Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century consists of some forty-five musicians and the structure is based on the ‘luxury’ orchestras that flourished in Mannheim, Paris and Vienna in the eighteenth century. Specialising in the music of that era, the orchestra uses period instruments or copies of them. Their spectacular rendition of Beethoven’s Eroica has won them international acclaim. This live recording comes from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Via Crucis – The Fourteen Stations of the Cross
This performance by the Dutch Chamber Choir, conducted from the piano by Reinbert de Leeuw, presents a rare opporunity to hear Liszt’s moving late work. The recording was made at the Church of St. Peter in Utrecht and is rich in visual imagery, using costumed singers positioned in striking tableaux to enhance the music. Inspired by a series of paintings depicting the Stations of the Cross, Liszt’s piety expresses itself in a composition of unadorned simplicity.
The Begijnhof Academy: Baroque Music
The Dutch-based Begijnhof Academy is an ensemble of international musicians and singers who specialise in the performance of baroque music. In this recording, their musical director, Roderick Shaw, conducts performances of Henry Purcell’s My Heart is Inditing and Francisco Valls’ Missa Scala Aretina.
Robert Lowell
Lowell is regarded as America’s greatest poet of the post-war period. Literary critic lan Hamilton wrote the first biography to appear after his death in 1977 and this film looks at Lowell’s life and work through the process of his research. There are readings of his poems, together with contributions from intimate friends.
Still Life at the Penguin Cafe
The idiosyncratic music and imaginary world of Simon Jeffes, founder of the Penguin Café Orchestra, prompted David Bintley to create this ballet, set in a café where penguins resemble people and people resemble penguins. Here, an exuberant cabaret is presented by a succession of exotic creatures. The inventive and amusing choreography, enlivened by Hayden Griffin’s ingenious sets and costumes, also highlights the plight of the world’s endangered species. Recorded in studio.
La Ronde
Prima ballerina Karen Kain leads an outstanding cast in this studio recording of Glen Tetley’s probing dance drama, based on Schnitzler’s play La Ronde, which scandalised the public when it was premiered in 1903. It shows a linked series of sexual encounters exposing the decaying morals of Vienna at the turn of the nineteenth century. Set to Erich Korngold’s Sinfonietta, Tetley’s translates La Ronde into a stunning series of pas de deux, danced by ten characters, ranging from a prostitute to a count.
Hindemith: A Pilgrim’s Progress
Hindemith’s symphonic suite, Mathis der Maler, forms the framework for Tony Palmer’s highly original film about the German composer, narrated by John Gielgud and Ronald Pickup. The music was inspired by the medieval painter Grünewald, who, like Hindemith (1895-1963), was an opponent of oppression in his day. Palmer uses tableaux vivants from Grünewald’s crowning achievement, the Isenheim altarpiece, archive film of Nazi Germany and readings from Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress, to make a powerful assault on the senses and the emotions.
Haydn at Esterhaza
Haydn wrote most of his symphonies while he was in the employ of the Esterházy family, whose palace in Hungary was known as the ‘Versailles of the East’. Filmed in the magnificent mirrored great hall of the palace, this programme records a unique attempt to recreate a performance of Haydn’s music as close to the original as possible, Christopher Hogwood conducts the Academy of Ancient Music playing the composer’s Symphonies No. 23 in G, 28 in A, and 29 in E.
The History of Hamlet
Hamlet is among Shakespeare’s most perennially popular plays and the complex title role is regarded by actors as one of the supreme challenges of their profession. Talking to leading stage directors and actors, this programme looks at the particular appeal of Hamlet. Archive footage shows some of the great Hamlets in action – Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, even Sarah Bernhardt in 1899.
Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton is one of Britain’s most regularly successful playwrights and screen-writers, with plays such as Tales from Hollywood and Les Liaisons Dangereuses winning both popular and critical acclaim. This programme traces his development as a playwright and includes specially-staged extracts from his work. It also considers his film adaptation of Les Liaisons, starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich.