whose spite might be mixed with respect — or, more to the point, perhaps, whose respect might, nevertheless, contain a little spite.

Small things rankle. The orchestra looks too young, the spaces where poor musicians live — the show is set in the current Manhattan real estate market, not the 1980s’ — are too big. The pilot tries a little too hard to live up to the book’s subtitle.

But that’s what pilots are for, partly — to find out what doesn’t work. Once the series is out on open water and the course is adjusted, things start to improve.

Characters who were mouthpieces for attitudes start to seem like people, more complicated than a thumbnail description can accommodate. You grow interested in what will become of them without expecting or rooting for any particular outcome.

Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be any standard narrative playing out, just a web of interconnected small stories — about work, love, the financial health of the orchestra and the making of art. (It comes to resemble, not unfavorably, the great Canadian series “Slings and Arrows,” about a perennially, not abnormally beleaguered Shakespeare festival.)

The portrayal of the milieu and its mechanics grows convincing. I can’t say how accurate it is — some of it accords with Tindall’s book, at least, though I can’t say how accurate that is, either — but, more to the point, it feels right. You stop thinking about what seems far-fetched and start nodding with interest.

The pushy tone of the pilot relaxes into a kind of dreamy naturalism. The sex and drugs fade into the fabric of the piece — more important, there is music to make and an orchestra to run.

There is some backing out of unprofitable avenues. Schwartzman drops in to play a journalist, which feels a bit like a rescue mission, but he’s very funny and provides just the right amount of lift.

New characters are introduced, most profitably Debra Monk as Betty, an older oboist who at first looks at Hailey askance, but her character too grows richer as the series proceeds. (I am really looking forward to its second season.)

And not only do the characters come into better focus, but the places where they work and live feel right, and look right, as the series becomes a world. The pushy tone of the pilot gives way to a kind of detailed yet dreamy naturalism, and the action moves out into the city and beyond.

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• #62 Best Series about drug traffickers, mafia and drugs
• "[It] is romantic, funny and fresh--ripe for binge-viewing."  Joanne Ostrow : Denver Post
• "The show works because the writers realize that the apparent central story line is of less importance than the silliness of running a major orchestra."  David Wiegand : SFGATE
• "The show generally shines by proving long on charm even when it’s short on laughs."  Brian Lowry : Variety
• "'Mozart' is an intriguing, fresh new dramedy."  Tim Goodman : The Hollywood Reporter
• "At times, it feels like a smarter, less melodramatic version of a backstage series like 'Smash'."  Mike Hale : The New York Times

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125+ Movies And Shows With Jungle In The Title

Get ready to unleash your inner explorer with this wild roundup of the best movies and shows featuring 'jungle' in their titles. From thrilling adventures that'll have you on the edge of your seat to mystical journeys through lush, green wonderlands, there's something here for every adventurer at heart.

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Locarno Review: Transamazonia Hypnotically Finds Healing and Spirituality in the Jungle 

Pia Marais’ Transamazonia seeks to connect us to its characters and the environment containing them, but we leave the film far more imprinted by the latter. The fourth feature by the South African-born and -raised filmmaker (but whose work feels truly, fittingly transnational), she aims to create an emotionally involving story, with rooting interests for sympathetic individual and collective groups––here, the indigenous Assurini people of Trocará, Brazil. But it’s really more effective as a mood piece, the thematic clash between empiricism and superstition emanating like gun smoke from the depths of its jungle setting. 

Marais is esteemed on the festival circuit but has been less well-served for theatrical distribution; her 2007 feature The Unpolished , which won the top prize at Rotterdam, is one of the more underrated debuts of its decade. A tough and tender memoir of growing up with very bohemian parents, its highly personal look at a challenging, stimulating upbringing is echoed by Transamazonia ’s own plot, beginning in the aftermath of a plane crash, where a young girl, Rebecca (played as a teenager by Helena Zengel), is the miraculous sole survivor. Her mother, a nurse, has died, leaving her the sole custody of her skeezy, yet oddly principled father Lawrence (filmmaker, performance artist, and irregular actor Jeremy Xido), who runs an evangelical mission largely attended by the indigenous population. With Rebecca’s survival attracting local media attention and fascination, she’s alleged to have curative, faith-healing abilities, which seem far-fetched. But the film is appreciably unworried about trying to debunk them. 

Transamazonia is concerned with unveiling Brazil’s unique balance of cultures, belief systems (extending to extractive capitalism), and locals, but it’s also undeniably an outsider’s view, giving it a kinship with the older-fashioned but still forceful perspectives of Conrad’s colonial fictions and Claire Denis. The crux comes when Alves (Rômulo Braga), a logging magnate, seeks Lawrence and Rebecca’s help to wake his wife from a coma; with a slight echo of Winter Light , this is a task Lawrence is glad to accept in any case, fostering his ego as a self-styled “shaman of the jungle” (with his duet folk performances with Rebecca at his sermons’ ends having an air of Charles Manson). But Rebecca herself is exploring her origins––e.g. her mother’s own reason for initially being in the country––and her consciousness is being raised by her burgeoning friendships with younger members of the Assurini tribe, such as Silas (Hamã Luciano); Alves is involved in ransacking the forest for his business, leaving the indigenous people displaced, but claims he will relent if his wife is cured. 

It is literally in the film’s title: whilst it derives from the Brazilian Transamazonica Highway, which cleave north and south parts of the forest in two, Marais also sees her setting as a “zone” à la Tarkovsky’s Stalker , an enclave bathed in a similar nauseous green where miracles are sought and metaphysical desires addressed. But there’s no traveling sequence: it’s the film’s entire reality, maybe enveloping that of Brazil, where charismatic faith leaders hold still enormous sway and integrate with the contemporary far-right responsible for the country’s Bolsonaro era.

But as seen by these connections, Transamazonia finds most success triggering this discourse and forging these associations in our mind––a triangulation of the Church, the land, and capital that turns the characters embodying them into overly symbolic and almost hollow figures. Yet Zengel’s eerie performance as a precocious child convinces as she attempts to pass the threshold into adulthood, unearthing her origins before she had to become a preacher’s foil and unwilling earthly proof of the divine.

Transamazonia premiered at the 2024 Locarno International Film Festival.