A new film about the inimitable Baroque composer, violinist and fencer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is coming to our screens in summer 2023, in a new production from Searchlight Pictures. The Baroque composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges has been hailed as the 'Black Mozart', a nickname that has often attracted controversy.
Although the two were contemporaries and knew one another, there's little to suggest that Bologne remained in Mozart's shadow for too long – and in several instances, it appears that Mozart may have borrowed Bologne's material in some of his own writing.
Who was Joseph de Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, aka the Black Mozart?
Born in Guadeloupe to a French colonial plantation owner and a young Senegalese slave, Bologne was taken to Paris at a young age to gain an education. His fencing skills helped advance him up the social ladders, and he later assumed the title Chevalier de Saint-Georges. As well as an aptitude for swordsmanship, Bologne was a skilled composer and violinist. Not for nothing did American President John Adams once call him 'the most talented man in Europe.'
'Like Vivaldi or Paganini, Bologne was a composer-executant par excellence who knew his instrument inside out – and, fencer to his fingertips, was fearless, lunging ever higher into a stratosphere never attempted by Mozart,' wrote Paul Riley for BBC Music Magazine.
What is the plot of Chevalier?
The film is set in 18th-century France, and follows the soaring rise and defiant spirit of the musical phenomenon, Joseph Bologne, aka the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Not just a virtuoso violinist, Bologne was also a talented composer, a champion swordsman and, for a while, one of the most alluring members of the glittering court of Marie Antoinette. Those considerable talents will have contributed to his sometime nickname of the 'Black Mozart'.
However, the film shows that Bologne's irresistible rise (and the colour of his skin) also make him enemies in high society. The court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette may have been a glittering one but, socially, it was also a conservative place.
Who wrote the screenplay?
The biopic, Chevalier, was the feature screenwriting debut from Stefani Robinson, the writer of TV shows Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows, both of which she received Emmy nominations for. She is the first black woman in Emmy history to be recognised for multiple nominations in both the Outstanding Comedy category and in Comedy Writing.
And who directed Chevalier?
The project was directed by Jamaican-Canadian director Stephen Williams, who was behind the recent hit TV series Watchmen, The Walking Dead and Westworld. He was also a co-executive producer on the ABC series Lost.
The film was funded and distributed by Searchlight Pictures, which is owned by Disney.
Who’s starring in the Chevalier de Saint-Georges biopic?
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is played in the film by Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves, Cyrano), who was most recently seen in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. The cast also features Minnie Driver, Lucy Boynton, Samara Weaving and Sian Clifford.
What is the name of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges biopic?
The biopic has been titled Chevalier after its protagonist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, sometimes referred to as the 'Black Mozart'.
When will Joseph Bologne's biopic be released?
Chevalier was released in UK cinemas on 9 June, 2023. That year turned out to be a bumper year for classical music cinema: we also had Tár, in which Cate Blanchett portrayed a powerful but unstable conductor. And the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, also saw release on Netflix this year.
There's also a film on the way in which Angelina Jolie will play the incomparable opera singer, Maria Callas.