Ever since she won an Oscar for Best Film Score (Joker) in 2019, Hildur Guðnadóttir has become one of the most sought-after film composers of our time, though her career began years before that. Now the Iceland-born cellist and composer has been commissioned for another soundtrack: TÀR – the story of the successful conductor Lydia Tàr, played by none other than Cate Blanchett.
This album is neither wholly a soundtrack nor a ‘classic’ Deutsche Grammophon recording. It is more so a concept album – one that offers deep insights into the music, rehearsals and film clips of TÁR. It is interpreted by numerous actors and produced by the crème de la crème: Guðnadóttir, Hollywood producer Todd Field as well as Universal Music and Deutsche Grammaphon’s creative team. The album opens with Guðnadóttir herself singing the film's main theme (which is composed by Lydia Tàr in the film), followed by the ‘real’ score – a short symphony in three movements, interpreted by the London Symphony Orchestra. This is followed by excerpts from rehearsals of Mahler’s 5th Symphony with Cate Blanchett conducting, and Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Op. 85, conducted by Natalie Murray Beale and featuring Sophie Kauer as a soloist. The album concludes with pieces by Johnny Burke & Jimmy van Heusen, J.S. Bach and Elisa Vargas, some of which were composed for the album and some of which merely appear in the film. This compilation may seem very unusual and off-kilter, but as Todd Field sums it up in his own words: ‘the songs, like the film, are meant to invite the listener to experience the messiness involved in the making of music.’
Hearing and absorbing the music alongside images from the film (set to be released in spring 2023) is undoubtedly a more profound experience. However, it is also a unique opportunity for us to be able to celebrate extraordinary concept albums like we would a premiere, and equally rare that a German classical music label and orchestra be pinned as the subject of a Hollywood blockbuster. We are excited, to say the least! © Lena Germann/Qobuz