Featuring some of today’s leading conductors in rehearsal, this series gives a unique insight into the process of creating great music. The conductors’ very different styles and methods; the dialogue between an orchestra and an inspired interpreter; the intensity of the preparations for a concert performance; and the struggle towards perfection are captured in these revealing audio-visual records. Most episodes include a full run-through of the work rehearsed. All include interviews with the conductor who is seen at work. Zubin Mehta rehearses the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance of Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche Op. 28.
Dmitry and Alexander Sitkovetsky
Dmitry Sitkovetsky is well-known in the West as one of the most exciting and respected violinists of his generation. He also has his own string orchestra, directs a Finnish summer music festival and is a brilliant transcriber and arranger of important classical works. Dmitry’s cousin, Alexander (Sasha), is a rock guitarist and an eminent rock/classical composer. This programme, shot on location in Latvia, St. Petersburg, Finland and London, interweaves the stories of the two cousins, charting their lives and careers.
Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem is a dance superstar whose breathtaking technique ranks her beside the likes of Nureyev and Baryshnikov. She rarely agrees to interviews but co-operated fully with director Nigel Wattis for this profile. The programme centres on film of Guillem rehearsing and performing a range of pieces, both contemporary and classical, which display her astonishing virtuosity. She talks incisively about working with some of the world’s top choreographers.
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is undoubtedly one of the supreme operatic sopranos of the post-war era and her association with the late Freddie Mercury and Queen brought her a huge new audience. This film portrait celebrates her long, distinguished and uniquely varied career. It centres on a major interview with Caballé and features numerous performance extracts. There are also contributions from some of opera’s biggest names, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo and José Carreras.
Two Ballerinas at the Royal Ballet: Viviana Durante & Darcy Russell
This programme focuses on two of The Royal Ballet’s outstanding ballerinas and affords an insight into the methods of the company itself and the sacrifices necessary to achieve success in the dance world today. Partnered by Irek Mukhamedov and Zoltan Solymosi, Durante and Bussell are seen performing a wide range of work, from nineteenth-century classics such as Giselle and Swan Lake, to modern works. Many key figures in British ballet make contributions.
The Secret Life of Alban Berg
Alban Berg (1885-1935) lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Hélène was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu? This multi-layered film explores Berg’s double life. Soprano Kristine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and Germany to track down important archive documents and people who can recall the composer’s presence in their lives.
The Secret Life of Sir Arnold Bax
The English composer Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) wrote intensely picturesque and romantic music. Ken Russell’s film takes up Bax’s story in the late 1940s, when the composer had just written the score for Lean’s film of Oliver Twist. It dramatises an imaginary affair with a cinema usherette-cum-fan-dancer – a composite of the many flirtations Bax indulged in – and concerns the artist’s struggle to maintain his ideals, loyalty and vision. Russell himself plays Bax and his portrait of a sad old man whose music has fallen out of favour is true and moving. The cast also includes Glenda Jackson.
The Tower of Dreams – The Music of Charles Koechlin
The music of Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) is as various and surprising as the passions which fired him: travel, medieval music, Bach, Socialism, film stars, stereoscopic photography and Rudyard Kipling, to name but a few. This film, a mixture of fact and fantasy, shows the figure of the composer wandering through an imaginary house in which each room reveals a new facet of his many loves.
Hakan Hardenberger – A Profile of the Swedish Trumpet Player
The Swedish classical trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger rose rapidly to the pinnacle of his profession. His virtuosity and his passion for expanding the repertoire of his instrument have made eminent composers eager to write music for him, including Birtwistle and Ligeti. In this film he is seen working with Hans Werner Henze on a new composition, rehearsing and performing classic and contemporary works, and talking about his music.
Cecilia Bartoli
The Italian mezzo-soprano has been hailed as the most exciting, accomplished and beautiful Rossini singer to appear in modern times. Shot largely on location in Italy, this film celebrates the talents of both Bartoli and Rossini. She is seen performing Rossini arias at the famous Gran Teatro la Fenice in Venice, in recital in London, and at home in Rome. Throughout the programme, Bartoli exhibits the passion and enthusiasm she brings to all her performances.