Piotr Anderszewski is not only one of the best pianists of our time, he is also a great doubter, a perfectionist, who has to cope with the fact that as a musician he does not always find the perfect instrument at the venue. All around the concert in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in which Piotr Anderszewski plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor together with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Thomas Hengelbrock, we experience him in the intensive confrontation with his instrument, the piano. “It is a complicated
relationship. Sometimes I think it would be better if the instrument didn’t exist at all,” says Piotr Anderszewski. “I would prefer to transmit music telepathically – without physical sounds.”
When the First World War broke out in 1914, the musical world did not remain unaffected. Artists inevitably became involved, either as soldiers at the front or as composers of patriotic music or musical memorials to a lost world. The three-part documentary series investigates the (un)known, overt and hidden connections between music, war and revolution. The first part focuses on the enthusiasm for the war in the musical world: when musicians and composers became fervent patriots and soldiers. How did the composers and musicians such as Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Maurice Ravel and Béla Bartók handle these times of war? How did their experiences at the battlefront affect their composing? What do the compositions reveal of this era and its spirit, believes and artistic changes of this age? The documentary combines important historical locations in the lives of the composers and musicians: such as the original battlefront of Verdun with the Voie Sacrée and the old Vienna with the Wiener Musikverein.
He was the founder of a new musical age and the overpowering father figure of musical modernism. With his departure from tonality and the invention of twelve-tone music, Arnold Schönberg left his mark on the music of the 20th century more momentously than any other composer. The founder of the Second Viennese School, whose concerts in the first decade of the 20th century provoked notorious scandals among audiences, did not see himself as a radical subversive but rather as a staunch upholder of the great German-Austrian musical tradition. On his way into new musical territory, he was guided by an uncompromising desire for the integrity of musical expression. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, the 90 min. film Arnold Schönberg. The Restless Visionary uses previously unpublished archival material to paint a long overdue, comprehensive portrait of one of the most important, yet also most original and versatile artistic personalities in history. The film also provides surprising insights into lesser-known aspects of his life and personality: his religious conflicts, his family environment, setbacks, his painful emigration to America, and his enigmatic fear of the number 13.
On different levels, the film approaches one of the greatest choreographers of our time: John Neumeier. The film is about his work and about Neumeier personally. Friends and companions share their views and Neumeier’s husband also gives private insights. The joint trip with Neumeier to Chicago and Milwaukee is a journey to his very beginnings and shows the roots and the source of his work up to today. We learn about the path and career of John Neumeier and draw a portrait of a great dancer, a wonderful teacher and a person deeply rooted in art and religion. Complementing the floating camera in the recording of Neumeier’s ballet choreographies during rehearsals, we show current artistic work that captures movement and dance, aesthetics and expression, humanity and commitment to others in an authentic and aesthetic way.
The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are, together with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, the most famous concerts in the history of early music. They are true “evergreens” with an exciting genesis, brilliantly orchestrated and extremely varied. The flautist Ana de la Vega is one of the dazzling personalities of a young generation of musicians. On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Brandenburg Concertos, she embarks on a journey into the history and musical characteristics of the works. Fascinated by Bach and his music, she searches for traces in Leipzig, Weimar, Köthen and Berlin: How did the concerts come about? What makes them so unique? And what is the truth of the claim that they were a secret application of Bach?
At a time of personal change, star pianist Lang Lang fulfills a long-held dream and takes on one of the greatest challenges of the classical repertoire: Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Legendary in their length and difficulty, the 30 variations are technically demanding and when performed together, span almost 90 minutes. On this very intimate journey of rediscovery, Lang visits mentors, friends, and Bach experts, travelling through time and to various cities to find deeper connection to both the composer and the historic colossus of music literature. Follow in an open conversation as he develops his interpretation and encounter a new Lang Lang, who is more experienced, more thoughtful, more transparent, and more concentrated.
