The piano has always been important on screen. Here are 10 times it steals the show
The piano has played a leading role since before we even had movies with sound.
During the era of silent films, live pianists would improvise soundtracks to the action on screen.
As the screen industry evolved the piano has taken on different feature roles.
Sometimes it's the instrument itself as a star, and other times piano-filled scores help guide us through the film, almost like another character.
Classic, cheesy or chic, there are so many memorable piano scenes, from Michelle Pfeiffer singing on top of a grand piano in The Fabulous Baker Boys, to Edward serenading Bella in Twilight.
And there's the music we'll always remember, like Scott Joplin's The Entertainer from The Sting, or Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto in The King's Speech.
Whether it's just a moment, or the star of the show, here are a few of our favourite appearances of the piano on screen.
So many of us first fell in love with the piano through cartoons.
In 1946 Warner Bros. released their Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit and soon after in 1947 Looney Tunes released The Cat Concerto featuring Tom and Jerry, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Both use the music from Liszt's incredibly difficult Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in a musical competition with a pesky mouse.
There are playful elements mimicking the affectations of pianists, like Bugs Bunny removing layers of gloves before playing or Tom wiping his hands off mid-performance.
One of the most famous pianists today, Lang Lang, has shared that it was The Cat Concerto that inspired him to pick up the piano.
In Jane Campion's The Piano, mute protagonist Ada claims early in her narration, "the strange thing is, I don't think myself silent. That is because of my piano."
Ada's beloved instrument is set up early as her most true form of expression, with her emotions told through Michael Nyman's original soundtrack.
Holly Hunter, who portrays Ada, took lessons to play the performance scenes herself in the film.
In one of the most famous scenes, Ada is joyously reunited on a beach with her piano by her husband's neighbour, unknowingly igniting the love triangle that will drive much of the film's narrative.
The most well-known track, The Heart Asks Pleasure First, based on a traditional Scottish song, is still a popular performance piece today, and has even been covered by metal and rock bands.
The piano appears as friend, companion, solace and antagonist in the 1996 Australian film Shine, based on the life of pianist David Helfgott.
Throughout the film, Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto represents the pinnacle of musical achievement and commitment to the piano, as well as Helfgott's desperate desire for his father's approval.
The soundtrack features some of the piano's most virtuosic repertoire, mostly performed by Helfgott himself.
David Hirschfelder's piano-heavy original score also melds in seamlessly, at times feeling like fragmentary echoes of the Rachmaninov concerto running through a traumatised mind.
As hand double for the young Helfgott (played by Alex Rafalowicz), pianist Simon Tedeschi recalls filming sitting behind the actor wearing the same clothes and playing through his sleeves.
"Chopin is very athletic, and you better believe that my core strength was improved after those two days because I had to counter his weight," Tedeschi shares.
Are there many movie scenes more heartwarming than the moment in Big when Tom Hanks jumps onto the giant floor piano?
Most 80's kids dreamed of being able to do the same.
In the memorable scene, Hanks performs a duet with the owner of the toy company he works for, playing Heart and Soul with a playful transition to Chopsticks, both bonding over a childhood spent learning piano.
The piano becomes almost a battle ground in the 1984 film Amadeus, which tells a fictionalised story of rivalry between real-life 18th century composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.
In one scene, where Mozart is presented to the Emperor, he is gifted with a piece of piano music composed in his honour by the court composer Salieri. Mozart proceeds to play the music back by ear, improvising and improving it on the spot in front of the incredulous, and slightly offended, Salieri.
The soundtrack also features stunning performances of several Mozart Piano Concertos with concert pianist Alfred Brendel and the renowned Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
The piano was an important instrument during colonial Australia, with the first instrument arriving here in 1788.
In the 1982 classic film based on the Banjo Patterson poem of the same name, the piano becomes a symbol of the blossoming romance between stockman Jim and the station owner's daughter, Jessica.
The pair first meet as Jessica is painstakingly learning Beethoven's Für Elise. After exchanging words, Jessica's performance becomes suddenly more feeling.
Later, she convinces Jim to help break in her father's prized colt while he is away from the station. The montage sequence is backed by the piano track, Jessica's Theme, which is still popular with pianists today.
Yann Tiersen's piano-filled soundtrack for 2001's Amélie feels almost like a character of its own. As Amélie journeys through her fantastical world, the scores accompany our heroine on her self-created adventures with a sense of whimsy and wonder.
In a recent video on social media, concert pianist Lang Lang shares he enjoys playing popular track from the score, La Valse d'Amélie. "It is filled with passages that feel like a fairytale," he shares.
Jane Austen was an avid pianist and given how important the piano is in her narratives, it's unsurprising that it features heavily in both the 1995 BBC miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice as well as the 2005 film.
Carl Davis's music for the BBC miniseries incorporates music from the era performed on period instruments.
You hear piano performances featuring popular composers of the day like Handel and Mozart as well as English country dances.
In the sprightly theme, the playing of Melvyn Tan features heavily, performing on the era-appropriate fortepiano.
Dario Marianelli's Oscar-winning soundtrack for the 2005 film brings a different sound world to the story, but also references the popular music of the day. Marianelli has said he was heavily influenced by Beethoven's early sonatas.
The score is beautifully recorded, featuring French concert pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the English Chamber Orchestra.
As was proper for eligible young ladies during the Regency era, the piano is an important feature of the hit romance series Bridgerton.
While displaying their talents as is expected of them, the piano helps to also show more of the inner personalities of the ladies performing.
Eldest daughter Daphne is always trying to set a proper example, but her choice of music like Beethoven's tempestuous 'Waldstein' Piano Sonata echoes her passionate nature in private.
The third Bridgerton daughter Francesca chooses the middle movement of Beethoven's 'Appassionata' Sonata, speaking to her introverted character, in direct comparison with her fiery sister.
Alongside the Virginia Wolff novel Mrs Dalloway, Philip Glass's score for The Hours is a thread that ties together the stories of the three women we follow through the film.
The piano is at the forefront of the music, connecting the women through time, from the 1920s to the turn of the 21st century.
As one writer for the Metropolitan Opera highlights, the piano is an instrument historically associated with women, and domestic settings, so a fitting musical narrator for their stories.
The soundtrack is haunting, filled with the multitude of emotions of the three women's life experiences.
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