“The structures stripped bare hold up the empty air”. György Kurtág is more than one of the most powerful creative voices in modern Europe. He created a new way of listening; forging a musical language in which silence can be as meaningful as sound and even the smallest gesture opens up new worlds. This award-winning 1996 documentary offers an unrivalled, often profoundly moving glimpse into his creative imagination, including interviews with the composer as well as rare performance and rehearsal footage plus contributions from György Ligeti, Claudio Abbado, pianist Zoltán Kocsis and the composer’s late wife (and artistic collaborator) Márta.
Nine Sketches of Dvorák
Documentary to the complete Dvorak Symphonies Cycle recorded in the Rudolfinum, Prague, by Czech Philharmonic under the baton of chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek: Alongside the performances in concert, the symphonic cyle is presented in a special interpretative version in which conductor Jirí Belohlávek explains how each symphony came to be written and highlights the key musical features of the individual movements. Jirí Belohlávek visits important places in the composer’s life, interviews experts and key figures and investigates how his symphonies came to be so successful.
My life with Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) was born in a small town in Bohemia and spent his life in France, USA, Switzerland, and Italy. As one of the few composers of his time, he experienced great success and fame during his life. The film contains shots of authentic remembrances – newspaper critics, programme books, pictures, buildings, places where Martinu lived, his autographs, archive film shots of the places where he composed. The baseline of the movie is formed by a stream of sorted thoughts of Martinu’s French wife Charlotte. The music sounds like a soundtrack and corresponds to the chronologically narrated content.
Beyond the Music: Barenboim-Said Akademie
After the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999, another project of intercultural understanding is derived from the friendship between Barenboim and the Palestinian humanist Edward Said. The inauguration of the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin marked a new phase within the political and educational engagement of musician and pedagogue Daniel Barenboim. After a successful world career as a pianist, conductor and musical teacher with political aspirations, the creation of this place is perhaps Barenboim’s most enduring work and at the same time a project of the heart. “Beyond the Music” portrays this innovative academy whose mission is committed to the humanistic ideals of its founders and ultimately a clear message of peace: music creates understanding.
Making of “Turandot”
Anna The Great – A life for the opera stage
A documentary about the great soprano Anna Netrebko by the russian filmmaker Dmitry Sapun which follows her at home in Russia and New York and on the road as she prepares for her performances. It also features interviews with Anna herself, her family, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Piotr Beczala and many of her supporters such as Valery Gergiev and Plácido Domingo.
Making of “Fidelio”
Thunderous applause and loud cries of “bravo” greeted the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fidelio” at the inaugural performance of the first opera season in Valencia’s new Palau de les Arts on 25 October 2006. Attending the stellar performance in architect Santiago Calatrava’s breathtaking theater complex was Queen Sofía of Spain, who added to the glamour of the event. With this spectacular production directed by Pierluigi Pier’Alli, Valencia has put itself back on the map of the international opera world. Calatrava’s sweeping structure recalls the organic forms of Catalonia’s “Modernisme” style. Hints of Gaudì and traces of Gothic arches and nave-like spaces project a feeling of openness and freedom. Not surprisingly, “Fidelio” was chosen to inaugurate the theater’s main concert hall – an about freedom set in Spain, and in which the contrast between the darkness of Florestan’s dungeon and the light of justice and love embodied by Leonore is both heard in the music and seen on the stage.
Stefan Herheim: The Drama Lies in the Music
One of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, Stefan Herheim, has begun an intense rehearsal period at the MusikTheater an der Wien, where he will shed new light on Johann Strauss II’s classic operetta “Die Fledermaus”. We get unique access to the process behind one of his most ambitious and controversial interpretations, set in Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938. With the cameras up close, artistic breakthroughs, creative triumphs and moments of deep doubt are revealed. The ensemble is challenged, and expectations are sky-high. The question is as simple as it is dramatic: Will Herheim’s new “Fledermaus” end up as a success… or a scandal?
Olaf Bär – Portrait, Part 1
Overture 1912 – Deutsche Oper Berlin
In 2012 the Deutsche Oper in Berlin had ist centennial celebrations. Although today’s building was not opened until 1961, the history of the house on the Bismarckstrasse goes further back: it was built in 1912 and opened as Deutsches Opernhaus upon the initiative of a group of people from Berlin–Charlottenburg as the citizen’s opera in opposition to the Königliche Hofoper, now Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The film illustrates all facets of the different eras of this Berlin opera institution from the beginning
until today through interviews with artists closely connected to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as a large variety of archive footage that also includes documentations of rehearsals and performances from the last 100 years.