It was the existential turning point of a career that until then had known mainly triumphs: During a rehearsal, José Carreras learns that he has leukemia – an almost certain death sentence in 1987. He is transferred from Barcelona to a special clinic in Seattle. His only chance is a therapy that until then was considered impossible: stem cell transplantation. He survives the disease and feels a real commitment to others suffering from leukemia. Starting with the cancer and the subsequent healing as the frame story, the film tells the stages of a world career in an associative and emotional way, jumping back and forth. Tightly edited archive footage brings these chapters to life. Newly filmed material shows the most important scenes from Carreras’ life and career. In addition, interviews with prominent companions, contemporaries and experts as well as a central interview with the jubilarian himself reflect a dramatic biography without slipping into one-sided hero worship. Cross-genre greetings and birthday serenades from Pretty Yende to Diana Damrau and from Plácido Domingo to David Garrett demonstrate the high regard in which the artists’ colleagues hold his life’s musical achievements and document the enormous impact José Carreras continues to make.
LET’S PLAY – Classical Game Night
World renowned conductor Eímear Noone proudly enters the stage in Grieghallen, setting the scene for Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra to play under her direction – this is Let’s Play! This music documentary tells the story of 4 conductor talents and their journey from preparations to a spectacular concert production in Bergen International Festival 2021. Embrace yourself in the music and the visual story of some of the worlds most iconic computer games – World of Warcraft, Tetris, Halo and Hitman. The story is told by 4 young conductors, discovering a brand new world of music together with their mentor, Eímear Noone.
Mythos Ot(h)ello
Ot(h)ello – the most famous black theatrical hero, a reflection of 4 centuries of racism on stage. What role did black people play in the world of Shakespeare and Verdi? What influence did the colonial period have on the genesis of the play and the opera? How did the ideas of “white people” about “black people” influence their interpretation? Jonas Kaufmann and Antonio Pappano, as well as the legendary football player Jimmy Hartwig, explore the “Mythos of Ot(h)ello”.
Music for Eternity – Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are, together with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, the most famous concerts in the history of early music. They are true “evergreens” with an exciting genesis, brilliantly orchestrated and extremely varied. The flautist Ana de la Vega is one of the dazzling personalities of a young generation of musicians. On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Brandenburg Concertos, she embarks on a journey into the history and musical characteristics of the works. Fascinated by Bach and his music, she searches for traces in Leipzig, Weimar, Köthen and Berlin: How did the concerts come about? What makes them so unique? And what is the truth of the claim that they were a secret application of Bach?
Opus 19 – Jan Vogler & Hélène Grimaud
A year since the Covid-19 pandemic halted live musical performances, world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler drives across the United States – from New York City to California – to visit his friend and frequent collaborator, the prodigious pianist Hélène Grimaud. Desiring to make music again, the duo plans to perform a piece, which they have never played together. With his Stradivarius cello along for the ride, Vogler finds inspiration in the diverse natural beauty of America. He stops to play pieces by Bach in an Indiana forest, snow covered mountains in Colorado and the desert of Utah. The experience causes Vogler to reflect on his career, and approach to music. Grimaud, meanwhile, caring for her horses, also articulates her feelings on performing and her craft. When Vogler arrives in California, the duo plays Rachmanioff’s Cello and Piano Sonata, Op. 19, in one marvelous, emotional take.
Anna – Stage of Emotions
Anna – Stage of Emotions, is part documentary, part abstract and visually stunning response to some of the powerful themes that run through this music, from love and hope to death and despair. It captures Anna Netrebko’s portrayals of five operatic heroines – Aida, Lisa, Dido, Cio-Cio San and Isolde – all of whom are brought individually to life thanks to the director’s – renowned filmmaker Elena Petitti di Roreto – unique visual language and style. Interwoven with the five music videos is an insightful interview with Anna Netrebko, who discusses both the roles and her own life. Shot largely in the majestic setting of La Scala’s famous auditorium, the film forges connections with the opera house’s venerable history (it staged the world premiere of Madama Butterfly) and its continuing artistic excellence today under Maestro Chailly’s direction.
Mary Bauermeister: one and one is three
Mary Bauermeister is the ‘mother of Fluxus’ and was Stockausen’s muse. At the beginning of the 1960s, the who-is-who of the avant-garde met in her attic apartment in Cologne’s Lintgasse, among them John Cage, Hans G Helms, Nam June Paik, to only name a few. Today, at the age of 84, retirement is far from her mind. As long as her strength allows, she works in her studio near Cologne, the scene of the first feature-length documentary film about Mary Bauermeister and her extraordinary biography. “Mary Bauermeister – one and one is three” is a film about society, about the finiteness of life and the beauty of the world.
Magic Moments of Music – Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle “Spirituals”
When Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle took the stage of Carnegie Hall March 18, 1990 a breath of history wafted through America‘s most famous concert hall. It is a camera view of the audience that makes clear how long the road to this moment in music history was: there, the now very old African-American opera singer Marian Anderson, one of the great voices of her generation. In 1939, she had been barred from singing in Constitution Hall, because she was black. The twelve-year-old Jessye Norman had absorbed Anderson‘s biography, just like the music she performed that evening together with her great colleague and competitor Kathleen Battle: Spirituals. That evening in March 1990 was under enormous pressure of expectation and the tension crackled at all corners. For one thing: Would the two compete? Where did the competition lie? Divas who would actually manage to sing together and not against each other? But the two divas take Carnegie Hall by storm; critics and audiences alike pay homage to them: It is a musical feast of charisma, virtuosity, liveliness and show. Jessye Norman dominates the stage with her authentic timbre and an African colourful costume, Kathleen Battle still hits the finest high coloraturas.
Carnival of the Animals – A music piece tells the story
The “Carnival of the Animals” is his best known work. Camille Saint-Saëns never wanted to publish it during his lifetime. On the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death in December 2021, the music piece itself tells us how the dwindling act of birth occurred in the composer’s mind. It is the notes that tell us of its suffering and of its triumph on the great stages of the musical world. According to the will of its creator, “Carnival of the Animals” was to be performed only once, in March 1886, on Shrove Tuesday. And now this piece has stolen the show from Camille Saint-Saëns’ other works for a hundred years. Directors have brought Saint-Saëns’ music to Hollywood. At the Cannes International Film Festival, “The Aquarium” is the signature tune. The film shows that “Carnival” is more than the musical characterization and exaggeration of various species. The role of the narrator was taken over by German actor Sebastian Koch. An orchestra specially assembled for the film lets the music of the “Carnival of the Animals” resound.
7 Lives of Music – The Kanneh-Mason Familiy
Seven siblings whom nobody expected – but the classical music world desperately needed. The story of the Kanneh-Mason Family reads like a fairytale. They have dealt with prejudice, they have been overlooked, they have been made to feel out of place. But they have picked themselves up and they have proven themselves time and time again. The Kanneh-Masons light up every room they enter and they have found this to ensure the support of people like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who invited Sheku to play at their wedding, and Elton John, who supported Isata with a scholarship. This film accompanies this family on their path and join them on and behind the stages of the world as they conquer it together, as they grow into their own as a family of talented musicians.