Johnny Green leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra in a medley of waltzes and other familiar pieces by three members of the Strauss family. Filmed in CinemaScope.
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This is a full-length documentary honoring the life and work of American composer and artist John Cage. Cage is considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. This documentary features interviews with various personalities from different fields as they introduce us to the life and work of this great American artist.
Moritats are old folk songs about crimes and are typical of Central Europe. Zela Trovke is a moritat from Slovakia which the Holland Baroque Society has recovered to include in its Barbaric Beauty programme. Maite Larburu, the orchestra’s violinist, unveils the song's hidden secrets.
Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.
Beginning on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, “Brave Enough,” documents violinist Lindsey Stirling over the past year as she comes to terms with the most challenging & traumatic events of her life. Through her art, she seeks to share a message of hope and courage and yet she must ask herself the question, “Am I Brave Enough?” Capturing her personal obstacles and breakthrough moments during the “Brave Enough,” tour, the film presents an intimate look at this one-of- a-kind artist and her spectacular live performances inspired by real-life heartbreak, joy, and love.
"What would the world be like without Beethoven?" That’s the provocative question posed by this music documentary from Deutsche Welle. To answer it, the film explores how Ludwig van Beethoven's innovations continue to have an impact far beyond the boundaries of classical music, 250 years after his birth.
A documentary on one of the world’s most exciting string quartets – the Quatuor Ébène – draws viewers into the musicians’ struggle with interpretational details, with colleague-friends – and with themselves.
Conductivity is a film about creative leadership told through the story of three young conductors at the prestigious Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; I-Han Fu (Taiwan), Emilia Hoving (Finland) and James Kahane (France). When stepping on the podium, they are put under a magnifying glass. Conductor training, in essence, is leadership training. The film gives a unique viewpoint to follow the students, as this is the first film about conductor training at the Sibelius Academy.
With an original staging of text and music, Orlando follows the trail of one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance: Orlando di Lasso (also known as Roland de Lassus). His life and masterful oeuvre continue to move people to this day. Although he was a European star at the time, di Lasso had to endure the indignities of his social status as a servant. This documentary explores the relationship between art and power, musically accompanied by the ensemble La Tempête.
Leonard Bernstein’s protégée Marin Alsop reveals how she smashed the glass ceiling to become an internationally renowned conductor.
Michael Kamen conducts the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in support of metal rockers Metallica in this 1999 concert performance.
"Who plays me, hears my voices”, shows a recent moment in the life of Gaston Lafourcade, a classical pianist and harpsichordist who, at the age of 83, enters a recording studio for the first time in his life to record a solo album and to join his daughter, Natalia Lafourcade, who during a recess period in her career, decides to embark on this adventure as a love letter to her father and as a way to enjoy what brings them together, beyond blood ties: their deep love for music.
In Search of Beethoven offers a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of the great composer. Over 65 performances by the world's finest musicians were recorded and 100 interviews conducted in the making of this beautifully crafted film. Eleven interviews are included in the Extras and Six complete movements.
This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.
Evgeny Igorevich Kissin was born in Moscow on the 10th of October 1971. He started to play the piano at the age of two, as soon as he was tall enough to reach the keyboard and he has not looked back from that day to this. His is a very rare story of continued success that has had the simultaneous blessing of critics, the public and musicians alike. This film by Christopher Nupen shows Kissin in preparation, interview, rehearsal and performance, with several dazzling performances shot live on stage, in true concert conditions. It also contains all the encores from Kissin's memorable Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in August, 1997—the first Prom concert by a soloist, it attracted the biggest audience in all the 103 year history, very nearly six thousand people. The music is by Liszt, Gluck, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Paganini, Kissin himself and Chopin, the composer for whom Kissin feels the closest affinity.
Made to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, IN SEARCH OF MOZART is the first feature-length documentary on Mozart's life. Produced with the world's leading orchestras and musicians, told through a 25,000 mile journey along every route Mozart followed, this detective story takes us to the heart of genius. Throughout, it is the music that takes center stage, with the jigsaw of Mozart's life fitting around it.
The documentary follows Chilly Gonzales from his native Canada to late '90s underground Berlin, and via Paris to the world's great philharmonic halls. Diving deep into the dichotomy of Gonzales' stage persona, where self-doubt and megalomania are just two sides of the same coin.
From Schubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to…Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life. Director Alison Chernick’s (The Jeff Koons Show, Matthew Barney: No Restraint) new documentary provides an intimate, cinéma vérité look at the remarkable life and career of this musician, widely considered the world’s greatest violinist. Features new interviews with the world-renowned violinist, his family, friends and colleagues including Billy Joel, Alan Alda, pianist Martha Argerich and cellist Mischa Maisky.
Pianomania takes the audience on a humorous journey through the secret world of sound and accompanies Stefan Knüpfer in his extraordinary work with the greatest pianists in the world. To select the instrument that corresponds to the vision of the virtuoso, according it to his desire and accompany him until he goes on stage, Stefan Knüpfer has developed nerves of steel, a boundless passion and above ability to translate words into sounds.
Pierre Boulez conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a special concert from the Barbican, as part of the composer's 80th birthday celebrations. The programme contains two compositions by Debussy; Jeux and Trois ballades de Villon, as well as Daphnis et Chloé by Ravel, featuring soprano Elizabeth Atherton as soloist.Presenter Charles Hazlewood interviews Boulez and discusses the concert with guest Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last completed symphony proves it’s possible.
This 14-minute film talks about the Hindu god Brahma's creation of life, the world and of course the first woman. Saeed Jaffrey narrates the story as dancers Bhaskar, Dinu and Anjali Devi "act" out the story.
After drinking all night, Monty and his friend try to get home, but it turns out to be not easy. The next day, Monty tries to win the heart of a theater actress.
Based on the true story of Louis "Red" Deutsch. A New Jersey bar-owner is plagued with prank phone calls that prompt him to flip into psychotic, profanity-laden rages.
After blowing his professional ballet career, John's only way to redeem himself is to concoct the demise of his former partner, Leah, who he blames for his downfall; he rehearses his salvation in his mind in the way that he rehearses a dance, but being able to break from the routine will be the key to his success.
‘Finding Fanon’ is the first part in a series of works by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy; inspired by the lost plays of Frantz Fanon, (1925-1961) a politically radical humanist whose practice dealt with the psychopathology of colonisation and the social and cultural consequences of decolonisation. In the film, the two artists negotiate Fanon’s ideas, examining the politics of race, racism and the post-colonial, and how these societal issues affect their relationship. Their conflict is played out through a script that melds found texts and personal testimony, transposing their drama to a junkyard houseboat at an unspecified time in the future. Navigating the past, present and future, Achiampong and Blandy question the promise of globalisation, recognising its impact on their own heritage.
When Max (Eric Stoltz), urged on by "Risk Management," a self-help book for the hapless, decides to approach his fellow ferry-commuter Rory (Susanna Thompson), he hopes simply saying hello might change his life for the better. But Rory only accepts contact by contract. Max finds he can play along. As the two negotiate a whirlwind relationship on paper, Rory slowly lets down her guard; but when her unresolved personal life intervenes in the form of Donald (Kevin Tighe), Max must manage a little more risk than he bargained on.
The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..
Laura and Alexandra are full of excitement as they arrive in Warsaw, the first stop on their summer-long couchsurfing trip through Europe. New connections are quickly formed, and plans for parties are made, even though Laura at the same time are missing her boyfriend. However, the dynamics of the journey shift when, after a night of heavy drinking, Laura wakes up in a guy’s bed without any memories of what happened.
Years after his mysterious disappearance, Julio Arenas, a famous Spanish actor, is back in the news thanks to a television program.
David McDoll is a selfish and wealthy man living an enviable lifestyle in his large villa and collecting fancy cars. However, his life is about to be changed forever when he inherits his six grandchildren. His glamorous lifestyle quickly becomes complete chaos. But he will learn a valuable lesson that teaches him about placing family first and discovering a newfound appreciation for life.
Manolo is a famous singer who has a brief affair with Diana, a beautiful hitchhiker. Diana becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child, Lito, the Manolo ignores their existence. Seven years later, Diana wants her son Manolo meet and therefore decided to look for him. However, when he is suffering a great disappointment because Manolo does not remember her. One person who remembers the father Manolo, who follows that Lito is his grandson and both plan unite Manolo and Diana.
A group of friends try to defeat an evil king, and meet some quirky characters along the way.
Jerry's little duckling friend has packed his bag and is all set to fly south for the winter despite the book Jerry keeps showing him that points out that domestic ducks do not fly south, and despite his inability to fly at all.
A baby woodpecker mistakes Jerry for his mother. The mouse rejects the newly hatched bird but soon finds himself protecting it against his feline nemesis, Tom.
Bandit crew with mysterious masked leader is doing lots of crimes. Mauricio Rosales and his sidekick ride into town all incognito and stuff to set things right.
Janusz starts working as an inspector in a department store. One day he notices on the monitor a woman who is stealing a bottle of perfume. He resolves to let her go. Intrigued by the woman, Janek finds out that she is Monika Małecka, a leader of an influential political party, who is going to run as a party candidate in the parliamentary elections. The two develop a difficult relationship in which lack of trust together with neglect lead inevitably to its end.
Prolific actor-stuntman Conrad Palmisano directed this average action-thriller about the owner of an inner-city gym. Earl (Paul Coufos) happens to also be a skilled fighter, and when he is pressured by real-estate developers to close the gym, he fights in order to save it.
Highland Sunset and a final look at Class 37s on the West Highland Line to Fort William before the introduction of Class 66s. Crewe Open Weekend with a tour of Crewe Works during the open weekend of the 20th and 21st of May with a variety of traction plus coverage of specials to the event with 33 and 37 hauage. Class 58 Profile with only half of the original class still in action we take a look at the class from the 1980s to the present day. Devon Contrasts and Class 67 and 47 motive power along the famous stretch of sea wall from Starcross to Dawlish.
8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.
