Piotr Anderszewski is not only one of the best pianists of our time, he is also a great doubter, a perfectionist, who has to cope with the fact that as a musician he does not always find the perfect instrument at the venue. All around the concert in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in which Piotr Anderszewski plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor together with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Thomas Hengelbrock, we experience him in the intensive confrontation with his instrument, the piano. “It is a complicated
relationship. Sometimes I think it would be better if the instrument didn’t exist at all,” says Piotr Anderszewski. “I would prefer to transmit music telepathically – without physical sounds.”
Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, Tokyo’s National Theatre and many more – Friedemann Vogel, winner of numerous significant dance awards, has conquered the most important ballet stages in the world. A German dancer at the top of the ballet world – this is an absolute rarity. The portrait film accompanies the luminary of the German ballet scene in his everyday life and work; further, it features interviews with Vogel’s dance partners and role models at the Stuttgart Ballet, such as Marcia Haydee, and excerpts from his most recent performances.
Hilary Hahn is doubtlessly one of the most successful violinists of our time. Numerous award-winning CD recordings and concerts with the most important conductors and orchestras worldwide make her an artist who seems to have achieved everything at a young age. The audience flocks to their sold-out concerts, which are appreciated and respected by fellow musicians. Whether the deceased Sir Colin Davis, her musical friend and partner Paavo Järvi, Kent Nagano or Gustavo Dudamel – they were and are full of praise and admiration: Hilary Hahn’s virtuosity is unique, her perfectionism legendary. And yet, again and again and with full dedication, she crosses the boundaries of classical music in order to find new impulses and challenges for herself and her music.
Marcia Haydée – for many the “primadonna assoluta” of the 20th century, John Cranko’s muse and long-time director of the Stuttgart Ballet. On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Harold Woetzel pays homage to this unique artist by telling the ballerina’s captivating story.
He is one of them: Markus Hinterhäuser, the new director of the Salzburg Festival, is an artist himself. That might be the reason why he communicates so effortless with the protagonists of the festival. To create an in-depth portrait of Hinterhäuser, Bettina Ehrhardt followed the Austrian around the clock, compiling snap-shots of his life. The film accompanies him to the rehearsals for Jedermann, meets renowned artists such as Peter Sellars, Shirin Neshat and William Kentridge and observes how the director solves problems and how he celebrates with his team. On a stroll through Salzburg’s picturesque alleys, Markus Hinterhäuser delivers insight into his past; archive footage brings the flashbacks to life. In the rapid alternation of the documentary scenes, which are punctuated by moments of reflection, the artist and the human Markus Hinterhäuser, reveals himself.
John Adams is one of the most influential and at the same time most popular US composers of the post-war period, known for his irresistible music in which minimalism is mixed with imaginative orchestration and jazzy verve. The Film accompanied the composer for a year on his explorations and “Short Rides” in Berlin. The film documents both on and off stage encounters with musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker, old friends and associates such as Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars, Gustavo Dudamel and star violinist Leila
Josefowicz (“I call him Johnny”). A film which is both entertaining and serious, and which features jazz-inspired symphonic and poignant Passion music. A film not only for connaisseurs and admirers – just like the music of John Adams.
Now shining with its sensational sound, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden had to wait a long time for its reopening. All in all, it took seven years to refurbish the opera – just a blink of an eye in the history of the house, but a long period of insecurity for the Staatsoper family, the people who work there. Film maker Anne Osterloh documented the works over the years, her film Moving in three acts – a building site opera follows the people involved in the emotional transformation process. The legendary house was much loved by star tenor, tailors, musicians and stage cleaners alike. For them, working at the opera, is much more than just a job: it’s a passion, a life, a home. A film about a construction site where hopes and desires meet and a moving tribute to the fine arts.
The Elbphilharmonie is undoubtedly the new landmark of Hamburg, a monumental synthesis of breath-taking architecture, a unique location and a world-class concert hall. For this documentary Thorsten Mack and Annette Schmaltz closely followed the entire development process of the building over the course of ten years. From the initial plans to the rehearsals just before the opening ceremony they show a story of enthusiasm and disappointment, of hard work and triumph. And the uncertain question whether all this has paid off.
Already during his life time Beethoven was regarded as a myth, being the first modern artist in the sense of an autonomous spirit, not dependent on any sovereign, only committed to his own work. But how did Beethoven become hero, myth and legend? This docuseries looks into his piano sonatas as the key to these and many more questions as into a “journal intime”. Featuring animations, enactments, Dutch Beethoven biographer and bestseller author Jan Caeyers and Beethoven expert & pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.
“A Beethoven symphony cycle is a kind of Mount Everest for all of us to climb” Sir Simon Rattle said about his first full cycle of all nine symphonies with his Berliner Philharmoniker. In this documentary Sir Simon Rattle presents us his approach to the cycle with extended explanations on the piano, we see him rehearsing with the orchestra resulting in the first – by audience and press equally enthusiastically – celebrated performances in Berlin. Next to the one hand documentation how the new Beethoven cycle originated, we the films tries to give answers to what is the motivation and fascination for a conductor as well as for an orchestra musicians to “climb” this musical monument? What makes those symphonies true milestones and unique masterpieces, with impact even on our lives! What was Beethoven’s message… ?
