[classical music]
♪ ♪
[classical music]
♪ ♪
[doorbell rings]
♪ ♪
- Thomas.
- Claire.
I have a present for you.
Your favorite: lilies.
- Lilacs.
Yes, of course.
Oh, I've signed the bloody divorce papers.
And now, as friends, maybe a new beginning?
- Thomas, you know I can't read your whole score.
- No, no, this is just for me to follow;
mitigate the agony
of waiting for the verdict from the one woman that I trust.
- Come. I've made tea.
- Oh, lovely. I'm parched.
♪ ♪
All right, put these on.
Make sure they're comfortable.
Is that good? All right.
Get ready.
Coming through?
Good, good.
I inverted the opening section and put--
just listen, yeah.
Can you hear me?
Just nod your head if you can hear me.
- Thomas, when you talk, I can't listen.
- Our marriage in a nutshell, hmm.
- It's-- - Ah, relax.
- Thomas!
- All right-- I know.
Pipe down, Thomas.
All right, good. I'll shut up.
Just listen.
- [groaning]
- What was that, a wince?
Was it the woodwinds? Oh, no, no, no, no.
No, don't. It's not finished yet.
You're nearly there.
It all weaves together in the end.
Just--it's beautifully-- it comes together.
Was that an exhausted slump
or a "Oh, God, Thomas, your career is over" slump?
Claire?
[somber organ music]
♪ ♪
Oh, hi. - Maestro, we're so sorry.
- Thank you, thank you. Appreciate it.
- Yes, Maestro.
- Thank you for coming.
Thank you. Thank you.
- Gloria.
- [sighs] - Sad occasion.
- Yes, tragic. Claire was a lovely woman.
- Oh, Erik, hey.
What the hell's happening with the yuan?
- God knows, right?
Gloria, my condolences.
- Thank you.
She was a dear friend
and a dear friend of the orchestra.
- Ay, Michel, I think that maybe we shouldn't go.
- I think it's the right thing to do.
- Of course it's the right thing.
Yes, it's the right thing.
Yes, yes, this is the only way that I'm gonna get this--
this thing out of my system.
- Maestro, about the curse...
do you think it could be psychosomatic?
- Of course, Michel.
Of course it's psychosomatic. Everything is.
Me, you, the music,
the way we experience things.
It's in the head. Psychosomatic.
- I like working for you, Maestro.
- I know, Michel. I know.
♪ ♪
[somber music playing]
♪ ♪
- It's gonna happen to all of us.
And soon.
- Death?
- Well, basically-- a lockout.
- Show some respect.
There's a dead lady up there.
- She's not up there anymore.
Just an empty vessel.
- Oh, it's just so sad.
- Carpe diem, because next diem, there'll be nothing to carpe.
- Oh, God. The whole board is here.
- We can't let this happen.
We can't let this orchestra die.
We have to make a deal.
- Why don't you just walk across the aisle
and ask them to dance?
- Hi, Nina.
Surprised to see you here.
- Scouting the opposition.
There's Darth. There's young Luke.
The question is, will he go over to the dark side,
or will he vote for us?
I need four yeses for the board to approve our counteroffer.
Not impossible.
- Gloria's sympathetic to us.
She wants what we want.
- Well, that's one yes.
- We know where Biben stands.
- Yeah, right on our backs.
- He's an obvious no.
- Well, so one speculative yes,
one obvious no.
What about Erik Winklestrauss?
- I bet he's a yes. He's really nice.
- How do you know?
- I met him.
And he kind of gave me his number.
- Call him.
Maybe he'll tell you how he's gonna vote.
- Claire was venomous.
But she was my oldest friend.
- Stiff upper lip, Arlene.
- Now you're my oldest friend.
- Well, if I have to be an oldest something,
I'm happy to be your oldest friend.
- Hello.
Buongiorno.
Okay.
[bell rings]
Hello.
I'm looking for Ana Maria.
My name is...
Rodrigo DeSouza.
[high-pitched ringing]
[groaning]
Thank you.
[violin music playing]
♪ ♪
Ahi esta.
- You've changed.
- Ana Maria?
Your lawyers, they're saying
that you want to get married?
- Yeah.
I am promised.
But not to any man.
I want to take my vows,Rodrigo.
I want to leave everything behind.
- Okay.
Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit?
We got into a fight, yes, but we can always work it out.
We can always, you know-- we can always talk about it.
- Why is it always about you, mi amor?
- It just is.
Hey, Ana Maria.
Something terrible happened to me in Mexico.
- You fell in love?
- No! No, no, no, no.
No, I--I was--
- Is it not the same thing?
- No, it's not the same--
I mean, between you and me, yes,
but between normal people, it's not the same.
It's something else.
Maestro Rivera, he asked me
to go back to Mexico and take his place.
- You accepted? - No, I did not.
- Fuck.
Of course not. - I know.
- You cannot give up the grand stage.
- I'm beginning to accept that, yes.
Yes, but I think it's something more.
I think it has to do with finding my place.
You know?
- And I mine.
Will you release me?
[sighs] - Oh...
- Sign here over my heart.
Divorce me so that I can marry
someone greater than either of us.
- Greater than either of us?
That doesn't exist.
- It does. - [sighs]
Okay, okay, give me the pen. Okay, fine. I'll do it.
Ana Maria...
I think we're being a little bit too hasty on this, you know?
- Sign at the bottom and then on page three.
- Okay.
[murmuring]
- You're bleeding!
- Oh, yes, yes-- it's my--
I've got something wrong with my ear.
- No, there is something wrong with your soul.
- Why do you say those things?
- Because I wish you what I have.
I wish you to give yourself to something bigger--
greater than your little self.
- Hey, no, no!No.
'Cause I give myself all the time to music.
I'm giving myself to music.
- Ha! - Yes, Ana Maria.
- You forgot the last page.
- Ay, okay.
Okay, fine.
It's just a paper. It's just a paper.
- Welcome, everyone.
Thank you all for coming.
It's so wonderful to see so many of Claire's friends.
And it's also wonderful to see the orchestra here
supporting me, and I appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
You know, Claire Pembridge
was a doting wife,
a caring friend.
She always believed in me,
even when I didn't quite believe in myself.
I tried to live up to her exacting standards
of where my career could possibly go.
After climbing summit after summit,
there was Claire,
right beside me,
breathing the thin oxygen.
She always wanted me
to write a great symphony.
Well, unfortunately, this was the last thing
she heard on planet Earth.
And now this is hers and hers alone,
perhaps to be shared with the angels.
[hinges creaks]
Buried with the murder weapon.
- For you.
- No.
- This violin is the last violin
that I, Ana Maria, shall ever play.
- No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No.
- The strings are woven from my hair and cat intestines.
- Ana Maria, this is your heart,
and this is an extension of your body, okay?
This is you. This is the music.
You cannot just evaporate the music.
You cannot just take it away.
Okay? I'm not gonna accept it.
No.
- Well, maybe I'll keep it to myself a little while.
- Yes, you never know.
- Thank you, mi amor.
- Thank you.
- Keep your eyes to yourself, Sister Frederika!
Good-bye...
my love.
- Ana Maria...
I'll see you soon.
Bye.
♪ ♪
- Michel! - Maestro!
How did it go?
- I signed the paper, you know.
It's just a paper. It's just a paper.
But I think I now can get rid of the--
- The curse. - Yeah.
Yeah. - Well, that's great.
Oh, shit. Is that a dead bird?
- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
[high-pitched ringing]
Ay! - Maestro!
- Wait, wait, wait.
Get-- get in the car.
Get in the car. - Okay!
- Don't look back. - Time to go!
- Don't look back.
[cell phone buzzes]
- Oh, shit.
- What? - [sighs]
- Oh, shit.
- It's all over the Internet:
a smear article about our players' demands.
- "You're money-grubbing musicians
who live lavish lives of luxury."
- It's Christophe.
- Sweet-looking Porsche.
- Christophe, when did you get a Porsche?
- That's our friend Wanda's Porsche, not mine.
Virg, look at this.
- It was on your Instagram?
- But I only have, like, 30 followers.
- How could you?
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- You little sieve.
You leaked terms of negotiation, you leaked photos online?
- It's what we had to do.
- "We"? Who's we? Who's feeding you this?
- We're losing the press battle, Gloria.
Edward said--
- Biben?
- Gloria, you know I love you.
- But you think Biben is the future.
- Things are about to get ugly,
and you don't do ugly.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
- Thank you.
- My condolences.
Claire was--
- Oh, cut the bullshit, man.
You barely knew her.
Just send me a card.
Please, just leave me alone with my thoughts.
- I apologize. I overstepped.
Look, this may not be the time to bring it up, but...
please consider taking up the baton again.
Your orchestra's waiting.
- I love the New York symphony.
Perhaps it's the only thing that I really love.
- Then come back.
In a little while, I'll--
I'll have the decks cleaned
and the captain can come back on board the ship
and stand on the poop deck.
- Hmm.
Edward, why do you want me back so fucking much?
- Well, because you play the music we all want to hear.
And plus, you remind me of my dad.
Plus, you put the donors in the seats.
And Rodrigo reminds me of my stepbrother.
- Really? - Yeah.
- Was he Mexican?
- No.
But he was a cocky little prick.
By the way, I noticed your hermano
didn't even bother to come by to pay his respects.
Hmm?
I'll leave you with your thoughts...
Maestro.
[classical music]
♪ ♪
- Maestro!
Maestro.
Apologies for not being here.
My deepest sympathies, my brother.
It is the hardest thing to say good-bye.
- [sighs]
I know you had no intention of conducting my symphony.
- Don't think about those things.
Don't--you have too many things going on--
- I've thought about nothing else, man.
I mean, all right, it's done-- finished.
Buried.
We had a double funeral today.
I need your eulogy.
- Look, it's--
it's not third rate.
Maybe second and a half.
It's got a construction to it. It's got bones, you know?
It's got an architecture that follows.
It's a great buildup.
Masterful. It's really well constructed.
But I think you have to do bad stuff all the way, and then--
and then you will end up doing good stuff after.
- I don't have time to do the bad stuff.
- Don't say that. You have all the time in the world.
- You know, it's funny,
but that's what Claire thought.
- Damn, Erik Winklestein is cute.
- Strauss. Why are you so shocked?
Black or blue?
- Whichever one's cleavier.
Shit, you're going on a date with a venture capitalist,
whatever that means, in an attempt to extract
potentially crucial information in a legal battle.
That's like some "Spy Kids" shit.
[cell phone buzzes]
What, did he message you?
"Looking forward to tonight."
No smiles, no emojis?
He's, like, a man.
- Boots or heels? - Heels--come on.
- Done and done.
- Almost.
We need to kick this bitch into overdrive.
Do you want some of my Malaysian perfume?
- Uh, what about...
these?
Do you hate them?
- No, no. I mean, I love them.
They're just not something I'd picture you wearing.
- They're a family heirloom
from Rodrigo's grandmother.
- Hailey Rutledge!
Are you not saying what I think you're saying?
- Uh...
- Why did you not tell me before?
- I mean, I don't know. It just slipped my mind.
- Well, we got a lot to talk about.
- [sighs] Well?
- Well...
yeah, let's just hope Erik's Winklestrauss
like's Rodrigo's grandmother's earrings.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Ahh.
- Does it have legs?
- Mmm, long legs.
[laughing]
I honestly know nothing about wine, so...
- Me either, but apparently it's good if it's got legs.
- I feel like you could say that about most things.
- Except snakes.
- Hmm.
- That was bad. - It was bad-good.
- I'm so sorry. - [laughs]
It's okay.
- I'm really glad you called, by the way.
I wanted to talk to you the other day at the church.
I did not know what the etiquette was
for flirting at a funeral.
- Oh, generally, after Labor Day,
it's totally frowned upon,
but pre-Labor Day, it's pretty chill.
- Okay. - [laughs]
- You know what I can't stop thinking about
since Gloria had that donor party?
- What? - Spanish.
I got to know it. I got to learn.
- Why?
- Well, then you could just charm any room
like Rodrigo did with that speech.
- Oh, yeah. He can be pretty charming.
- Yeah.
So how was Mexico, by the way?
- How do you know I was in Mexico?
- Well, as you know, I'm on the board.
We have spies everywhere.
Everywhere.
You're in Argentina on the 5th,
Uruguay the 7th,
Venezuela, Chile.
I know every single move the orchestra's made
in the last month.
- Hmm.
- You know, because it's on the symphony's website.
You just log on. It's pretty good.
[glass clatters] - Oh, shit!
Oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
Um...
- Hailey, I didn't get any on me.
- [giggling] I'm sorry.
Okay.
- Oh, no, I'm glad you made the first move.
You know, I'm usually the one
who spills the wine on the table.
- Thank you. Perfect timing.
Can I at least split the tip?
[classical music]
- So is it true? - What?
- Most musicians grow up in a home
with musical instruments just laying around?
- No, what's true is that most musicians grow up
living a life of complete solitude
and having absolutely no fun, ever.
- I guess you could say the professional oboist
and the computer geek have a little more in common
than one would think, right?
- Makes sense to me.
[laughs]
We get to drink really long-legged bottles of wine now.
Yeah.
I had a lot of fun tonight.
- Me too.
This is coming way out of left field,
but I'm going to Montana in a month
with some friends to go skiing.
I'd love for you to come with me.
- Aww...
- Is it too soon?
- No, I'd love to. I just--
I'm a sub in the symphony, and--
I'm like an EMT, but the emergency
is always the oboe.
So I can't.
What?
- No, I'm just--
I mean, you may end up with some free time.
- What do you mean?
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk shop on a date.
But you probably knew that was coming, right?
- Yeah, let's not talk shop.
Maybe let's not talk at all.
♪ ♪
Eek! [laughing]
- It's a pretty good one tonight, right?
[laughing] What if you just actually, like...
♪ ♪ if you just actually, like...