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
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?
Quinte & Sens: Symphony of the Elements
This film by François-René Martin & Gordon combines breathtakingly beautiful images with the magnificent sound of the Orchestre de Paris. It creates a new Symphony representing the four Classical Elements: Fire (Stravinsky’s “Firebird”), Earth (Adoration of the Earth in Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”), Water (Debussy’s “La Mer”), Air (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea in “La Mer”). As a fifth element it adds Olivier Messiaen’s “L’Appel interstellaire” (Interstellar call) from “Des Canyons aux Étoiles” (From the canyons to the stars). The word Quintessence was originally the Latin expression for the fifth element (quinta essentia, literally “fifth being”). According to Aristoteles, there was aether as massless, unchangeable, eternal substance beyond the lunar sphere. This “fifth element” thus had completely different properties than the earthly ones. Filmed inside and outside the stunning Philharmonie de Paris in true Hollywood style this is a new milestone in the creative visualization of music. A fascinating feast for the eyes and ears.
Barenboim conducts Bruckner Symphony No. 1
Daniel Barenboim – conductor, pianist, all-round musician – has been exploiting the impact of cyclical performances of composers’ works for several years now, with cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies and piano concertos, Wagner’s operas, Schoenberg’s orchestral works and, in conjunction with Pierre Boulez, Mahler’s symphonies. With the performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1 at the Philharmonie de Paris, he completes his Bruckner Cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Bruckner’s symphonies have
“rarely been performed so passionately” (Altamusica). As part of the performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1, the maestro also conducted violinist Wolfram Brandl and
violist Yulia Deyneka in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, available as separate programme in the catalogue A01550081 (30 mins)
Barenboim conducts Bruckner Symphony No. 2
Daniel Barenboim – conductor, pianist, all-round musician – has been exploiting the impact of cyclical performances of composers’ works for several years now, with cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies and piano concertos, Wagner’s operas, Schoenberg’s orchestral works and, in conjunction with Pierre Boulez, Mahler’s symphonies. With the performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 at the Philharmonie de Paris, he completes his Bruckner Cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Bruckner’s symphonies have
“rarely been performed so passionately” (Altamusica).
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.
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle or The Warpath
A Prelude to Debussy
Claude Debussy died one hundred years ago. His writings reveal him to have been profoundly non-conformist and extreme. Whether they find it mysterious and impenetrable or fascinating and brilliant, no one is indifferent to his music. Through correspondences, interviews with contemporary artists, archival materials and lots of music, this film brings to life the man and his work. In this film, contemporary artists – among them conductor Philippe Jordan, singer Barbara Hannigan and pianist Alexandre Tharaud – recount ‘their Debussy’, providing keys to a better understanding of the composer’s works and the radical rupture they constituted at his time. The portrait is completed by up to now unpublished archival interviews and excerpts of performances by great ‘Debussians’ like Samson François, Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez.
Karajan vs. Bernstein – Battle of Giants
Bernstein vs. Karajan: a musical Yalta. They were on top of the world of classical music, reflecting also the political conflicts of their time: the grandson of a rabbi against a member of Hitler’s national-socialist party, America against Europe, modernists against traditionalists. These two conductors mostly distinguished themselves by renovating the music industry, television and opera. They were icons of the 1970s who created a special sort of glamour in classical music and at the same time contributed to its democratization.