This film tells the story of one of the most magic moments of music. The beginning of 1964 held a great surprise for the music world: Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Not even the Beatles received more press coverage. All this, for an artist whose glorious career was said to be over, with the singer herself passing over to legend. It is no longer her performances, but her scandals that, are dominating the headlines. Unlucky in love with her billionaire boyfriend Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas wants to show them all that the title of ”Primadonna assoluta” is still rightfully hers. On condition that famed stage director Franco Zeffirelli takes on the production, the exceptional vocalist is prepared to take on the role of Tosca. Her fans queue outside the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden for four, even five nights. To get their hands on the sought after tickets, they spend the freezing winter nights in sleeping bags and on fold up chairs. The film tells the story of the event from today´s perspective and features interviews with Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson, Anna Prohaska Wolfgang Joop, Jürgen Kesting, Brian McMaster, Kristine Opolais. As bonus the performance of Tosca´s second act is included. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history. The film recording is one of the few opportunities to see Maria Callas on stage and witness her emotional dramatics and vocal competence.
Karajan – Maestro for the Screen + Berliner Philharmoniker play Bach
Herbert von Karajan was the first conductor to be obsessed with filming his own musical performances in order to preserve his cultural heritage. As a film and TV director he was an aesthete, perfectionist, and true pioneer. This documentary starts with the very first concert productions in 1957 in Japan, followed by the impressive cooperation with director Henri-Georges Clouzot in 1965 to Karajan’s own film company Telemondial. It is absolutely fascinating to see how Karajan developed his language for filming orchestral productions. Including outstanding digitally remastered performance material, talks with Karajan, interviews with his closest collaborators and production partners, the documentary is an exciting part of the history of classical music and media.
BONUS: First ever release of a 32 minutes video CONCERT J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3
in G major, BWV 1048 + Suite (Overture) No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 (Recorded 1967/1968)
Leonard Bernstein – Larger than Life
Leonard Bernstein was America’s musical ambassador to the world. This fascinating documentary shows why Bernstein was one of the most influential classical musicians of the last century. He was an inspirational teacher, a brilliant conductor, a fine composer, and an accomplished pianist. In his role as an educator, he found and fascinated an even larger audience of young listeners on television shows such as Omnibus and Young People’s Concerts. As a composer (West Side Story, On the Town etc.) he could bridge gaps and break down barriers in an extraordinarily skilful and yet accessible manner, reaching a large audience worldwide, way beyond classical music. The film includes interviews with Leonard Bernstein’s children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, Gustavo Dudamel, Stephen Sondheim, Kent Nagano, Marin Alsop, Sir Peter Jonas, Christoph Eschenbach, Norman Lebrecht, members of the Vienna Philharmonics, Craig Urquhart, and many others.
Richard Strauss: At The End Of The Rainbow
Eric Schulz reveals in his latest music film a new perspective on the personality and oeuvre of Richard Strauss, who saw himself as the last great composer at the end of an era, “at the end of the rainbow”. This carefully researched production presents spectacular hitherto unreleased pictures of Richard Strauss. Among others: a live recording of the premiere of the “Olympic Anthem” at the Berlin Olympic stadium in 1936. The very first performance of this piece ever to be heard, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic and a choir of 1000 singers conducted by Richard Strauss himself. These spectacular rare pictures are embedded in interviews with relatives, famous musicians and Strauss experts, such as Christian Strauss, Stefan Mickisch and Brigitte Fassbaender.
Stravinsky in Hollywood
Stravinsky in Hollywood explores the short-lived film career of this legendary musician, traces the account of his trials and tribulations with the Hollywood Studios, and narrates the story of an “old school” European artist coming to terms with a brash New World. Expecting to find lucrative employment composing for the silver screen, Stravinsky would eventually live and work in Hollywood from 1939 until shortly before his death in 1971. Using a combination of archival footage (some of it never seen before), interviews with the composer and several scenes from big studio films of the 40s scored by the Russian master, Stravinsky in Hollywood reveals what became of the man and the artist during
his some four decades in California.
The Composer Krzysztof Penderecki – Paths through the Labyrinth
Even at over 80 Krzysztof Penderecki is still an unflinching and highly active composer and conductor. Director Anna Schmidt followed Penderecki’s paths for a year – in the process interviewing such worldfamous artists as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Julian Rachlin and Janine Jansen as well as Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) and legendary film director Andrzej Wajda. As a result, Paths Through the Labyrinth has become a comprehensive “work in progress” documentary, accompanying Penderecki from Kraków to Munich, from Vienna to Leipzig, and to his private country estate. Throughout, the composer reflects on his beginnings, the turning points in his life and the world of his ideas. Thoughts, dialogues, encounters and extracts from several famous Penderecki compositions coalesce into a fascinating, multilayered portrayal of one of today’s most influential musicians.
Glenn Gould: The Russian Journey
The date is May 2nd, 1957. Stalin died only four years before and perestroika is still a long way off. However, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who is just 24, arrives in Moscow for an exceptional tour: he is the first North American musician to play behind the iron curtain. This is the story that Glenn Gould in Russia tells by revealing documents from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had remained classified for years. Witness accounts from musicians such as Ashkenazy and Rostropovitch, parts of the original recordings of Gould’s concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as a recording that had never been released before of his lecture-recital in Leningrad make this an invaluable documentary revealing an aspect of Glenn Gould’s artistry that few people are aware of.
The Colón Ring – Wagner in Buenos Aires
Is it really possible to stage Wagner’s Ring on a single day? The composer’s great-granddaughter, Katharina Wagner, who now runs the Bayreuth Festival, was keen to stage Cord Garben‘s abridged version of the cycle at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, but in the event things turned out rather differently. When she and her team arrived at the Colón, they found that the rehearsal conditions were not what they were expecting, and so she decided that the task should be entrusted to a different director. Valentina Carrasco took over at short notice and together with the singers and the set and costume designers she staged the Ring in a seven-hour version never previously seen – and all
on a single day! The present documentary provides a thrilling and visually memorable account of the long journey taken by this version from its inception to the first night.
Schumann at Pier2 – A concert film with Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Schumann at Pier2 is not a usual documentary, it explains the whole idea behind the project and it contains footage from rehearsals, comments from Paavo Järvi about the symphonies and the interpretation, biographical information about R. Schumann and footage of musicians who explain and play key themes and more. Stars of the film are the conductor Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and it´s filmed at „Pier2“, a former dockyard in the harbour of Bremen.
“Järvis Schumann is most notably extremly exciting, performed with a lot of enthusiasm.“ Fono Forum
„Since their great Beethoven-Cycle Paavo Järvi and the „Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie“ are one of the top ensembles.“ Crescendo
Kinshasa Symphony
Two hundred orchestral musicians are playing Beethoven’s Ninth – “Freude schöner Götterfunken“. A power cut strikes just a few bars before the last movement. Problems like this are the least of the worries facing the only symphony orchestra in the Congo. In the 15 years of its existence, the musicians have survived two putsches, various crises and a war. But concentration on the music and hopes for a better future keeps them going. Kinshasa Symphony is a study of people in one of the world’s most chaotic cities doing their best to maintain one of the most complex systems of joint human endeavour: a symphony orchestra. The film is about the Congo, the people in Kinshasa and the power of music.
“A superb and affecting documentary about some highly unusual musicians, the staggering challenges they face in their everyday lives, the amazing city they live in and the power of Beethoven‘s Ninth.” Die Zeit
“Beautifully photographed and sonically stellar.“ Variety
“Kinshasa Symphony is a stand-out title.“ The Mercury
“It’s to Baer and Wischmann’s credit that it is a very measured and often funny and lyrical film.“ Die Zeit
“For me, the strongest impression at the Berlinale was Kinshasa Symphony, no doubt about it.” ACADEMY AWARD WINNER Volker Schlöndorff