The Only Girl in the Orchestra (2023) Movie Script
1
Well, well, well
- What a surprise.
- Hello! Surprise.
- Like this. Like that.
- Okay.
- Phew!
- You're very good. Hey.
I don't know how you
did this for 55 or 60 years.
I did it until I
was 87. Let's put it that way.
Look at
that. Oh, my goodness.
Step one, rosin the bow.
- Orin?
- Yes.
Ready when you are. Camera's
ready and sound's ready.
My niece is the director.
I told her not to do this,
and she's disobeying me.
I want to tell you
about my aunt Orin O'Brien.
Orin O'Brien, double bassist.
She's my last elder.
All the rest are gone.
Beautiful. One more for safety?
Orin was the first female
musician hired full-time
by the New York
Philharmonic in 1966.
The conductor Leonard
Bernstein said this about Orin
"I love Orin because she's a source
of radiance in the orchestra."
"Her musical involvement is total,
and whenever I look in her direction,
and inevitably find her
looking intently back at me,
I marvel at this concentration."
"How does she do it?"
"Has she memorized every note of every
bass part in every work we play?"
"It is as impossible
as any other miracle."
That's it,
I got it.
Okay.
We have to go to work.
The elevator is not
air-conditioned,
so I bring my own air
conditioning with me.
Ah, it is here.
Lafayette, you are here!
- Hey! How are you?
- Good morning. This is my niece.
- Hey, it's cool.
- Yeah.
- Molly, are you warm enough?
- I'm fine.
Oh, okay.
Hi.
Why the double
bass? Why did you choose...
I chose the double bass
because I liked the idea of
playing with other musicians.
I didn't have much ambition
to be a soloist or anything.
I like being in the background.
- Orin.
- Yes?
We don't need to do all this. We
could go from here to the end.
- From here...
- Only...
Let's just go from here to, um
Let's make a little pause.
Once through and
then
Then we'll go to here.
One, two, three, four.
Ladies and
gentlemen, five-minute announcement.
- We have to go.
- Let's play it one more time.
No, no, no. No, I don't
want to be late on stage.
- We're not gonna be late.
- Yes, we are.
Come on. I can't do this.
It's
To play the double
bass in an orchestra
feels like you're in
the belly of a submarine
with machinery going all around you,
and everything happening all at once,
and millions of notes
falling all around you,
and you having to maintain
your steadiness within.
We look at each other coming
off the stage and say,
"This is why I became a
musician, for this experience."
Okay.
- Jacqui!
- Hi.
How are you? So good
to see you. Come on in.
This is something else. Wow.
I bet you my father had this.
Probably.
- He seemed to know all about you.
- Oh, dear.
- "Orin O'Brien"
- This is painful.
"newest member of
the New York Philharmonic,
scurried into Philharmonic
Hall one rainy night,
and, ignoring the musicians' locker
room, got dressed in a washroom."
"Miss O'Brien,
who is the daughter of old-time
Western star George O'Brien
and actress
Marguerite Churchill"
That was magnificent.
Oh, it wasn't much.
"may be the best
woman bassist in the world."
"To a man, they say 'Orin
is one of the boys.'"
"Only Orin is one of the girls."
"The only girl, in fact, in
the 104-member orchestra,
a situation unique
at the Philharmonic,
so there is yet no
place for her to dress."
- Beauty at home.
- Pitiful.
Gorgeous. Oh, boy.
You're prettier now.
"Miss O'Brien, who is curvy
as the double bass she plays"
Oh my gosh.
"does not mind."
"On tour, the men make up for it
by falling over themselves
to carry her bags"
This is so bad and wrong.
"and save
her a seat on the bus."
Well, they did save me a seat.
"The slender but
mighty arm of women's lib
hasn't exactly reached
into the music world yet."
"Zubin Mehta of the Los
Angeles Philharmonic
commented, 'Women had no
place in the orchestras, '
a remark which Orin O'Brien
finds slightly absurd."
Then it goes on.
"Despite the undeniable
excellence of the ladies,
some men musicians and conductors
still view them with a wary eye."
"If she is attractive, I
can't perform with her."
"If she is not, then I won't."
Quote, "A woman's life in the
orchestra is not as long as a man's."
"She is just not as good
at 60 as a man is at 60."
This is outrageous.
But can I tell you, they
never mention anything
about my ten years of
freelancing, about the Ballet,
about all the recordings I made
with Saidenberg, with one bass.
No, not one word, just, "She was
cute and the guys carried their..."
No, they didn't carry my suitcase.
Nobody carried my suitcase.
Because they're carrying
their instruments.
I never let anybody touch my...
a man carry my bass for me.
- Do you know something?
- I'm just saying. To this day.
The year I joined the Philharmonic,
they did a lot of publicity photos of me
which I was embarrassed about.
After all, I was a member of a section,
I wasn't principal, I wasn't a soloist.
They made a big fuss,
so I didn't like that.
I don't
understand, Orin.
Why didn't you want
to be celebrated?
Well, the focus was
on me all of a sudden.
And I thought,
"How embarrassing."
It was torture.
It was torture and I
was humiliated inside,
because I thought all the other musicians
are going to resent this because I'm new.
You shouldn't be riding out here
alone like this, away from the train.
Why not?
Because this is dangerous country,
and anything might happen.
My parents, they wanted
to be in that spotlight.
They craved it.
Dad was a very
famous movie star.
When somebody came up at
a table in a restaurant,
and they bothered my
father for an autograph,
he was thrilled.
John Ford gave him his big starring
role in The Iron Horse in 1924.
And his best film was Sunrise,
which Dad loved to death.
My mother was gorgeous,
and she was always telling me,
"You've got to be noticed."
You bet your right eye.
But I didn't want
the limelight to be on me.
I just backed off
from all of that.
There can't be,
"Everybody be a general."
Somebody has to be a soldier.
To me, that's part of the pleasure
of playing in an orchestra,
is that you can join what
everybody else is doing.
These are the men
of the New York Philharmonic,
led by the conductor
Leonard Bernstein.
The orchestra has 107 men in it.
To join the orchestra, Orin O'Brien,
who plays the double bass of all things,
had to face the ordeal
of the audition.
When you take an audition, they can select
anything from the orchestral repertoire
of the last 300 years
and ask you to play it. They
put the music in front of you
and you're supposed to have
studied it or known it,
or you'll be sight-reading it.
- Kyung is here?
- Yes.
Oh, great.
Kyung, where are you?
Oh, boy!
What are you
going to play first?
Beethoven's
Symphony No. 5.
Okay, Julian. Just sit
down. Make yourself comfortable.
I should put this over here.
So much is in disarray
because I'm moving.
If you went in the hallway,
you would see boxes all over.
Yes, I saw some.
Now, I want you to feel
that this is an audition rehearsal.
I think I'm going
to start with the easy ones.
- Save your solos for the end?
- Warming up. Yeah.
Okay, sorry. I have to stop
because I want you to give me more.
The beginning has to be like
you almost rip the strings off.
- Except you don't.
- Okay.
You know It's angry.
Okay.
Where is everybody? Coming
from other classes, I guess.
What do you think
are the main characteristics
that an artist, "a musician" I
should say, needs to survive?
I'll tell you what I
tell my students all the time.
You start out with a passion for
the sound of your instrument,
for loving to play, loving
to play with other people,
loving certain
kinds of repertoire.
But if there's anything
else that you enjoy doing
as much as playing the bass,
by all means do it.
The double bass is
terribly temperamental.
It changes with the
weather because it's wood.
You have to talk to it, baby
it, or it'll decay and dry up.
It won't stay vibrating.
It must vibrate to stay alive.
First of all, you have to have the talent.
If there's no talent, then it's hopeless.
You have to have strength in your fingers
in order to press the strings down.
You must use the weight
of your body properly.
If you're going to keep honest and
keep playing the way you need to,
you need to have your physical
control of the instrument.
You have to be able to have
strength of character to do it.
Would you like a glass of water?
- Yes, please.
- Okay, I figured. You know Okay.
The question is, "Are you meant
to be a musician, really?"
Tempo's okay, Orin?
Yeah, perfect.
- Shall I show you my first album?
- Yeah.
This is Dad, that's
Mom, that's me.
- My God, that's such a cute...
- Isn't that adorable?
And that's Dad and me.
Me sitting on Dad.
- And
- So cute.
And that's me with the bass
that I took to New York.
Yeah.
When I was 13, I
fell in love with Beethoven.
I read, in high school, every
book in the school library
on music and musicians and
composers and performers.
I couldn't get enough.
So by the time I was 16,
I went to the school conductor and said,
"Please, can I join the orchestra?"
The conductor said, "We
need a double bass player,
and there are four basses
in the closet over there."
"Just go pick a bass, and
if you study for six months,
we'll let you in the orchestra."
So I never missed
a day of practice
the first four years
that I played the bass.
My fingers, the nails I cut so short
that the fingers became infected,
and I had to soak them in
Epsom salts every night.
But I was determined I was
going to learn everything.
And that was something
else you sent me somewhere,
yes, and I saved it 'cause
I thought it was so great.
You called me Wonder
Woman.
Well, not surprising.
Growing up, Orin was the
adult I admired most.
My father's older sister.
She had the life I
wanted for myself,
a New York City artist's life,
an independent woman's life.
She's navigated getting older
better than anyone I've ever known.
How does she do it?
I agree with Bernstein.
She's a miracle.
Orin, how
does it feel to retire
after 55 years in the
New York Philharmonic?
Oh, well, I think I enjoyed
myself probably as much or more
than anybody else
in the orchestra.
Although all my friends
tell me they enjoy it too,
but I think I enjoyed that
feeling more than almost anybody.
I can't believe
it. That's too much!
Ready? We got everybody,
we're all good?
Come closer.
Everybody sure loves Orin
She's still
roarin' on her bass
- Orin O'Brien
- Boom
Orin O'Brien
When she don't
like a conductor
You can see it on her face
- Orin O'Brien
- Boom
Miss O'Brien
She has ten
gazillion students
Spread all over the world
And they all use German bow
So low
So congrats on
your retirement
We're envious, you know!
Don't go
Our beloved Miss O!
Surprise!
Holy cow!
I would have made more
pumpkin bread if I had known.
Okay.
I'll come back later
and clean you, dear.
Shall I close the
door when I leave?
All right.
Yeah, that'll be okay.
I'm moving because
everything is crumbling.
That's black mold up there.
And this whole north wall
here crumbles during the year.
Are they coming in?
Oh! A Steinway.
- Oh, it's a Steinway.
- Expensive piano.
And I've had it for 51 years,
by the way, in this apartment.
- It came to me already 50, 60 years old.
- Okay.
So it's probably
over 100 years old.
Probably.
Ah!
All right.
This is what I chose.
It's teriyaki ginger chicken
That's fine.
with pineapple meatballs.
- What can I do? Can I help?
- Nothing.
Just admire me.
That's what I
was about to bring up.
Do you remember when Mom
and I came and visited...
- Yes, when you were 11.
- I fell in love with New York.
And therefore, you, and I
wanted to be just like you.
- I wanted your life. I wanted...
- At age 11?
I went to ten different
schools in grade school.
The eight grade years were
ten different schools,
different place,
different thing.
Grandma, mother, father
not there. Da-da-da-da.
I wanted stability
and everything.
It killed me to move
out of my old apartment,
because I I felt it
was home, you know?
And I... It was...
Any kind of change is upsetting to
me, I think, because of my early life.
And here is
film star George O'Brien
after years of active
duty in the Navy.
I used to feel very
anguished in my teenage years,
maybe because my family was
going through a divorce,
which is very difficult and very dramatic,
and there were all kinds of problems.
But I used to get a great deal of
satisfaction and emotional release
playing Beethoven sonatas, Bach,
anything that I could
get my fingers around.
I used to play for hours
whenever I was upset.
I wanted emotional expression,
and music helps us
organize our emotions.
I think you have a better life than me
because you have a more normal life.
I have an abnormal life.
What is normal?
That doesn't make any sense.
Orin, you've done an amazing job of
living a fulfilling and purposeful life.
And I was trying to
figure out why I'm making this film.
I think part of the reason why is
because I want to navigate my life
the way you have navigated it.
It's been very accidental.
- Orin, it's not.
- It's completely accidental.
Look, look, see, I don't
feel so very special
if you compare my life
with somebody else.
People want to
celebrate you, Orin.
- Why is that funny?
- That makes me laugh.
We come from artists.
I don't feel I'm an artist.
I don't feel I'm good enough.
I've never felt I've been good
enough. I don't feel I'm an artist.
I'm trying to just...
You're trying to make me more important,
and I'm not comfortable with that.
Okay.
Okay, so tell me the story
of your successful movie star parents
and the decline of
George's career.
His last film was
Cheyenne Autumn in 1964.
He played the part of a villain, a
captain who was shooting at the Indians.
Ford said, "I got one part left, you
take it or leave it." And he took it.
You know, when you come out of the
Navy and you're 47, 48 years old,
and you're used to playing
the parts of a hero in film,
you don't get heroes'
parts anymore.
And it was quite a shock to him.
He was waiting at home for the
phone to ring with an acting job.
The second
half of their life
Things went down
from what they were.
They were not happy with the
way their lives were going,
and in a way I was very
glad that they ignored me
and let me do what
I wanted to do.
And I managed by
accident to succeed.
I'm very happy the
way things have been,
and, you know, I'm I'm fine.
I don't have any uh, regrets.
I'm fine.
I don't feel that I have missed out
on anything, except maybe children,
except that my students
are like children to me.
And your double basses.
Well, double basses are
different. They're like pets.
You've been going through the process
of figuring out foster homes for them,
or new homes for them. How's that going?
Not well. Um, I don't
wanna talk about it.
Okay.
Mm.
I'm sorry.
- Hi.
- Hey, Orin!
- Hello.
- How are you?
I'm hysterical. How are you?
Look at
all these basses.
Shall I go to the Duke?
- Yeah, let's go say hi.
- Okay. All right.
- Someone you might be familiar with.
- Oh, dear old thing.
Okay.
Oh, that's gorgeous!
I just thought this was the
most beautiful sound, you know?
And it just rang forever.
There's been so many people
who have come in here.
And they go
We're so proud to say, "Hey,
check out what we have here."
"We have the Duke. Orin's Duke."
These instruments have
such a rich history.
Duke was a maker in 1750.
If only these
instruments could talk.
I mean, they speak, but if
only they could actually talk.
- If only they could... A recorder inside.
- Talk about all the history.
"I played for George III,
and I was very proud."
That's right! Yeah.
Oh, that's so
beautiful. That is gorgeous.
Okay. Okay.
I love that
bass. I love that bass.
This is the best bass
that I ever owned,
and David is going to be
the new owner of that bass.
- Thank you.
- He's going to be the owner and enjoyer.
Because you need to be able
to play it in such a way
that the entire
instrument vibrates,
and a lot of people don't devote
that kind of interest and study
to know how to play that
way, and he does. So
- Thank you, Orin.
- Okay, all right.
All right.
It's very emotional. Yes.
Now, if I play that,
- you play that.
- Oh!
- I play the double?
- Yeah.
- You play this, and I play that.
- I never did that.
- That's so cool.
- It's a built-in duo.
Three, and
- Can't get better than that.
- That is so cool.
You just taught me
something. That is fun.
- Isn't that great?
- Yeah.
You could also improvise if
you're a jazzer, like you are.
- You could improvise a jazz bass part.
- That is so cool.
Mmm. Yummy. Yes.
That was so fun. You sound so good.
- I think that's enough playing for today.
- Okay.
Are you excited?
I'm so curious to see all the
bass players. That'll be fun.
Hi, Orin! How are you?
Wonderful. Glad to see you.
I wanted to study
with you because you're a legend.
The first lady of New York
Philharmonic on double bass.
And, you know, your reputation
was just to the moon.
And it was like my
highest hopes and dreams.
And I remember walking
into your apartment,
and all the records, and just
It just felt like...
It felt unreal.
It was really wonderful.
- Oh my gosh, yeah.
- Yeah.
I'm just kind of curious as
to what you're doing now.
I'm very busy teaching,
and I now am able to go to
concerts that I couldn't go to.
Basically, I'll just show you...
I retired last October,
and the month that I moved
- That's the month I moved.
- Wow!
And this month
hasn't filled up quite yet.
This is this week.
So I'm very busy.
What do you do for yourself,
when you have the time off?
I'm able to see my niece,
my one living family member,
which I never had
time for before.
Good!
I go to Gyrotonics once a week, I
have an Italian ballet dancer teacher.
Really?
Who likes that I studied ballet
as a kid, and I know the terms.
So when I try to stand on my toes, she
says, "You can do your petit relev."
So let's start after 142.
One, two, three, one, two
One, two, three,
four, five, one
One, dun A one, two
One, dun A one, two
Shorter. Shorter. Shorter.
Timpani. Timpani. Timpani.
One, two, three smash!
Yes, okay.
I'll just tell you
one more story.
When I first played this at
Juilliard many years ago,
I was playing a big
vibrato on a low-F,
and I thought it showed that
I cared about every note.
And the conductor stopped
the orchestra and says,
"You think your
part is melody? No."
"Don't, it's a supporting
role. Don't vibrate."
And I was humiliated, but I
learned something important.
You don't want to stick out.
You're a support for
what else is going on.
You're the floor under everybody that
would collapse if it wasn't secure.
So it's a very proud feeling,
but it's a supportive part.
So, okay, all right. Is
that enough for today?
This is my theory of how
to enjoy your life incredibly.
You don't mind
playing second fiddle.
The idea of being
a public figure
and having applause and
being in the limelight,
and then all of a sudden, you're
deprived of that as you get older,
and then not being
in the limelight.
I think it's better to
love something so much
you do it for its own sake,
and also for the wonderful
people that you're playing with.
You're creating something together,
which is better than something alone.
Can we rehearse the
beginning so it's perfect?
I'm sure it'll be perfect
with everybody, but I just...
make me feel better
if we rehearse.
I'd rather
be a secret artist
than an artist with PR.
I'm an artist in my own mind,
but I don't want to advertise.
Well, well, well
- What a surprise.
- Hello! Surprise.
- Like this. Like that.
- Okay.
- Phew!
- You're very good. Hey.
I don't know how you
did this for 55 or 60 years.
I did it until I
was 87. Let's put it that way.
Look at
that. Oh, my goodness.
Step one, rosin the bow.
- Orin?
- Yes.
Ready when you are. Camera's
ready and sound's ready.
My niece is the director.
I told her not to do this,
and she's disobeying me.
I want to tell you
about my aunt Orin O'Brien.
Orin O'Brien, double bassist.
She's my last elder.
All the rest are gone.
Beautiful. One more for safety?
Orin was the first female
musician hired full-time
by the New York
Philharmonic in 1966.
The conductor Leonard
Bernstein said this about Orin
"I love Orin because she's a source
of radiance in the orchestra."
"Her musical involvement is total,
and whenever I look in her direction,
and inevitably find her
looking intently back at me,
I marvel at this concentration."
"How does she do it?"
"Has she memorized every note of every
bass part in every work we play?"
"It is as impossible
as any other miracle."
That's it,
I got it.
Okay.
We have to go to work.
The elevator is not
air-conditioned,
so I bring my own air
conditioning with me.
Ah, it is here.
Lafayette, you are here!
- Hey! How are you?
- Good morning. This is my niece.
- Hey, it's cool.
- Yeah.
- Molly, are you warm enough?
- I'm fine.
Oh, okay.
Hi.
Why the double
bass? Why did you choose...
I chose the double bass
because I liked the idea of
playing with other musicians.
I didn't have much ambition
to be a soloist or anything.
I like being in the background.
- Orin.
- Yes?
We don't need to do all this. We
could go from here to the end.
- From here...
- Only...
Let's just go from here to, um
Let's make a little pause.
Once through and
then
Then we'll go to here.
One, two, three, four.
Ladies and
gentlemen, five-minute announcement.
- We have to go.
- Let's play it one more time.
No, no, no. No, I don't
want to be late on stage.
- We're not gonna be late.
- Yes, we are.
Come on. I can't do this.
It's
To play the double
bass in an orchestra
feels like you're in
the belly of a submarine
with machinery going all around you,
and everything happening all at once,
and millions of notes
falling all around you,
and you having to maintain
your steadiness within.
We look at each other coming
off the stage and say,
"This is why I became a
musician, for this experience."
Okay.
- Jacqui!
- Hi.
How are you? So good
to see you. Come on in.
This is something else. Wow.
I bet you my father had this.
Probably.
- He seemed to know all about you.
- Oh, dear.
- "Orin O'Brien"
- This is painful.
"newest member of
the New York Philharmonic,
scurried into Philharmonic
Hall one rainy night,
and, ignoring the musicians' locker
room, got dressed in a washroom."
"Miss O'Brien,
who is the daughter of old-time
Western star George O'Brien
and actress
Marguerite Churchill"
That was magnificent.
Oh, it wasn't much.
"may be the best
woman bassist in the world."
"To a man, they say 'Orin
is one of the boys.'"
"Only Orin is one of the girls."
"The only girl, in fact, in
the 104-member orchestra,
a situation unique
at the Philharmonic,
so there is yet no
place for her to dress."
- Beauty at home.
- Pitiful.
Gorgeous. Oh, boy.
You're prettier now.
"Miss O'Brien, who is curvy
as the double bass she plays"
Oh my gosh.
"does not mind."
"On tour, the men make up for it
by falling over themselves
to carry her bags"
This is so bad and wrong.
"and save
her a seat on the bus."
Well, they did save me a seat.
"The slender but
mighty arm of women's lib
hasn't exactly reached
into the music world yet."
"Zubin Mehta of the Los
Angeles Philharmonic
commented, 'Women had no
place in the orchestras, '
a remark which Orin O'Brien
finds slightly absurd."
Then it goes on.
"Despite the undeniable
excellence of the ladies,
some men musicians and conductors
still view them with a wary eye."
"If she is attractive, I
can't perform with her."
"If she is not, then I won't."
Quote, "A woman's life in the
orchestra is not as long as a man's."
"She is just not as good
at 60 as a man is at 60."
This is outrageous.
But can I tell you, they
never mention anything
about my ten years of
freelancing, about the Ballet,
about all the recordings I made
with Saidenberg, with one bass.
No, not one word, just, "She was
cute and the guys carried their..."
No, they didn't carry my suitcase.
Nobody carried my suitcase.
Because they're carrying
their instruments.
I never let anybody touch my...
a man carry my bass for me.
- Do you know something?
- I'm just saying. To this day.
The year I joined the Philharmonic,
they did a lot of publicity photos of me
which I was embarrassed about.
After all, I was a member of a section,
I wasn't principal, I wasn't a soloist.
They made a big fuss,
so I didn't like that.
I don't
understand, Orin.
Why didn't you want
to be celebrated?
Well, the focus was
on me all of a sudden.
And I thought,
"How embarrassing."
It was torture.
It was torture and I
was humiliated inside,
because I thought all the other musicians
are going to resent this because I'm new.
You shouldn't be riding out here
alone like this, away from the train.
Why not?
Because this is dangerous country,
and anything might happen.
My parents, they wanted
to be in that spotlight.
They craved it.
Dad was a very
famous movie star.
When somebody came up at
a table in a restaurant,
and they bothered my
father for an autograph,
he was thrilled.
John Ford gave him his big starring
role in The Iron Horse in 1924.
And his best film was Sunrise,
which Dad loved to death.
My mother was gorgeous,
and she was always telling me,
"You've got to be noticed."
You bet your right eye.
But I didn't want
the limelight to be on me.
I just backed off
from all of that.
There can't be,
"Everybody be a general."
Somebody has to be a soldier.
To me, that's part of the pleasure
of playing in an orchestra,
is that you can join what
everybody else is doing.
These are the men
of the New York Philharmonic,
led by the conductor
Leonard Bernstein.
The orchestra has 107 men in it.
To join the orchestra, Orin O'Brien,
who plays the double bass of all things,
had to face the ordeal
of the audition.
When you take an audition, they can select
anything from the orchestral repertoire
of the last 300 years
and ask you to play it. They
put the music in front of you
and you're supposed to have
studied it or known it,
or you'll be sight-reading it.
- Kyung is here?
- Yes.
Oh, great.
Kyung, where are you?
Oh, boy!
What are you
going to play first?
Beethoven's
Symphony No. 5.
Okay, Julian. Just sit
down. Make yourself comfortable.
I should put this over here.
So much is in disarray
because I'm moving.
If you went in the hallway,
you would see boxes all over.
Yes, I saw some.
Now, I want you to feel
that this is an audition rehearsal.
I think I'm going
to start with the easy ones.
- Save your solos for the end?
- Warming up. Yeah.
Okay, sorry. I have to stop
because I want you to give me more.
The beginning has to be like
you almost rip the strings off.
- Except you don't.
- Okay.
You know It's angry.
Okay.
Where is everybody? Coming
from other classes, I guess.
What do you think
are the main characteristics
that an artist, "a musician" I
should say, needs to survive?
I'll tell you what I
tell my students all the time.
You start out with a passion for
the sound of your instrument,
for loving to play, loving
to play with other people,
loving certain
kinds of repertoire.
But if there's anything
else that you enjoy doing
as much as playing the bass,
by all means do it.
The double bass is
terribly temperamental.
It changes with the
weather because it's wood.
You have to talk to it, baby
it, or it'll decay and dry up.
It won't stay vibrating.
It must vibrate to stay alive.
First of all, you have to have the talent.
If there's no talent, then it's hopeless.
You have to have strength in your fingers
in order to press the strings down.
You must use the weight
of your body properly.
If you're going to keep honest and
keep playing the way you need to,
you need to have your physical
control of the instrument.
You have to be able to have
strength of character to do it.
Would you like a glass of water?
- Yes, please.
- Okay, I figured. You know Okay.
The question is, "Are you meant
to be a musician, really?"
Tempo's okay, Orin?
Yeah, perfect.
- Shall I show you my first album?
- Yeah.
This is Dad, that's
Mom, that's me.
- My God, that's such a cute...
- Isn't that adorable?
And that's Dad and me.
Me sitting on Dad.
- And
- So cute.
And that's me with the bass
that I took to New York.
Yeah.
When I was 13, I
fell in love with Beethoven.
I read, in high school, every
book in the school library
on music and musicians and
composers and performers.
I couldn't get enough.
So by the time I was 16,
I went to the school conductor and said,
"Please, can I join the orchestra?"
The conductor said, "We
need a double bass player,
and there are four basses
in the closet over there."
"Just go pick a bass, and
if you study for six months,
we'll let you in the orchestra."
So I never missed
a day of practice
the first four years
that I played the bass.
My fingers, the nails I cut so short
that the fingers became infected,
and I had to soak them in
Epsom salts every night.
But I was determined I was
going to learn everything.
And that was something
else you sent me somewhere,
yes, and I saved it 'cause
I thought it was so great.
You called me Wonder
Woman.
Well, not surprising.
Growing up, Orin was the
adult I admired most.
My father's older sister.
She had the life I
wanted for myself,
a New York City artist's life,
an independent woman's life.
She's navigated getting older
better than anyone I've ever known.
How does she do it?
I agree with Bernstein.
She's a miracle.
Orin, how
does it feel to retire
after 55 years in the
New York Philharmonic?
Oh, well, I think I enjoyed
myself probably as much or more
than anybody else
in the orchestra.
Although all my friends
tell me they enjoy it too,
but I think I enjoyed that
feeling more than almost anybody.
I can't believe
it. That's too much!
Ready? We got everybody,
we're all good?
Come closer.
Everybody sure loves Orin
She's still
roarin' on her bass
- Orin O'Brien
- Boom
Orin O'Brien
When she don't
like a conductor
You can see it on her face
- Orin O'Brien
- Boom
Miss O'Brien
She has ten
gazillion students
Spread all over the world
And they all use German bow
So low
So congrats on
your retirement
We're envious, you know!
Don't go
Our beloved Miss O!
Surprise!
Holy cow!
I would have made more
pumpkin bread if I had known.
Okay.
I'll come back later
and clean you, dear.
Shall I close the
door when I leave?
All right.
Yeah, that'll be okay.
I'm moving because
everything is crumbling.
That's black mold up there.
And this whole north wall
here crumbles during the year.
Are they coming in?
Oh! A Steinway.
- Oh, it's a Steinway.
- Expensive piano.
And I've had it for 51 years,
by the way, in this apartment.
- It came to me already 50, 60 years old.
- Okay.
So it's probably
over 100 years old.
Probably.
Ah!
All right.
This is what I chose.
It's teriyaki ginger chicken
That's fine.
with pineapple meatballs.
- What can I do? Can I help?
- Nothing.
Just admire me.
That's what I
was about to bring up.
Do you remember when Mom
and I came and visited...
- Yes, when you were 11.
- I fell in love with New York.
And therefore, you, and I
wanted to be just like you.
- I wanted your life. I wanted...
- At age 11?
I went to ten different
schools in grade school.
The eight grade years were
ten different schools,
different place,
different thing.
Grandma, mother, father
not there. Da-da-da-da.
I wanted stability
and everything.
It killed me to move
out of my old apartment,
because I I felt it
was home, you know?
And I... It was...
Any kind of change is upsetting to
me, I think, because of my early life.
And here is
film star George O'Brien
after years of active
duty in the Navy.
I used to feel very
anguished in my teenage years,
maybe because my family was
going through a divorce,
which is very difficult and very dramatic,
and there were all kinds of problems.
But I used to get a great deal of
satisfaction and emotional release
playing Beethoven sonatas, Bach,
anything that I could
get my fingers around.
I used to play for hours
whenever I was upset.
I wanted emotional expression,
and music helps us
organize our emotions.
I think you have a better life than me
because you have a more normal life.
I have an abnormal life.
What is normal?
That doesn't make any sense.
Orin, you've done an amazing job of
living a fulfilling and purposeful life.
And I was trying to
figure out why I'm making this film.
I think part of the reason why is
because I want to navigate my life
the way you have navigated it.
It's been very accidental.
- Orin, it's not.
- It's completely accidental.
Look, look, see, I don't
feel so very special
if you compare my life
with somebody else.
People want to
celebrate you, Orin.
- Why is that funny?
- That makes me laugh.
We come from artists.
I don't feel I'm an artist.
I don't feel I'm good enough.
I've never felt I've been good
enough. I don't feel I'm an artist.
I'm trying to just...
You're trying to make me more important,
and I'm not comfortable with that.
Okay.
Okay, so tell me the story
of your successful movie star parents
and the decline of
George's career.
His last film was
Cheyenne Autumn in 1964.
He played the part of a villain, a
captain who was shooting at the Indians.
Ford said, "I got one part left, you
take it or leave it." And he took it.
You know, when you come out of the
Navy and you're 47, 48 years old,
and you're used to playing
the parts of a hero in film,
you don't get heroes'
parts anymore.
And it was quite a shock to him.
He was waiting at home for the
phone to ring with an acting job.
The second
half of their life
Things went down
from what they were.
They were not happy with the
way their lives were going,
and in a way I was very
glad that they ignored me
and let me do what
I wanted to do.
And I managed by
accident to succeed.
I'm very happy the
way things have been,
and, you know, I'm I'm fine.
I don't have any uh, regrets.
I'm fine.
I don't feel that I have missed out
on anything, except maybe children,
except that my students
are like children to me.
And your double basses.
Well, double basses are
different. They're like pets.
You've been going through the process
of figuring out foster homes for them,
or new homes for them. How's that going?
Not well. Um, I don't
wanna talk about it.
Okay.
Mm.
I'm sorry.
- Hi.
- Hey, Orin!
- Hello.
- How are you?
I'm hysterical. How are you?
Look at
all these basses.
Shall I go to the Duke?
- Yeah, let's go say hi.
- Okay. All right.
- Someone you might be familiar with.
- Oh, dear old thing.
Okay.
Oh, that's gorgeous!
I just thought this was the
most beautiful sound, you know?
And it just rang forever.
There's been so many people
who have come in here.
And they go
We're so proud to say, "Hey,
check out what we have here."
"We have the Duke. Orin's Duke."
These instruments have
such a rich history.
Duke was a maker in 1750.
If only these
instruments could talk.
I mean, they speak, but if
only they could actually talk.
- If only they could... A recorder inside.
- Talk about all the history.
"I played for George III,
and I was very proud."
That's right! Yeah.
Oh, that's so
beautiful. That is gorgeous.
Okay. Okay.
I love that
bass. I love that bass.
This is the best bass
that I ever owned,
and David is going to be
the new owner of that bass.
- Thank you.
- He's going to be the owner and enjoyer.
Because you need to be able
to play it in such a way
that the entire
instrument vibrates,
and a lot of people don't devote
that kind of interest and study
to know how to play that
way, and he does. So
- Thank you, Orin.
- Okay, all right.
All right.
It's very emotional. Yes.
Now, if I play that,
- you play that.
- Oh!
- I play the double?
- Yeah.
- You play this, and I play that.
- I never did that.
- That's so cool.
- It's a built-in duo.
Three, and
- Can't get better than that.
- That is so cool.
You just taught me
something. That is fun.
- Isn't that great?
- Yeah.
You could also improvise if
you're a jazzer, like you are.
- You could improvise a jazz bass part.
- That is so cool.
Mmm. Yummy. Yes.
That was so fun. You sound so good.
- I think that's enough playing for today.
- Okay.
Are you excited?
I'm so curious to see all the
bass players. That'll be fun.
Hi, Orin! How are you?
Wonderful. Glad to see you.
I wanted to study
with you because you're a legend.
The first lady of New York
Philharmonic on double bass.
And, you know, your reputation
was just to the moon.
And it was like my
highest hopes and dreams.
And I remember walking
into your apartment,
and all the records, and just
It just felt like...
It felt unreal.
It was really wonderful.
- Oh my gosh, yeah.
- Yeah.
I'm just kind of curious as
to what you're doing now.
I'm very busy teaching,
and I now am able to go to
concerts that I couldn't go to.
Basically, I'll just show you...
I retired last October,
and the month that I moved
- That's the month I moved.
- Wow!
And this month
hasn't filled up quite yet.
This is this week.
So I'm very busy.
What do you do for yourself,
when you have the time off?
I'm able to see my niece,
my one living family member,
which I never had
time for before.
Good!
I go to Gyrotonics once a week, I
have an Italian ballet dancer teacher.
Really?
Who likes that I studied ballet
as a kid, and I know the terms.
So when I try to stand on my toes, she
says, "You can do your petit relev."
So let's start after 142.
One, two, three, one, two
One, two, three,
four, five, one
One, dun A one, two
One, dun A one, two
Shorter. Shorter. Shorter.
Timpani. Timpani. Timpani.
One, two, three smash!
Yes, okay.
I'll just tell you
one more story.
When I first played this at
Juilliard many years ago,
I was playing a big
vibrato on a low-F,
and I thought it showed that
I cared about every note.
And the conductor stopped
the orchestra and says,
"You think your
part is melody? No."
"Don't, it's a supporting
role. Don't vibrate."
And I was humiliated, but I
learned something important.
You don't want to stick out.
You're a support for
what else is going on.
You're the floor under everybody that
would collapse if it wasn't secure.
So it's a very proud feeling,
but it's a supportive part.
So, okay, all right. Is
that enough for today?
This is my theory of how
to enjoy your life incredibly.
You don't mind
playing second fiddle.
The idea of being
a public figure
and having applause and
being in the limelight,
and then all of a sudden, you're
deprived of that as you get older,
and then not being
in the limelight.
I think it's better to
love something so much
you do it for its own sake,
and also for the wonderful
people that you're playing with.
You're creating something together,
which is better than something alone.
Can we rehearse the
beginning so it's perfect?
I'm sure it'll be perfect
with everybody, but I just...
make me feel better
if we rehearse.
I'd rather
be a secret artist
than an artist with PR.
I'm an artist in my own mind,
but I don't want to advertise.