Music of the Heart
Short description
Roberta Guaspari, a violinist who gave up her professional career when she married, finds herself divorced and raising two sons on her own. Encouraged by her mother, she moves to East Harlem and takes a job teaching music at a local school, where she builds a violin program for children in the neighborhood. The classes take hold over the years, but when budget cuts threaten to end the program, Roberta fights to keep it alive.
The film is a drama based on Guaspari's real experiences, directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray. It was the nineteenth of the twenty-five features Craven directed, following Scream 2 in 1997 and preceding Scream 3 in 2000. Meryl Streep plays Roberta, with Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan and Cloris Leachman among the cast.
Music of the Heart was released in October 1999 and runs 124 minutes. Made for a budget of about 27 million dollars, it took in roughly 15 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from about 14,000 votes, and on TMDB it also holds 6.7 from around 232 votes. A critics' rating of 6.5 from 89 reviews places it close to the audience scores, which indicates a broadly similar, moderate response from both groups.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film marked the big-screen debut of renowned American singer Gloria Estefan, who played Isabel Vasquez, one of the heroine Meryl Streep's colleagues and her main supporter. She also co-wrote and performed the film's title song with the youth group N SYNC, which was also titled "Music of the Heart".
- The role of music teacher Roberta Guaspari was originally intended for Madonna. However, the famous singer and actress declined to participate in the project shortly before filming began due to creative differences with Wes Craven, after which Meryl Streep was invited. By that time, Madonna had already spent considerable time and effort learning to play the violin.
- For her role in the film, Meryl Streep learned to play the violin. This required six hours of daily practice for four weeks. Michael Angarano, who played the role of Roberta Guaspari's 7-year-old elder son, Nick, also learned to play the violin and continues to play to this day.
- Many of the children who appeared in "Music of the Heart" were actually students of Roberta Guaspari during the events depicted in the film, including the concert at Carnegie Hall. The success of the concert led to the establishment of the Opus 118 East Harlem Violin Program, a music education program that continues to operate successfully to this day and reaches thousands of children across the country. Roberta Guaspari continues to teach music in East Harlem and conducts regular teacher workshops.
- Wes Craven agreed to work on the horror film "Scream 3" only on the condition that he would also direct "Music of the Heart".
- The initial title for the film was "50 Violins".
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