Documentaries
Claudio Abbado - Hearing the Silence conveys an intensely moving view on one of the leading musicians of our time. In several interviews, Abbado talks about artistic, musical and biographical aspects of his life. The film shows excerpts from rehearsals and concerts with some of his favourite orchestras. Statements from colleagues and friends are combined with views from his favourite surroundings and help to characterize the "silent thinker".
Film Director Paul Smaczny had a very rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the immensely private personality of Claudio Abbado, described by many in the film as noble and elegant but also as a warm-hearted friend. The musicians all mention his reserved, but exact gestures, his respectful way of working in rehearsals and concerts and the atmosphere of co-operation this creates. Co-operation in music making is an aspect that, as Abbado indicates in one of his interviews, is very important to him and one that is at the core of his artistic intentions. Together with rarely seen historical filmed material and documents of him rehearsing and performing works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Debussy, Dvorak, Strauss, Stravinsky and Nono. The film follows Abbado's work with the orchestras with whom he most frequently collaborated, making use...
Film Director Paul Smaczny had a very rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the immensely private personality of Claudio Abbado, described by many in the film as noble and elegant but also as a warm-hearted friend. The musicians all mention his reserved, but exact gestures, his respectful way of working in rehearsals and concerts and the atmosphere of co-operation this creates. Co-operation in music making is an aspect that, as Abbado indicates in one of his interviews, is very important to him and one that is at the core of his artistic intentions. Together with rarely seen historical filmed material and documents of him rehearsing and performing works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Debussy, Dvorak, Strauss, Stravinsky and Nono. The film follows Abbado's work with the orchestras with whom he most frequently collaborated, making use...
In this advanced seminar, Robert Durso shows simple solutions to problematic passages using the Taubman Approach. See how almost every category of solution is used as he works from beginning to end in this detailed presentation. Topics covered include:
- Leaps
- Rotation
- Walking arm
- Interdependence
- In and out
- Grouping
- Re-distribution
- Shaping
- Octaves
- Torso
- Legato playing and sounding
- Leaps
- Rotation
- Walking arm
- Interdependence
- In and out
- Grouping
- Re-distribution
- Shaping
- Octaves
- Torso
- Legato playing and sounding
Everything about Piotr Anderszewski is extraordinary: his talent, his repertoire, his constant questioning of his work as a performer. Any film about this highly unconventional pianist owes it to itself to depart from the beaten path: On the borderline between documentary and fiction, this "road movie" is set against the backdrop of a winter journey by train across Poland with a piano installed on board… Punctuated by Piotr's highly personal reflections, the repertoire consists of essential pages by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann and Szymanowski.
Martha Argerich has long been hailed as one of the greatest and most uniquely imaginative pianists. She is most admired for the pure joy of her music-making and her individual approach to each work, each situation and each audience. A wild child and a rebel at heart, this legendary Argentinean musician has often been surrounded by an aura of mystery during her long career. Evening Talks , a film by Georges Gachot, a French film maker specialised in classical music documentaries, lifts a corner of the veil: Martha Argerich shares with us her memories, confides in us her doubts, and transmits to us her incredible appetite for music-making. Martha Argerich has before admitted to feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances and now focuses on concertos and duo work. The film also shows her performing with some of her closest musical friends such as pianists Nelson Freire and Friedrich Gulda and in various chamber music settings. Images of Argentina, where she was born in 1941, footage of rehearsals in the concert hall or at home, excerpts of recent concerts and archival material complete this unique film portrait of one of the most consummate artists of our time. This outstanding documentation received several awards in Europe and the US and this recording features a highly...
Video 1 - The Art of Concert Preparation
Lecture by Edna Golandsky
Ballade in F Minor, op. 52 by Frédéric Chopin
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Andrew Eitel
Video 2 - The Art of Concert Preparation
Toccata from Pour le piano by Claude Debussy
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Yuka Munehisa
St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots by Franz Liszt
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Mariko Sato
Video 3 - The Art of Concert Preparation
Sonata in C Major, op. 53 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1st movement)
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky and Ilya Itin
Performance by John Wickelgren
Jazz master class conducted by Danilo Perez
Performance by Antonio Madruga
Lecture by Edna Golandsky
Ballade in F Minor, op. 52 by Frédéric Chopin
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Andrew Eitel
Video 2 - The Art of Concert Preparation
Toccata from Pour le piano by Claude Debussy
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Yuka Munehisa
St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots by Franz Liszt
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky
Performance by Mariko Sato
Video 3 - The Art of Concert Preparation
Sonata in C Major, op. 53 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1st movement)
Master class conducted by Edna Golandsky and Ilya Itin
Performance by John Wickelgren
Jazz master class conducted by Danilo Perez
Performance by Antonio Madruga
In this seminar, Father Sean Duggan teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing Bach's 3-Part Inventions.
The story of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is colourful and dramatic, with a reputation worldwide for music-making of the highest quality. This special recording celebrates over sixty years of the Orchestra's history through film and music, charting the high-profile conductors, international performances and turbulent times that have helped to shape the Orchestra as we know it today and to create an ongoing tradition of musical excellence.
The outstanding tenors of the 78 era: comprising thirteen episodes, each with a biographical and a musical focus, features bel canto singers captured on black and white sound film. Backed up with footage, much of which is shown here for the very first time, the individual artists are profiled and their exceptional talents demonstrated in representative recordings. Part I: Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Richard Tauber, Leo Slezak, Joseph Schmidt.
The outstanding tenors of the 78 era: comprising thirteen episodes, each with a biographical and a musical focus, this recording features bel canto singers captured on black and white sound film. Backed up with footage, much of which is shown here for the very first time, the individual artists are profiled and their exceptional talents demonstrated in representative recordings.
The recording brings together three of the constants of Leonard Bernstein's protean career: his involvement with education projects, his complex relationship with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his desire to leave a filmed testament to his work. In 1987, Bernstein had established the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival at Salzau Castle, a teaching and learning centre for young musicians, where he taught for several summers. He ensured that there would be cameras present in 1988, as he explored the subversive nature, exposed nerve endings and unseemly fervour of great art – and Shostakovich in particular. Bernstein begins his rehearsals by explaining his interpretation of the score of Shostakovich's First Symphony written between 1924 and 1925 when the composer was 19 years old. Leonard Bernstein had a particular gift for providing young people with an inspirational and enthusiastic introduction to music. And few others could immerse themselves in Shostakovich's world in so incomparable a manner. These recordings bring together three of "Lenny's" great passions in an altogether unique way!
Seldom has the genius of one man so influenced the musical conscience of his age. Leonard Bernstein triumphed as composer, conductor, writer and teacher. The spontaneous joy of his Broadway hits, the bold, spiritual quest of his orchestral works, his intensity and vitality as conductor, made Bernstein one of the central figures in 20th-century music. In Leonard Bernstein – Reflections , he discusses his Boston childhood, his musical growth at Harvard and the Curtis Institute and the influence of great masters like Reiner, Mitropoulos and Koussevitzky. He shares his feelings on the primacy of tonal music and speculates on the nature of the creative process. From Carnegie Hall, scene of his début, to the living room of his home and his private studio overlooking New York's Central Park, Reflections explores the artist's varied and colourful career.
Bonus feature:
Milhaud, D.: Le Boeuf sur le toit - Ballet, Op. 58
Orchestra National de France
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Bonus feature:
Milhaud, D.: Le Boeuf sur le toit - Ballet, Op. 58
Orchestra National de France
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Karl Bohm! The Austrian conductor was respected and feared by his musicians as an uncompromising expert orchestral trainer. Seeing his precision and accuracy of interpretation, it comes as no surprise that he earned a PhD in law before turning to music. He was 100% dedicated to the musical work - and took back his own personality if necessary to produce the very best musical performances. However, many musicians comment that he was their "beloved dictator" who brought out the best in them by just looking at them. An incredible musical experience!
A beloved figure of classical composers is the broken diminished-7th chord. John Bloomfield will use examples from the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven to show how to negotiate this type of passage. Topics covered include:
- Fingering
- Black/white key combinations
- Forearm rotation
- Using lateral motion effectively
- Shaping
- Fingering
- Black/white key combinations
- Forearm rotation
- Using lateral motion effectively
- Shaping
Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996) has been called a "musical giant", a "magician", "a brilliant lion-tamer" and an enfant terrible of classical music. He was famous for refuting the commercial aspects of the music business, which makes his rare recordings even more valuable. This recording gives us a fascinating insight into the mechanics of rehearsing and performing and reveals Sergiu Celibidache's special techniques of motivating the orchestra to obtain the effects he desires. The films from 1965 and 1982 are among the very few visual records we have of the legendary rehearsal work of this highly charismatic Maestro; they provide a unique insight into his Stuttgart years, bringing to light the marvels he achieved with the Radio Orchestra, which he conducted from 1971-1983. Celibidache was a master Straussian and his reading of the symphonic tale Till Eulenspiegel ranks among the best recordings available. His version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade is full of sensuality and subtlety. Both documents last almost an hour - they give today's listeners an exclusive opportunity to observe Celibidache in rehearsal and concert, making it a must for lovers of symphonic music.
Explore Europe's most spectacular cities and landscapes while luxuriating in the great classical music composed within their precincts. Viewers will learn about the lives of the master musicians, the cities they lived in, and how their work reflects the very same surroundings we see today.
Renowned actor, writer and classical music specialist Simon Callow presents a spectacular continental odyssey with a soundtrack by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Puccini, Grieg, Sibelius, Smetana, Tchaikovsky and others.
Vivaldi's Venice, the Salzburg of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the fjords of Norway evoked in music by Edvard Grieg, and the Vienna that waltzed to Johann Strauss have never looked - or sounded - better.
Renowned actor, writer and classical music specialist Simon Callow presents a spectacular continental odyssey with a soundtrack by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Puccini, Grieg, Sibelius, Smetana, Tchaikovsky and others.
Vivaldi's Venice, the Salzburg of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the fjords of Norway evoked in music by Edvard Grieg, and the Vienna that waltzed to Johann Strauss have never looked - or sounded - better.
Made for the 1939 New York World's Fair ("The World of Tomorrow"), The City is a seminal documentary film distinguished for the organic integration of narration (scripted by city planner Lewis Mumford), cinematography (Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke), and music (Aaron Copland). The score, arguably Copland's highest achievement in film, was also his ticket to Hollywood; it has been called "an astonishing missing link not only in the genesis of Copland's Americana style but in American music and cinema" (Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times ). As the film contains no dialogue, it is possible to create a fresh soundtrack and discover musical riches inaudible on the original monaural recording. As Copland created no suite from The City , the present video at the same time marks the world premiere recording of this music in its entirety.
Bonus features:
- The City with the original soundtrack (1939) featuring Morris Carnovsky (narrator) and an orchestra conducted by Max Goberman
- Which Playground for your Child: Greenbelt or Gutter? (2000): a documentary film from the Greenbelt Museum featuring interviews with three Greenbelt "pioneers"
- George Stoney in conversation with Joseph Horowitz (2007): a legendary documentary film-maker revisits The City
Bonus features:
- The City with the original soundtrack (1939) featuring Morris Carnovsky (narrator) and an orchestra conducted by Max Goberman
- Which Playground for your Child: Greenbelt or Gutter? (2000): a documentary film from the Greenbelt Museum featuring interviews with three Greenbelt "pioneers"
- George Stoney in conversation with Joseph Horowitz (2007): a legendary documentary film-maker revisits The City
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
The Berlin Philharmonic present Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra recorded live at...
The Berlin Philharmonic present Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra recorded live at...
Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo in 2002, this video features the performances of Young virtuoso Gil Shaham and Brahms expert Wolfgang Sandberger. American-Israeli master violinist Gil Shaham made his debut at the age of 10 and became internationally famous in his early twenties when he was called to replace Itzhak Perlman for a series of concerts. He and his Stradivarius joined the world renowned Berlin Philharmonic under their long-standing former chief conductor Claudio Abbado. Discovering Masterpieces - Brahms: Violin Concerto relives the spectacular works of Johannes Brahms. This newly edited series brings you first-class concerts, an introductory documentary and an audio-visual concert guide to the highlights of classical music, providing the listener music from the Baroque period up to the present time in an entirely different way. The film contains historic documentary, artworks and original manuscripts of the composer, allowing the viewer to embark on a journey back to time.
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo in 2002, the Berlin Philharmonic under...
Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo in 2002, the Berlin Philharmonic under...
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) was the orchestra's first conductor and the...
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) was the orchestra's first conductor and the...
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
Recorded live at the Konzerthaus Berlin in November 2005, the series continues with the...
Recorded live at the Konzerthaus Berlin in November 2005, the series continues with the...
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
Martha Argerich – often regarded as the greatest pianist of our time - plays Robert...
Martha Argerich – often regarded as the greatest pianist of our time - plays Robert...
Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.
The Sächsische Staatskapelle, orchestra of the famous Dresden Semperoper gives a sample of...
The Sächsische Staatskapelle, orchestra of the famous Dresden Semperoper gives a sample of...
During the 1999 Holland Festival, the New York group, Bang on a Can, performed their new instrumental version of Brian Eno's ambient composition of the seventies Music for Airports . The performance features Frank Scheffer's digitally shot images of Schiphol Airport, with the cooperation of musicians: Steve Reich, Brian Eno and Louis Andriessen. Frank Scheffer's In the Ocean is unique in the genre of music documentary. This recording explains the complex contemporary pictures of the past thirty years as well as showing how ideas move back and forth between continents. Scheffer explores the relationship between American and European composers, of how they view and influence each other. This is personified in the film by the story of Bang on a Can, one of the most popular and vital movements in music today. The founders and artistic directors of Bang on a Can are three young American composers: Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe. They established themselves as heirs to the legacy of American composers Charles Ives, John Cage, Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
This video provides a fascinating exploration of the role played by "hidden lines" and illuminates the way they profoundly influence the nature of artistic performance. Taken from lectures by Edna Golandsky during the 2006 Summer Symposium at Princeton University, demonstrations include excerpts from the following:
- Schubert's Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960
- Chopin's Etude in E Major, op. 10, no. 3
- Haydn's Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/49
- Chopin's Ballade in F minor, op. 52
- Beethoven's Sonata in A-flat Major, op. 110
- Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G-sharp minor, op. 32, no. 12.
- Schubert's Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960
- Chopin's Etude in E Major, op. 10, no. 3
- Haydn's Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/49
- Chopin's Ballade in F minor, op. 52
- Beethoven's Sonata in A-flat Major, op. 110
- Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G-sharp minor, op. 32, no. 12.
Highly acclaimed British author and pianist Paul Roberts was guest speaker at the 2005 Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium at Princeton University. The Institute's Distinguished Presenters Series is privileged to include among its offerings this fascinating lecture/demonstration by one of the world's leading interpreters of French piano music.
In this video taken from a live lecture in New York City, Mary Moran discusses the skills needed for a successful performance of this exciting, late intermediate piano piece. On the technical side, she explains:
- How to play grace notes
- Staccato technique in single notes and chords
- Legato and staccato leaps
- Grouping chords and octaves
- Interdependence of hands
She also discusses many of the physical skills required for a top-notch musical performance:
- Tonal balance
- Voicing chords
- Shaping the musical line
- Pedaling
- How to play grace notes
- Staccato technique in single notes and chords
- Legato and staccato leaps
- Grouping chords and octaves
- Interdependence of hands
She also discusses many of the physical skills required for a top-notch musical performance:
- Tonal balance
- Voicing chords
- Shaping the musical line
- Pedaling
Mary Moran's presentation on how to teach and play the Khachaturian Toccata .
Max Lorenz was at the height of his career as a heldentenor in 1941. As a homosexual with a Jewish wife in Nazi Germany, he would have faced deportation. However, as Hitler’s favourite tenor and a symbol of his times, he was protected by Hitler and Göring. This gripping, well - researched documentary which is nominated for the FIPA festival boasts original footage of Max Lorenz, Haus Wahnfried and Hitler’s visits to Bayreuth (e.g. the first coloured picture of Hitler). Includes interviews with great artists such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and René Kollo.
Attrazione D'Amore shows the unique relationship between conductor Riccardo Chailly and his famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Featuring their rehearsals and magnificent performances of the works of Mahler, Mozart, Debussy, Stravinsky and Varese as well as Puccini. Frank Scheffer paints a fascinating portrait of mutual love between a conductor and an orchestra based on the magical attraction of music. The film also features interviews of Luciano Berio and Ricardo Chailly himself.
In 1968, composer and pioneer of electroacoustic music Luciano Berio created Sinfonia , a memorable orchestral piece and a harmonic journey through his reference composers: Stravinsky, Boulez, Schönberg, Stockhausen and most of all, Mahler. Voyage To Cythera navigates through wonderful music quotes made of performances conducted by Berio, rehearsals, archival documents and interviews featuring Riccardo Chailly and Louis Andriessen.
In 1968, composer and pioneer of electroacoustic music Luciano Berio created Sinfonia , a memorable orchestral piece and a harmonic journey through his reference composers: Stravinsky, Boulez, Schönberg, Stockhausen and most of all, Mahler. Voyage To Cythera navigates through wonderful music quotes made of performances conducted by Berio, rehearsals, archival documents and interviews featuring Riccardo Chailly and Louis Andriessen.
Conducting Mahler documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's work. The film includes fantastic rehearsals and performances of each of Gustav Mahler's ten symphonies by the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Phiharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic at the Mahler Festival in May 1995.
I Have Lost Touch With The World is based on Mahler's 9th Symphony . In the four parts of this film, renowned conductor Riccardo Chaily and Mahler's internationally acclaimed biographer Henry-Louis de la Grange analyse the four movements of this masterful musical piece. Reaching into the heart of Mahler's music, the film marks Riccardo Chailly's celebration of his departure from Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in June 2004, after sixteen years of close collaboration.
I Have Lost Touch With The World is based on Mahler's 9th Symphony . In the four parts of this film, renowned conductor Riccardo Chaily and Mahler's internationally acclaimed biographer Henry-Louis de la Grange analyse the four movements of this masterful musical piece. Reaching into the heart of Mahler's music, the film marks Riccardo Chailly's celebration of his departure from Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in June 2004, after sixteen years of close collaboration.
In this master class, Father Sean Duggan teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing Bach's French Suite No. 6.
In this master class, Edna Golandsky analyzes popular segments of Beethoven's 32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80 . The video begins with a discussion about the learning process and the student begins playing at 8:43. Topics covered include:
- Fingering
- Grouping
- Shaping
- Leaps
- Chord passages
- Impact of movements on technical issues
- Fingering
- Grouping
- Shaping
- Leaps
- Chord passages
- Impact of movements on technical issues
In this master class, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, "Waldstein" . Topics covered include:
-Shaping of chord passages
-Scale shaping
-Shaping of chord passages
-Scale shaping
In this master class, Ilya Itin teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 .
Maya Plisetskaya is in every sense an exceptional personality. Like almost no other dancer, the eternal prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi Theatre understood how to combine outstanding dance skills with dramatic expression. There are also very few dancers who can look back on such a long and active career: even on her eightieth birthday in November 2005 she personally gave a stage performance. A homage to her inimitable creative work, this video features fascinating footage of her greatest successes as a ballerina together with an interview in which Maya Plisetskaya describes her life as a dancer - which is simultaneously a whole chapter of Russian history, from Stalin to perestroika.
Waltraud Meier is "La Wagnerissima", the queen of Wagner's repertoire. In her very personal account I follow a voice within me , we enter her world and learn about her motivations, aspirations, and her joyful way of pursuing them. In addition to personal insights, this truly ingenious portrait presents Waltraud Meier on stage and in rehearsal in her most celebrated Wagner roles and as an interpreter of Mahler's Lieder. It becomes clear how she coined today's musical world when other great musicians such as Daniel Barenboim or Plácido Domingo speak about her and her work. This beautiful portrait of one of the greatest interpreters of our time is rounded off with a powerful recording of Mahler's "Lied von der Erde".
A Christopher Nupen film belonging to a long line of memorable portraits of the great performers. This video, which contains, among other things, the only portrait film ever made with Nathan Milstein, is the product of a close friendship between a dedicated film-maker and one of the finest violinists of the twentieth century. It was shot in the autumn of the longest career in the history of solo violin playing; 73 years lay between Milstein's first appearance with Glazunov conducting and his last recital in the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm in 1986.That legendary recital provides most of the music for this film. Milstein's partner was the French pianist Georges Pludermacher, with whom he had worked for more than 20 years.
Nathan Milstein was an astonishing 82 years old at the time, but still playing as the grandest of Grand Masters and, as probably no other violinist has ever played at 82. This film will be of interest to virtually every violinist alive and to most students of the violin.
Nathan Milstein was an astonishing 82 years old at the time, but still playing as the grandest of Grand Masters and, as probably no other violinist has ever played at 82. This film will be of interest to virtually every violinist alive and to most students of the violin.
Harry Partch (like his friend Anais Nin) considered his life's work to be a letter to the world. His last act was going to be to add the enclosures. He never got around to it. After 20 years of working on the Partch archives, Philip Blackburn has now completed the seven-part Enclosures series as it were on his behalf.
Enclosure 7 is a monumental tribute to the most significant works of this American original and iconoclast. It includes new versions of his late masterworks and never-before-seen footage that bring us closer to the real Harry behind the myth.
The Dreamer That Remains is a documentary produced by Betty Freeman and directed by Stephen Pouliot in 1972. Here is the director's original cut along with his commentary. If you've never seen Partch or his instruments before, this is the place to start.
Delusion of the Fury was his magnum opus; a lifetime of instrument-invention and ideas of ritual theater were poured into this giant work. The 1971 film has been resynched and the soundtrack remastered in 5.1 surround sound.
The CBS LPs of this work came with a Bonus Album of Harry introducing his instruments. Unavailable for years, this recording features this talk along with a slideshow of the instruments.
Revelation in the Courthouse Park was...
Enclosure 7 is a monumental tribute to the most significant works of this American original and iconoclast. It includes new versions of his late masterworks and never-before-seen footage that bring us closer to the real Harry behind the myth.
The Dreamer That Remains is a documentary produced by Betty Freeman and directed by Stephen Pouliot in 1972. Here is the director's original cut along with his commentary. If you've never seen Partch or his instruments before, this is the place to start.
Delusion of the Fury was his magnum opus; a lifetime of instrument-invention and ideas of ritual theater were poured into this giant work. The 1971 film has been resynched and the soundtrack remastered in 5.1 surround sound.
The CBS LPs of this work came with a Bonus Album of Harry introducing his instruments. Unavailable for years, this recording features this talk along with a slideshow of the instruments.
Revelation in the Courthouse Park was...
In 1985 Philip Blackburn climbed the stairs to an attic in Iowa City and started trying to make sense of the boxes piled up there. They contained a composer's life's work: scrapbooks, tapes, photos, letters, scores, and film reels - fragile treasures documenting the Twentieth Century from a most unusual viewpoint; perhaps the world's most original musician: Harry Partch.
The idea was to publish them and reveal Harry to the world on his own terms. Not as the crabby, homeless, self-taught microtonal musical weirdo and instrument maker, but as that most American of all artists; a truly independent thinker. With Enclosure 8 , the work of bringing them to public attention reaches its apotheosis.
The Enclosures series (named for the extras Partch wanted to add to his life-long letter to the world) started appearing in 1995 with a VHS video of four films made in collaboration with the Chicago-based film-maker Madeline Tourtelot. Four CDs, two years and one book later, Enclosure 4 appeared featuring his later films: Delusion of the Fury (his culminating ritual-theater work) and a San Diego Public TV documentary, also on VHS. Now the time has come for these to be issued on DVD, extensively restored, resynched and digitally remastered from the extant original prints....
The idea was to publish them and reveal Harry to the world on his own terms. Not as the crabby, homeless, self-taught microtonal musical weirdo and instrument maker, but as that most American of all artists; a truly independent thinker. With Enclosure 8 , the work of bringing them to public attention reaches its apotheosis.
The Enclosures series (named for the extras Partch wanted to add to his life-long letter to the world) started appearing in 1995 with a VHS video of four films made in collaboration with the Chicago-based film-maker Madeline Tourtelot. Four CDs, two years and one book later, Enclosure 4 appeared featuring his later films: Delusion of the Fury (his culminating ritual-theater work) and a San Diego Public TV documentary, also on VHS. Now the time has come for these to be issued on DVD, extensively restored, resynched and digitally remastered from the extant original prints....
In the first segment of this lesson, Mary Moran works with a young student on many concepts from her book Basic Alignment and Rotation including balance and alignment on each finger, single rotation, and avoiding stretching and curling fingers. In the Brahms segment, she discusses technical ideas that apply particularly to four-hand duet playing including torso adjustment and tonal balance.
The lessons in this video are on Écossaise by Hummel (from Suzuki Piano Book 2) and on Hungarian Dance No.5 in F-sharp Minor for Piano Four-Hands by Brahms.
The lessons in this video are on Écossaise by Hummel (from Suzuki Piano Book 2) and on Hungarian Dance No.5 in F-sharp Minor for Piano Four-Hands by Brahms.
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra
Under its leader and composer Simon Jeffes, this ensemble has been making its own idiosyncratic brand of music since the mid-1970s, drawing on classical and avant-garde sources, as well as pop, folk and ethnic forms, with instruments ranging from the piano, cello, violin and drums, to the ukelele, electric guitar and penny whistle. A studio recording of performances by the PCO is punctuated with interviews in which they discuss their original and eclectic style.
This programme celebrates the music of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra which, in the words of Simon Jeffes caters for an audience "capable of enjoying Wilson Pickett, Beethoven, the Rolling Stones, choral music from West Africa, Bach, Stravinksy, Irish bagpipe music and even Abba on the odd occasion".
Bonus feature:
'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe - A ballet performance with an introduction narrated by Jeremy Irons and performed by The Royal Ballet
The idiosyncratic music and imaginary world of Simon Jeffes, founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, prompted David Bintley to create this ballet, set in a cafe where penguins resemble people and people resemble penguins. Here, an exuberant cabaret is presented by a succession of exotic creatures. The inventive and amusing...
Under its leader and composer Simon Jeffes, this ensemble has been making its own idiosyncratic brand of music since the mid-1970s, drawing on classical and avant-garde sources, as well as pop, folk and ethnic forms, with instruments ranging from the piano, cello, violin and drums, to the ukelele, electric guitar and penny whistle. A studio recording of performances by the PCO is punctuated with interviews in which they discuss their original and eclectic style.
This programme celebrates the music of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra which, in the words of Simon Jeffes caters for an audience "capable of enjoying Wilson Pickett, Beethoven, the Rolling Stones, choral music from West Africa, Bach, Stravinksy, Irish bagpipe music and even Abba on the odd occasion".
Bonus feature:
'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe - A ballet performance with an introduction narrated by Jeremy Irons and performed by The Royal Ballet
The idiosyncratic music and imaginary world of Simon Jeffes, founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, prompted David Bintley to create this ballet, set in a cafe where penguins resemble people and people resemble penguins. Here, an exuberant cabaret is presented by a succession of exotic creatures. The inventive and amusing...
This video is an intimate account of the formative years in the life and career of one of the leading violinists of our time.
Itzhat Perlman fell in love with the sounds of the violin at the age of 3 and 1/2 but contracted polio a few months later and ws soon to learn that it would be impossible, with his handicap, for him to pursue a high-level career as a violinst.
Not only has he succeeded in doing what the world thought quite impossible but he has done it on a level that few have matched. It is a heartening story of the spectacular triumph of talent, determination, character and tenacity over seemingly insurmountable odds, producing truly glorious results along the way.
Itzhat Perlman fell in love with the sounds of the violin at the age of 3 and 1/2 but contracted polio a few months later and ws soon to learn that it would be impossible, with his handicap, for him to pursue a high-level career as a violinst.
Not only has he succeeded in doing what the world thought quite impossible but he has done it on a level that few have matched. It is a heartening story of the spectacular triumph of talent, determination, character and tenacity over seemingly insurmountable odds, producing truly glorious results along the way.
Pianists sometimes find it confusing to organize the two hands together when each has a different rhythm to play. John Bloomfield shows a sure-fire way to understand how both hands work interdependently when playing any kind of polyrhythm.
Topics covered include:
- Strategies
- Putting the passage into the hands
- Transitioning to tempo
- Trills
Topics covered include:
- Strategies
- Putting the passage into the hands
- Transitioning to tempo
- Trills
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of Bach's Sinfonia No. 7, BWV 793 . Topics covered include:
- Student with a history of injury
- Sound control
- 2-note slurs
- Minimizing motions
- Bringing out inner lines
- Interdependence of color
- Voicing
- Student with a history of injury
- Sound control
- 2-note slurs
- Minimizing motions
- Bringing out inner lines
- Interdependence of color
- Voicing
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a specific section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of the the Chopin Ballade No. 1. in G Minor, Op. 23 . Topics covered include:
- Correct seat height
- Walking hand and arm
- Grouping
- Rhythm
- Correct seat height
- Walking hand and arm
- Grouping
- Rhythm
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of Chopin's Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 . Topics covered include:
- Chords
- Wrist height
- Chords and single notes
- Leaps
- Chords
- Wrist height
- Chords and single notes
- Leaps
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of Chopin's Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 . Topics covered include:
- Rotation
- Double thirds
- Sound production
- Preventing twisting
- Arpeggios
- Rotation
- Double thirds
- Sound production
- Preventing twisting
- Arpeggios
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of Debussy's Danse, "Tarentelle styrienne" . Topics covered include:
- Diagnosing where the problem is
- Grouping by direction
- Left hand staccato: minimizing motion, talking about repeated chords, and letting notes send you
- Leaping in both hands
- Diagnosing where the problem is
- Grouping by direction
- Left hand staccato: minimizing motion, talking about repeated chords, and letting notes send you
- Leaping in both hands
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve a breakthrough performance in playing a specific section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of the Rachmaninoff Prelude in G sharp minor, Op. 32, No. 12 . Topics covered include:
- Leaps
- Rotation
- Combining different technical elements
- Leaps
- Rotation
- Combining different technical elements
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes a section of the first movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, Op. 120, D. 664 . Topics covered include:
- Leaps
- Fingering
- Rotation
- Grouping
- Interdependence
- Leaps
- Fingering
- Rotation
- Grouping
- Interdependence
In each Problem Solving in Action video, Edna Golandsky teaches a student how to achieve breakthrough performance in playing a section of a piece in his or her repertoire. In this video, Golandsky analyzes the Schumann Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 . Topics covered include:
- Starting out with a natural technique, getting injured, and then getting back on track
- Tone production
- Leaps
- Repeated octaves, staccato technique for octaves
- Shaping
- Pedaling
- Starting out with a natural technique, getting injured, and then getting back on track
- Tone production
- Leaps
- Repeated octaves, staccato technique for octaves
- Shaping
- Pedaling
It became a remarkable documentary, a compilation of the different renditions, rehearsals and performances of Roger Norrington with the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. In this video, Norrington ventures into Romantic music, featuring a documentary of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique and the music of Richard Wagner. Details of each work are explained and narrated by Roger Norrington himself.
Carl Schuricht is one of the most important conductors of the 20th Century. This video includes historic recordings and interviews of Carl Schuricht.
The Final Chorale tells the story of Igor Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments , a piece he composed in 1920 in memory of Claude Debussy. Using montage technique juxtaposing short musical sequences and blocks of sound, Stravinsky constructed his work boldly with complex tempo relations which until today, still strike musicologists, musicians and audiences. Frank Scheffer tells this neo-classical musical adventure in a moving documentary, taking the structure and character of the composition as the basic form for the style and editing of the film. His narration includes an interview with Robert Craft, archival material on Stravinsky and performances by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.
Written in 1909, Five Orchestral Pieces is one of Arnold Schönberg most famous compositions, presenting the evolution from tonal to atonal music. In the composer's own words, he said "No architecture, no build up, just an uninterrupted flow of colours, rythms and moods". Conductor Michael Gielen rehearses and performs Schönberg's Op.16 with the Netherlands Radio Philarmonic. Each of the five movements is interspred with interviews of Gielen, Carl Schorske and Charles Rosen who discuss various aspects of Schönberg's life and works. Rosen also performs...
Written in 1909, Five Orchestral Pieces is one of Arnold Schönberg most famous compositions, presenting the evolution from tonal to atonal music. In the composer's own words, he said "No architecture, no build up, just an uninterrupted flow of colours, rythms and moods". Conductor Michael Gielen rehearses and performs Schönberg's Op.16 with the Netherlands Radio Philarmonic. Each of the five movements is interspred with interviews of Gielen, Carl Schorske and Charles Rosen who discuss various aspects of Schönberg's life and works. Rosen also performs...
Tea recounts how Chinese composer Tan Dun wrote the opera Tea , a tragic love story set against the background of the Japanese tea ceremony. He combines Eastern and Western composition techniques to create unique fusion of music between two great musical traditions. The Tea opera is the door to the mystical world of Chado, the Way of Tea. A world in which the ultimate objective is, as Tan Dun himself states, "To hear colour and to see sound". Beautifully crafted by Franck Scheffer, Tea includes interviews of Tan Dun, librettist Xu Ying and director Pierre Audi, as well as performances with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Dutch Chamber Orchestra conducted by Tan Dun.
Broken Silence draws the portraits of five Chinese composers widely known as the founders of Chinese contemporary music : Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Guo Wenjing, Mo Wuping and Qu Xiasong. Children of Mao's cultural revolution, a troubled time when classical music was forbidden in China, they grew up listening to local folk songs and the Communist Party's revolutionary operas. When China opened in 1978, Tan Dun and his fellow students discovered Beethoven, an experience that will change their lives. Filmed in China, New York, Paris and the Netherlands, Broken Silence won the Grand Prix Visions du Réel in...
Broken Silence draws the portraits of five Chinese composers widely known as the founders of Chinese contemporary music : Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Guo Wenjing, Mo Wuping and Qu Xiasong. Children of Mao's cultural revolution, a troubled time when classical music was forbidden in China, they grew up listening to local folk songs and the Communist Party's revolutionary operas. When China opened in 1978, Tan Dun and his fellow students discovered Beethoven, an experience that will change their lives. Filmed in China, New York, Paris and the Netherlands, Broken Silence won the Grand Prix Visions du Réel in...
In this video, Senior Faculty member and Senior Director Robert Durso shares concepts and practical solutions to the challenges of learning and teaching forearm rotation. Designed with teachers and students in mind, various pitfalls are discussed in the application of rotational training. Practical solutions and teaching strategies are analyzed and discussed in an effort to support learning outside of the private lesson environment.
Pare Lorentz's The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1937) are landmark American documentary films. Aesthetically, they break new ground in seamlessly marrying pictorial imagery, symphonic music, and poetic free verse, all realized with supreme artistry. Ideologically, they indelibly encapsulate the strivings of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 'New Deal'. Virgil Thomson's scores for both films are among the most famous ever composed for the movies. Aaron Copland praised the music for The Plow for its 'frankness and openness of feeling', calling it 'fresher, more simple, and more personal' than the Hollywood norm. He called the music for The River 'a lesson in how to treat Americana'.
Bonus Features
- George Stoney on The Plow and The River
- The New Deal, The River , and Race
- Charles Fussell on Virgil Thomson
- Virgil Thomson on Virgil Thomson (audio only)
- The original ending of The Plow that Broke the Plains
- The original beginning of The Plow that Broke the Plains
Bonus Features
- George Stoney on The Plow and The River
- The New Deal, The River , and Race
- Charles Fussell on Virgil Thomson
- Virgil Thomson on Virgil Thomson (audio only)
- The original ending of The Plow that Broke the Plains
- The original beginning of The Plow that Broke the Plains
This film is a docufiction on the great Toscanini directed by well-known film-maker Larry Weinstein who pushes the boundaries of conventional documentary storytelling by borrowing tools from fiction films, including dramatic reconstructions and historical cinematic stylings. Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), arguably the greatest and most famous conductor in history, was paradoxically one of the most private. He never granted interviews, left diaries or journals of any kind. But during the last years of his life, his son Walter secretly recorded 150 hours of intimate conversations that Toscanini shared with friends and family who visited his home. TOSCANINI: In His Own Words , is based on these tapes which remained vaulted for more than 50 years. Recreated conversations reveal aspects of the Maestro never seen before. Subjects such as his loves, opinions about colleagues, his clashes with Mussolini and Hitler, his personal memories of Verdi, Puccini, Furtwangler, Stokowski, as well as his greatest joys and causes of his endemic sadness are all part of his frank conversation. Interwoven throughout the film are many of Toscanini's greatest musical performances.
In 2003, after a career spanning nearly forty years, Julia Varady discreetly retired from the public stage. She now dedicates her time to teaching. While for most great singers the transition from performing to teaching generally follows signs of vocal deterioration, Julia Varady's voice has never been so dazzling. She constantly sings in full voice during her classes, with the same intensity and generosity of spirit that made her one of the very finest lyric sopranos of our time.
Bonus feature:
The complete master class with Julia Varady (110 mins)
Bonus feature:
The complete master class with Julia Varady (110 mins)