Uchida is one of the leading interpreters of Mozart piano music of her generation. In this studio recital, she plays Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 17 in D K576, and the Adagio in B minor K540. An introduction, in which Uchida talks about Mozart and his music, is available (recorded in German).
Recital Cyprien Katsaris
Piano virtuoso Cyprien Katsaris plays Debussy’s Clair de lune from the Suite bergamasque, Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte, Saint-Saëns’ The Swan (arranged by Godowsky), Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 5 and his own composition to celebrate European unity, Fantasie sur des hymnes. Each performance is introduced by Katsaris, who illustrates his insights into the music at the keyboard.
Rossini The Chef
Rossini (1792-1868) was only thirty-eight when he stopped composing. Was he drained
of inspiration, or did he, as hearsay goes, devote the rest of his life to the culinary arts?
This light-hearted film, a subtle blend of fact and fiction, sets out in search of an answer.
Accompanied by a fea of his music and gathering opinions from a wide range of connoisseurs – from
chefs and sausage-makers to Pavarotti, Raimondi and Muti – the programme tracks the maestro
through Italy and uncovers a wealth of information.
Peter Brook
Brook has won international acclaim as the outstanding director of post-war theatre. This film covers the complete spectrum of his career, focusing on seminal productions, including King Lear with Paul Scofield (1962), the controversial Marat-Sade (1964), his magical Midsummer Night’s Dream (1970), Orghast (1971), and The Mahabharata (1985/9). Contributors include leading theatre directors Peter Hall, Jonathan Miller and John Barton, actress Glenda Jackson, writer Jean-Claude Carriere and actors from The Mahabharata, with whom Brook is seen at work.
William Golding
Whether about boys marooned on a desert island (Lord of the Flies), the birth of prehistoric man (The Inheritors), or the building of Salisbury cathedral’s spire (The Spire),
Golding’s novels combine gripping story-telling with a profound examination of the nature of man and the mysterious forces that work upon him. The Nobel Prize-winning author gave this rare television interview in 1989, four years before his death at the age of eighty-one. He focuses on the trilogy of novels spawned by his Booker Prize-winning Rites of Passage, and extensive dramatised extracts from the final part, Fire Down Below, are included.
An Evening with Francis Poulenc
An enchanting blend of music and documentary, this programme looks at the life, times and work of the French composer Poulenc (1899-1963). The framework for the programme is a reconstruction of a soirée typical of those frequented by fashionable society in the early years of the twentieth century. Poulenc’s work is performed by Paul Crossley (piano), Susan Milan (flute), Thomas Mohr (baritone), Ulrike Sonntag (soprano) and the Aulos Wind Quintet, with Anthony Spiri (piano).
Towards New Shores: Modest Mussorgsky
Night on a Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition are firm favourites in the classical repertoire but, like many of Mussorgsky’s famous works, they are rarely performed as he wrote them. This programme, filmed on location in Russia, examines why his genius has been so obscured. It focuses on the detective work undertaken by the Singer Yevgeny Nesterenko, and the British conductor, David Lloyd-Jones, to uncover the details of the life and work of Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881).
The Tale of a Manor
This studio recording of Pär Isberg’s ballet, created specially for television, is danced by the Royal Swedish Ballet. The work is based on a romantic adventure story by the great nineteenth-century Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf. An original score has been composed by Jan Sandström and it is performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonas Dominique. With lavish period sets and costumes, designed by Bo-R uben Hedwall, this large cast ballet, starring Johanna Björnson and Martin Leander, tells a gothic tale reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. At the end of the 1880s, Selma Lagerlöf’s family had to move from Mårbacka, the house where she had lived during her childhood. This event had a profound influence on her life and writing and is one of the sources of inspiration for The Tale of a Manor …
Dark
Carolyn Carlson: Her body is long and slender – emaciated, almost. But certainly not lacking strength. Those distinctive lines – once in motion – are reminiscent of the rapid strokes of a calligrapher’s brush moving across a sheet of paper. Yet for all the spontaneity, every detail is considered. Nothing is left to chance. And the observer is given complete freedom to interpret the message the choreographer communicates in partnership with her performers, the composer and the designers of set, costume and lighting.
Carolyn Carlson is a magician of ambiguity who transports her audience into a netherworld where life meets death. Her characters (or choreographic structures) are subject to constant metamorphosis. For the inspiration she offers, modern and contemporary dance owes a debt of gratitude to this purist of simplicity.
The piece is set to an original score by Joachim Kühn, played on a piano, modified via a digital console. A company of eight dancers, including Carlson herself, perform Dark for this specially-shot studio recording.
Pärt: St. John Passion
Arvo Pärt’s St. John Passion stands foremost among the large number of works which can be assigned to the liturgical period of the Passion, for he takes up the narrative tradition of the Christian liturgy yet dramatises the Passion story to reveal historical and even timeless aspects as well. What most clearly distinguishes his works from other liturgical compositions is the silence, the many pauses. The missing notes are in some ways more important than those which have been composed. ‘Silence is always more perfect than music. One must just learn to hear this.’ (Arvo Pärt). With introduction.
Resounding through Durham Cathedral, Arvo Pärt’s St. John Passion is performed by the world-renowned Hilliard Ensemble, the Western Wind Choir and numerous soloists (including John Potter as Pilate and Michael George as Christ) under the overall direction of Paul Hillier.