The Italian mezzo-soprano has been hailed as the most exciting, accomplished and beautiful Rossini singer to appear in modern times. Shot largely on location in Italy, this film celebrates the talents of both Bartoli and Rossini. She is seen performing Rossini arias at the famous Gran Teatro la Fenice in Venice, in recital in London, and at home in Rome. Throughout the programme, Bartoli exhibits the passion and enthusiasm she brings to all her performances.
Recital Cecilia Bartoli
Recorded at London’s Savoy Hotel, this recital by the acclaimed Italian mezzo-soprano includes well-known Arie Antiche by Pergolesi, Caldara, Paisiello and Vivaldi, a selection of arias from the ever-popular Mozart operas Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro, as well as the lesser-known La clemenza di Tito. The highlight of the performance is the selection of songs and arias by Rossini. Miss Bartoli is accompanied by Georg Fischer.
Paolo Veronese
“Art is the celebration of the world. It does not seek to evoke sin, guilt, torment, distress and fear.” With these words, Veronese (1528-88) successfully defended the supposed irreverence of his work before the Inquisition. Shot on location in Venice, this sumptuous study of the sixteenth-century master, his works, life and times, reveals the deeper interaction between sensuousness and faith that lies beneath the careless beauty, wit and gaiety of his art.
Kiri Te Kanawa – A Concert Special
At a spectacular open-air concert in New Zealand, Dame Kiri sang music ranging from Puccini to Gershwin to an audience of over seventy-five thousand. A year later she performed a programme of Handel and Mozart for an invited audience at the Wren chapel of the Royal Naval College in London. Highlights of these two quite different, but equally memorable, occasions are brought together in this concert special, which showcases the unique beauty and versatility of Dame Kiri’s voice. This delightfully varied programme of music includes the famous soprano aria ‘Tu che di gel’ from Puccini’s Turandot; ‘O mio babbino caro’ from the same composer’s Gianni Schicci; Mozart’s ‘Exsultate Jubilate’; a traditional Maori song; and ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ from the musical My Fair Lady.
Seamus Heaney
The Irish poet Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, confirming his stature as one of the greatest poets writing in the English language today. This film looks back over his career and presents a rare opportunity to hear him discussing his work. It focuses on his volume Seeing Things, in which he returns to the rural childhood territory of his early work. Readings of Heaney’s poems are intercut with a central interview, which is also illustrated with footage of the Irish landscapes that have inspired him.
Terry Gilliam
This profile charts the career of Terry Gilliam, the ex-Monty Python animator turned film-maker, whose highly inventive features include the hugely successful Fisher King. Viewers are given a glimpse into his private world as he is seen at home in London – making a family video, showing off the unique collection of models and memorabilia he has salvaged from his film sets, watching clips from his movies, and discussing Hollywood and the cinema with his fellow Python and friend, Michael Palin.
Heinrich Schiff
Heinrich Schiff is one of today’s top ranking cellists. In an interview recorded at his home in Austria, he talks about his musicianship, his celebrated career as a performer, to his move towards conducting in becoming the director of England’s Northern Sinfonia, with whom he is seen rehearsing Beethoven and Bartók. Performance extracts include Schiff playing Bach sonatas and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in G Op. 126.
John Osborne
Dramatist John Osborne (1929-94) was catapulted to fame in 1956 with his play Look Back in Anger. He created an icon for a generation of ‘angry young men’ in the character of Jimmy Porter, whose hatred of the Establishment voiced the frustrated hopes of post-war Britain. In this programme Osborne talks about the decade of success that followed – a period of public triumph but private turmoil. The interview is illustrated with extracts from his plays.
Vera Lynn
At the height of her popularity during World War Two, the singer Dame Vera Lynn captured the heart of the British nation with ballads such as The White Cliffs of Dover and We’ll Meet Again. As the Forces’ sweetheart, she symbolised the fortitude with which Britain survived the Blitz. She has been called upon to recreate the spirit of resilience and patriotic pride ever since. This portrait celebrates Dame Vera – her music and her times.
Alan Parker
Despite altercations with the British film industry and critics, Parker, whose credits include Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Fame, and Mississippi Burning, remains one of the country’s most accomplished film-makers and one the few to transplant successfully to Hollywood. In a programme which follows him back to his roots in London, to the Cannes Film Festival, and to Dublin to work on his film The Commitments, Parker talks revealingly about his career, which is amply illustrated with clips.