Some Thoughts on the Chopin Waltz played by Hugo Drax in Moonraker
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,844MI6 Agent
This topic is on the Chopin piece played by Hugo Drax in Moonraker (1979). I previously started a thread on this subject in 2004 on CBn but it no longer exists.
You can hear the full piece played beautifully here on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCAybXN5ojA
...and here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaUX-BAaiFQ
The main question that I have is: Was Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax in the film actually playing the grand piano or was it dubbed and was he "in character" actually meant to be playing the piano or was it one of those fancy pianos that plays on its own and he was merely playing along to impress his guests?
That theory would seem to be out though as he does stop playing the piano as soon as he lifts his hands, showing he must have really been playing it for real. I know that Moonraker is widely regarded as one of the most outlandish and comedic films in the Bond series, but surely to have shown the piano still playing even when Drax rose from his seat at the piano would have been a comic step too far. It's funny to imagine though, in one's mind eye, if you will. But I do find the suggestion in the thread on CBn that I started in 2004 that Drax pretending to play the play-itself piano was the first subtle sign that he was a madman and a modern-day Space Age Hitler, to boot.
On the Hugo Drax Bond villain page on Wikipedia it says the following:
"Drax portrays himself as an accomplished pianist, as evidenced by his recital of Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude in D flat major (op. 28) on his grand piano (which he plays in the key of D); in fact, he poses at a player piano in an attempt to impress his guests." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Drax)
So does Drax play in the wrong key?
Is that a further early sign that Hugo Drax is insane?
Do any of our musical experts here know the answers to any of these questions? I love and appreciate music deeply, but a musical expert I am not, that I leave to Barbel and others.
As always, I welcome your views and potential answers on what I find a fascinating minor area of Bondology.
You can hear the full piece played beautifully here on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCAybXN5ojA
...and here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaUX-BAaiFQ
The main question that I have is: Was Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax in the film actually playing the grand piano or was it dubbed and was he "in character" actually meant to be playing the piano or was it one of those fancy pianos that plays on its own and he was merely playing along to impress his guests?
That theory would seem to be out though as he does stop playing the piano as soon as he lifts his hands, showing he must have really been playing it for real. I know that Moonraker is widely regarded as one of the most outlandish and comedic films in the Bond series, but surely to have shown the piano still playing even when Drax rose from his seat at the piano would have been a comic step too far. It's funny to imagine though, in one's mind eye, if you will. But I do find the suggestion in the thread on CBn that I started in 2004 that Drax pretending to play the play-itself piano was the first subtle sign that he was a madman and a modern-day Space Age Hitler, to boot.
On the Hugo Drax Bond villain page on Wikipedia it says the following:
"Drax portrays himself as an accomplished pianist, as evidenced by his recital of Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude in D flat major (op. 28) on his grand piano (which he plays in the key of D); in fact, he poses at a player piano in an attempt to impress his guests." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Drax)
So does Drax play in the wrong key?
Is that a further early sign that Hugo Drax is insane?
Do any of our musical experts here know the answers to any of these questions? I love and appreciate music deeply, but a musical expert I am not, that I leave to Barbel and others.
As always, I welcome your views and potential answers on what I find a fascinating minor area of Bondology.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
To show Drax was a cheat ? ( as we didn't get the fantastic bridge game)
Commander Daren (the Late Wendy Hughes) has a couple of scenes where she is seen playing a piano. The scene I wanted to find has her in the ten forward lounge at a grand piano. The scene is cleverly shot, with close ups of a real pianists hands,then as the camera tracks round the side of the piano, a moment of black screen is used to snap to a continual tracking shot, now featuring the actress, creating the illusion it was her hands we saw as she is playing.
Instead, here is a scene from later in the episode where Daren is playing with Capt Picard. I suspect the pianist was not involved, because Daren's hand placement in the close ups is similar in movement to Michael Lonsdales. Both instruments were non functional props, so I have no idea what the actors were miming to on set. Lovely music too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvtNT7UrFo
Basically, I agree with Matt. I don't think Drax was faking his playing ability either.