1. Beethoven = Kurosawa
Sidney Lumet called this one. Both artists were hugely influential in their respective forms on future generations in motivating a shift from Classicism to a more personal and dynamic approach. They both also shared a high-minded social consciousness which they sometimes stumbled over - but which also lead to some of their greatest work. Both had a very robust style in their primes, but then shifted to more contemplative and philosophical styles in their last works.
2. Haydn = Hitchcock
Both were consummate craftsmen who put out large quantities of work with little variation, but with a seemingly endless ability to rework that material in interesting ways. Much of the language of Classic Cinema was derived from Hitchcock, who in turn was carrying on the traditions of the German Silent Cinema, just as the language of Classicism was derived from Haydn, who in turn was carrying forth from the ground laid by Bach. Both lived long enough to see themselves become old fashioned, and both slowly declined after reaching a relatively late peak. Both became beloved public figures - as "Papa Haydn and as "Hitch", the host of Hitchcock Presents.
3. Mozart = Renoir
Both prolific and with frothy styles masking hidden depths.
4. Wagner = De Mille
Big, big, big. They both helped define the words "epic" and "gargantuan" for generations.
5. Berlioz = Welles
Both were stupefyingly innovative and talented, creating their most famous single work in their 20's, but then struggling for acceptance and understanding from an indifferent public after that. Both were brilliant Renaissance men with many talents. Both had tempestuous personal lives and tended towards self-destruction.
6. Copland = Ford
Both epitomized and codified in art the mythical American West, although they were politically and culturally night and day, and Copland only wore that mantle temporarily before casting it off for a more intellectual and "international" persona, while Ford did not.
7. Bernstein = Lucas
Both started out as wunderkinds, having a few huge early successes, but then squandering much of that potential after focusing on other pursuits - Lucas as a producer and businessman and Lenny as a conductor and lecturer. Their later creative efforts suffered due to this divided focus. Later attempts to tweak and improve their early successes (Lucas' "special editions" of Star Wars and Bernstein's "opera house" versions of Candide and West Side Story) were not accepted by the public. Needless to say, Bernstein was a much greater conductor Lucas than was a producer. What would the musical equivalent of Howard the Duck be anyway?
8. Webern = Kubrick
Both very cold, analytical and meticulously craftsmen with very small bodies of work, although Webern lacked Kubrick's showmanship and grandiosity.
9. Willams = Spielberg
This one's a no-brainer. Sunny and mostly optimistic poster children of Americana.
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