LOS ANGELES _ The third season of "Mozart in the Jungle" has launched on Amazon Prime. It's a half-hour comedic drama based on the 2005 memoir "Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs & Classical Music" by Blair Tindall.
Here are a few facts about the show to get you ready for the new season.
What it is: The series pulls back the curtain on the music world, where artistic dedication and creativity crash into mind games, politicking and survival instincts.
Stars: Gael Garcia Bernal, Lola Kirke, Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Bernadette Peters, Hannah Dunne and Peter Vack.
Awards: 2016 Golden Globe for Best Television Series, Bernal for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television series _ Comedy or Musical.
Series co-creator Paul Weitz on awards: "I think we were thrilled to get noticed at the Golden Globes. And it's probably something to aspire to to someday get nominated for an Emmy. I think that it's a show, on some level, pointing toward some sort of pure aspirations I guess it was a slight bummer, but not that much of one, and it didn't affect anything creatively, in terms of the Emmys."
Season 1 recap: New York City orchestra musicians adjust to the transition from traditionalists running the organization to a new young conductor.
Season 2 recap: Conductor worries about a possible orchestra strike at the same time as the musicians start a Latin American tour.
How the new season starts: Rodrigo (Bernal) takes on a new artistic challenge: conducting the great opera diva Alessandra (Monia Bellucci) in her long-awaited return concert in Venice, Italy. Alessandra pulls him into a passionate collaboration.
Actor Saffron Burrows, who plays Cynthia, on learning to play a specific guitar piece: "I carried this travel bass with me for the last seven weeks. I actually came to New York from L.A. on a train, so I had this guitar with me for three days and three nights on the train just strumming this one song."
Series co-creator Roman Coppola on how the show has changed: I think opera was something that relates to classical music. It seemed like such a rich area to explore, and that led to the birthplace of opera music, being Italy. The spirit of the show has always been very loose and intuitive. Rodrigo just kind of flips from one place to the next. And it just feels very natural to just explore and free associate in our imagination."
Bernadette Peters, who plays Gloria, on how the show compares to real music work: "I think creative people tap into something. And I think that's what we're trying to do. I think creative people are open, and I think that's why people from the classical music world come onto our show because they're open to just letting something happen and occur and see what can happen creatively that way."
