No.of Epis: 18Year/TV Station: 2008/MBC
Cast:
Kim Myung Min ~ Kang Gun Woo / Kang Ma-ae (Conductor)
Lee Ji Ah ~ Du Ru Mi (First Vionlinist)
Jang Geun Suk ~ Kang Gun Woo (Trumpeter/Conductor)
Synopsis:
Du Ru Mi is a music graduate who can't find a job and becomes an ordinary office worker in the city council. She's in charge of the city-funded orchestra and they are busy preparing for a concert. Just then, the conductor embezzled the orchestra's funds and the musicians are not paid. The musicians decided to leave and Ru Mi have to re-assemble her orchestra, and she's missing a trumpeter. She finds out that a neighbour cld play the trumpet, and it turns out to be Kang Gun Woo, a policeman. When Gun Woo learns that Ru Mi has invited maestro Kang Gun Woo to be their conductor, he became very angry...
Kang Gun Woo, aka Kang Ma-ae is an elitist and never settles for second best. With an oversized ego, he has a righteous attitude and thinks he’s superior than everyone else. He does not like to socialize with people and he believes that there's a need for talented players in order to give marvellous performances. Thus, he abhors players with mediocre talent and treats them with disdain.
Later,the new orchestra faces lots of problems, while we get to know more about the individual members, plus the love triangle b/w Kang Ma-ae, Gun Woo & Ru Mi.
Slacker's review:
Before BV was aired, the drama was linked to "Nodame Cantabile" as they both were music themed. However, don't expect BV to be like Nodame, coz' they're simply different. Actually I was hoping that BV wld be a more light-hearted drama, but then we know the style of Korean plot, it's not like the Japanese, so no super exaggerating comical stuffs, no silly plots or characters etc. Though BV's theme is refreshing, the typical korean plot just sets in and dragged the drama. We get to see Kang Ma-ae picking on the unprofessional orchestra players one by one. We also know that the orchestra will face lots of problems, from individual problems, to fine-tuning their playing, and the mayor keeps coming up with some trouble, then we have Ru Mi who's deaf at times, and the two Gun Woos who kept arguing with each other, though they also respect & admired each other. Romance took the second seat here, and I think they focus alot more on the two Gun Woos' teacher-student relationship. Somehow, music is more like a backdrop, and I am a little disappointed with that.
Kim Myung Min's performance was actually very good. Kang Ma-ae seems to be a cold-hearted man with little expressions. Personally I find Kang Ma-ae quite a boring character, though we can still see a little emotions underneath his skin. Haha! We get to see how he sees the talented Gun Woo and how he handled Ru Mi's feelings for him. One scene i particuluarly liked was when Kang Ma-ae realised that his music had changed...the internal struggle with himself was nicely done. Honestly, his chemistry with Lee Ji Ah is soso, maybe there's not enough scenes to show more on their relationship and they don't seem quite matched to me. I think KMM had better chemistry with Jang Geun Suk, as Kang Ma-ae valued his disciple alot more.
I didn't watch Lee Ji Ah's first drama "The Legend" which starred Bae Yong Jun. Her performance here was not too bad, but not very spectacular. I think she still has room for improvement. Du Ru Mi is quite a cheerful character initially, but we get to see how she coped with her deafness and how she gathered the new orchestra players who were from all walks of life. We also see a courageous girl who dare to let her feelings known to Kang Ma-ae.
Jang Geun Suk's performance was not bad too, but his character is not that interesting to me. Kang Gun Woo and Nodame shared one similarity - both of them can't read scores. Hahaha! I wonder is it a pure coincidence. Anyway, we get to see him being a trumpeter and a conductor as the same time, it's not an easy task. Well, it's great to see JGS trying new and distinct characters from time to time...shall anticipate his new drama. Hehe!
The support cast did a great job, without them, there wld be no story to tell. Ha! I like that veteran actress who played the cello...(she reminded me the gd old days I had being a cellist. Hehe!) The other main support cast-the flutist, the grandpa who played the Oboe, the other trumpeter and the double bassist were also given the chance to develop their stories.
OST is alright, but I think the drama has not come out with a full classical music ost yet.(Perhaps the music pieces they performed weren't alot...)
Well, it's unfair to compare BV and Nodame Cantabile. BV is a much more serious drama. It's interesting to see unprofessional musicians forming a orchestra, regardless of age, profession etc. However, I gotta admit that I did felt boring as BV progressed. I missed how "Nodame" made classical music so much interesting. I missed how S-oke performed their music pieces and how the drama brought me so much fun.
BV is still a watchable drama, but if you have never watch a music themed drama before, I wld recommend you to watch "Nodame Cantabile" first.
