The film accompanies the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra through its rehearsals and concerts for the live recording of the Beethoven CD Box containing all nine symphonies. We experience the orchestra’s musicians and ist maestro at highly personal moments, whether at work (by no means a conflict-free zone) or “off duty” at parties and in private. Unreservedly frank conversations show the musicians and Daniel Barenboim explaining their vision, their hopes, and also their fears and failures – both on the musical and the political front – and the lessons they have learnt.
Sting – A Winter’s Night… Documentary
In ‘Sting – A Winter’s Night … Documentary’, the artist takes his producer-friend Robert Sadin – and the viewer – on a tour of the places where he grew up in and around Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne in northern England, and reunites with so.
At Home with Daniel Barenboim
For this episode of the “Private concert at…” series, Maestro Daniel Barenboim opens us the doors of his house in Berlin and performs Beethoven’s famous “Gheister” Trio with his son Michael Barenboim (violin) and Kian Soltani (cello). In conversation with Annie Dutoit in the intimate setting of his home, he shares very personal memories and anecdotes of his life.
At home with Martha Argerich
In Geneva, the city where she spent most of her life, Martha Argerich invites her lifelong music partner, the cellist Mischa Maisky, to play chamber music works by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Chopin. Between each piece, the pianist opens up to her daughter Annie Dutoit, in an intimate conversation that reveals personal insights as well as musical ones
At home with Daniil Trifonov
Captivating his audience with passionate but perfectly controlled energy, Daniil Trifonov is a true musical phenomenon. Wishing to get away from the concert halls he is accustomed, we follow this great pianist on an intimate journey, from a Parisian Jazz Club to the streets of New York via the peace and quiet of his home in the Connecticut forest. A. SCRIABIN Sonata No. 9; P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY Children’s Album; S. RACHMANINOFF Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14; M. RAVEL Gaspard of the Night J. S. BACH/S. RACHMANINOFF Partita No. 3 in E major. Prelude; S. PROKOFIEV Sarcasm, Op. 17
At home with Gidon Kremer
In this episode, the audience is invited into the Berlin residence and studio of legendary violinist Gidon Kremer, who plays “a kaleidoscope of things” dear to him, including pieces by Piazzola, Weinberg and Schubert. The violinist also performs in Paliesius Manor in Lithuania, a concert venue that feels like home to Kremer. In conversation with Annie Dutoit, he talks about growing up in a musical family, his childhood in Russia, and the composers that shaped him and inspire him. PROGRAM: Astor Piazzolla (Arr. Andrei Pushkarev): Introduccion del Angel • Milonga loca Valentin Silvestrov: Serenade Victor Kissine: For Pablo Giya Kancheli: Rag-Gidon-Time Arthur Vincent Louriè: Concerto da camera, Serenata Mieczyslaw Weinberg (Arr. Gidon Kremer): Prelude Nr.5 Oscar Strock (Arr. Andrei Pushkarev): My last Tango Franz Schubert (Arr. Giya Kancheli): Du bist die Ruh
Barenboim On Beethoven
As a musical highlight during the Summer Olympics 2012 in London, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim performed all nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven during the famous BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. In 2011, Barenboim worked on and performed the symphonies with his truly one-of-a-kind orchestra made up of young musicians from across the Middle East, and scored great successes on his tours with them through Europe and Asia.With his film the well-known English filmmaker Michael Waldman documents the rehearsals and the Asia tour. As a supplement to the concerts, he offers a fascinating look at Daniel Barenboim’s work with the young musicians. We see Barenboim showing them how Beethoven forged a new symphonic language, while also investigating how this music continues to communicate with such undiminished power.
Barbara Hannigan – First Rehearsals
Her vocal mastery is undisputed, but it is Barbara Hannigan’s talent of conducting an orchestra that is of particular interest to Mathieu Amalric. In his film, the celebrated French actor and director follows her for three days in Amsterdam. He documents the creative process of the conductor and the Ludwig ensemble during the rehearsals for the recording of Alban Berg’s Lulu Suite for the album Crazy Girl Crazy – what does it take to achieve perfect harmony?
A Trio For Schubert: Voyage d’hiver
Schubert’s masterpiece is seen through the eyes and heard through the voice of baritone Matthias Goerne in this documentary about the making of Schubert’s song-cycle for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, as visualized by William Kentridge.
Renaud Capuçon – The Boundless Violin
Violinist and conductor Renaud Capuçon lives entirely for his art. Driven by an overflowing curiosity and an insatiable thirst for sharing, the native of Chambéry, who has enlightened thousands of people with his daily performances on social networks, has since returned to the whirlwind of rehearsals, concerts and recordings that have marked his career. For a year, Andy Sommer and Romain Girard accompanied Renaud Capuçon on his many travels and projects, capturing the unflagging energy of this mad lover of music, who strives to make it accessible to all audiences. Collecting numerous testimonies from close friends and family (his wife Laurence Ferrari, his sister Aude Giraudon) and musician friends (pianist and maestro Daniel Barenboim, violist Gérard Caussé, conductor Daniel Harding), the filmmakers have created a moving portrait of this “musician and entrepreneur”, capable of uniting the older and younger generations around him.