The world of fashion has produced no greater designer and no more charismatic figure than Coco Chanel, who died in 1971. This film tells her fascinating rags-to-riches story and looks at the Chanel fashion house, flourishing under the auspices of top designer Karl Lagerfeld. The film contrasts the theatre of his large-scale shows with the comparative austerity of the old-style Chanel presentations and assesses the impact of the Chanel legacy on Lagerfeld’s work.
Jacques-Louis David
David (1748-1825) saw his art as a weapon for social change. This film traces his career from his youth, as a Student of Boucher, through his heavy involvement in the politics of the French Revolution, to his exile in Brussels. Drawing on the memoirs of his pupil Delecluze and other historical documents, it provides a fascinating insight into the world of late eighteenth-century French society.
Theodore Gericault
Now recognised as one of the greatest artists of his generation, Gericault (1791-1824), the first of the French Romantics, died tragically young. Side-tracked by the magnificent preliminary studies he made, he failed to complete many epic projects and his contemporaries thought he would soon be forgotten. This film centres on his biographer Charles Clement’s posthumous investigation of his life. It shows the richness of Gericault’s work, set against the background of his day.
Gesualdo the Prince
The story of Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613) is one of the most famous and most blood-curdling in musical history: it tells of a crime of passion involving a great composer who was also a prince. This dramatised film takes the form of a mystery – Gesualdo’s terrible secret surfaces slowly until the events that shattered his life and set a dark tone to his music are revealed. Peter Eyre is Gesualdo and the Schütz Consort, directed by Sir Roger Norrington, plays his music.
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo (1907-54), wife of Diego Rivera, lived at the political and artistic centre of the Mexican Revolution, but her paintings are uniquely personal. They reflect the anguish she suffered following an accident when she was sixteen which left her in constant pain and unable to bear children. Both beautiful and frightening, Breton described her art as “a ribbon around a bomb”. This portrait was filmed in Mexico, particularly at the Blue House where she lived.
London Festival Ballet Double Bill: Sanguine Fan & Graduation Ball
SANGUINE FAN / A stylish ballet of wit and bitter-sweet romance, to Sir Edward Elgar’s only ballet score. Originally inspired by a mythological drawing in sanguine chalk on a fan, this production by Peter Docherty represented a very special place in the repertory of Festival Ballet. GRADUATION BALL / A comedy set in a fashionable Viennese girls’ school. An end-of-term dance, to which the cadets of a neighbouring military academy have been invited, begins with formal politeness and some shyness. Natural liveliness and youthful high spirits soon break through however – particularly when the headmistress and the elderly general are discovered to have embarked on a flirtation.
Kennedy Live – Vivaldi at La Citadelle
Nigel Kennedy gave his first classical concert in France in 2004; the astonishing impact of this one show created both the best-selling classical CD in France since 2000 and two number one records. With Kennedy still at number 1 and 2 in the charts he returned to embrace his French triumph on a summer night in 2005 for this concert. This live performance is set in the stunning location of La Citadelle in Carcassonne, France; and showcases Nigel’s Vivaldi canon for which he has become so famous. Joined by the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Nigel plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and duets with the leader of the PCO, Jakub Haufa, on Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 violins in C Major. The programme also features two excellent and very different encores; a take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” and a traditional celtic piece; both of which highlight Kennedy’s ability to interact with his audience.
Nigel Kennedy – Polish Spirit
In 2000, a stranger handed Nigel Kennedy an album of Mlynarski’s concerto in the street and unwittingly launched Kennedy on a major project to revive this forgotten Romantic music. As Kennedy says in his introduction to the concert, “…none of the musicians in the orchestra had ever played this music before, so even in Poland the Mlynarski is a forgotten concerto. So it’s a new discovery not just for me, but for the orchestra. There’s a whole new energy in this music with the Polish Chamber Orchestra playing it. We have this special connection which I’ve never really experienced with any other orchestra … so to be able to bring a new composer from their own heritage and to be able to take it to the world, I think represents the orchestra very well.” Concert programme: Emil Mlynarski’s Violin Concerto in A Major, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz’s Violin Concerto No.2 in D Major, Vittorio Monti’s Czardas (arr. Kennedy) cadenza by Nigel Kennedy, Trad: Danny Boy (arr. Kennedy)
Montserrat Caballe & Marilyn Horne Gala
Two great stars of the operatic stage, Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé and American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, give magnificent performances in these superb gala concerts featuring a variety of popular arias and duets from: Bajazet (Vivaldi), Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer), Le due ilustri rivali (Mercadante), Tancredi (Rossini), Semiramide (Rossini), Rodelinda (Handel), Giulio Cesare (Handel), Semiramide (Rossini), La donna del lago (Rossini), Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach).
Symphony for the Spire – A spectacle of music and theatre from the West Green, Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral’s West Green is the setting for Symphony for the Spire. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the cathedral, the evening is a mixture of spectacular special effects and pyrotechnics with a programme of unique stars, including Placido Domingo, Jessye Norman, and cellist Ofra Harnoy. The cathedral’s West Front also acts as an enormous projection screen for a series of dramatic images to support a special adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Starring Kenneth Branagh in the role that made him internationally famous, and Charlton Heston, the action is backed by a special version of the acclaimed score by Scottish composer, Patrick Doyle.