Some of the greatest names in the history of German art are featured in this series of ten-minute films. Visiting galleries throughout Germany to focus on key oeuvres, these finely-focused vignettes summarise the lives and work of the featured artists, including contributions from leading art historians and drawing on archive documentation. Mathis Grünewald Caspar David Friedrich Lucas Cranach Ignaz Günther Hans Holbein Albrecht Altdorfer Johann Tischbein Otto Dix Ernst Barlach Käthe Kollwitz
Kipling
Following a startling success with readings from St. Mark’s Gospel, the actor Alec McCowen played an extended one-man show at London’s Mermaid Theatre, portraying the writer Rudyard Kipling. Brian Clark, author of Whose life is it Anyway?, has interwoven Kipling’s fiction and poetry with his own writing to develop his portrait of this very private man. This film looks at a fascinating piece of theatre and at the complex and intriguing character of a great literary man.
Folias
The Heinz Bösl Foundation Junior Company performs Hans Manniegel’s colourful ballet set to a score by Gregorio Paniagula. The music was composed after a famous melody that attained wide popular currency 1500-1700 and to which the wild Portuguese folia was danced. Manniegel’s theme is the madness of dancing till you drop and the often humorous choreography demands exact timing and precise rapid footwork. The fluent mixture of neo-classical and contemporary movements creates an exciting work.
The Nature of Music
Every society throughout the world – and throughout history – has had a place for music. It has been used in sacred rituals and worship, for celebration and entertainment, for healing, and for protest. This three-part series considers how and why music has developed such an important role. Jeremy Marre filmed phenomena as diverse as the spirit cults of Madagascar, the trance rituals of Bali, the throat-songs of the Inuit Eskimos, flamenco in Cordoba, Wagner in Bayreuth, a therapy group in Ireland, duetting birds in Panama, samba in Brazil and an exorcism in old Cairo for this exploration of the nature of music.
Frank Rich
The influential American drama critic talks to Melvyn Bragg about the different influences which are radically altering the cultural life of New York – from the preoccupation with real estate and the dominance of corporate money, to AIDS.
The Real Sound of Africa
This programme features the Zimbabwean group, The Real Sounds of Africa, who backed Paul Simon on his Graceland album, the lively twelve-piece rumba band gives a special studio performance and the members talk about their music, with ist complex rhythms.
Suzanne Vega
In this programme, American singer/song-writer Suzanne Vega talks about her songs, her New York background and the influences on her music. She performs specially-arranged solo versions of Luka, Small Blue Thing and Tom’s Diner and is seen in concert singing Gypsy Cracking, Ironbound/Fancy Poultry, Marlene on the Wall and Black Widow Station.
Silent Cries
Jiri Kylián uses Claude Debussy’s dreamlike Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faune for this stylised portrayal of a process of self-discovery and acceptance. He created the solo work in collaboration with his wife, the dancer Sabine Kupferberg, who performs in this studio recording.
Ballerina
This four-part series is presented by prima ballerina assoluta Natalia Makarova. It focuses on the many aspects of the female role in classical ballet, including the way a great ballerina reaches the pinnacle of her art, how she builds up a special relationship with a partner, the great roles created for her and the handing-on of knowledge and skills. Each film contains extensive dance extracts, shot on location throughout Europe with leading dancers and companies.
Intimate Pages
This Christopher Bruce ballet is set to Leoš Janácek’s String Quartet No. 2. The composer wrote this piece in 1928, the last year of his life, inspired by his unconsummated love for a young married woman, to whom he wrote over six hundred letters, Bruce’s lyrical work expresses both the joy and the anguish that are present in Janácek’s music. The designs for this studio recording are by Walter Nobbe.