Johns emerged as the pre-eminent force in the American art scene in the late 1950s. Today, as his work fetches record prices at auction, the meanings of his paintings, his imagery and his changing style continue to be the subject of controversy. This film provides a rare look at the life, career and inspiration of this unique artist. It includes both new and vintage conversations with the painter, as well as unusual footage of Johns at work in his studio.
Storming the Citadel
This programme was made shortly before Motherwell’s death in 1991. In the early 1940s, together with Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko and Kline, he created a distinctly American school of painting – Abstract Expressionism – and shifted the centre of modern art from Paris to New York. He talks eloquently about this movement and the hardships that preceded success, and is seen painting in his studio, creating a collage in Provincetown and preparing for a major New York retrospective.
Waldo Salt
Waldo Salt (1914-87) weathered more than fifty years as a screen-writer in Hollywood and his credits include successes such as Midnight Cowboy, Serpico and The Day of the Locust. This profile, which includes archive footage of Salt himself, uses film extracts and interviews with Jon Voight, John Schlesinger, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford to probe the subtle art of his writing and the joy he found in the collaborative process of film-making.
Willi Sitte
“It is self-evident that nobody can live in a society and at the same time be free from it. Hence everything we do or don’t do has a political dimension, and that includes our work as artists.” This view, expressed by Sitte, one of the painters who played an important role in the artistic life of the German Democratic Republic, indicates the commitment he shared with many of his contemporaries to use art as a force for social change. In this profile, Sitte is seen at work and reviewing recurring themes in his paintings.
John Hammond
A talent scout, record producer, impresario, jazz critic and civil rights activist, John Hammond, who died in 1987, was a driving force in popular American music, bringing to prominence such outstanding artists as Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Bob Dylan. This rich and vibrant portrait features film of Hammond reminiscing about his life and career and talking with many of the artists who worked with him. The contributors include Count Basie, Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
Neil Simon
American playwright Neil Simon has enjoyed unprecedented commercial success. This intimate portrait explores the sources of his unique brand of humour and includes interviews with colleagues, among them Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Marsha Mason, as well as Simon himself and his brother Danny. With extracts from stage productions and films, his career is traced from Broadway to Hollywood, giving an overview of his varied dramatic repertoire.
Recital Andrei Gavrilov
One of today’s great concert pianists, Andrei Gavrilov enjoys a distinguished international career and has been awarded many of the music world’s top prizes for his audio releases. This recital was recorded in studio and features Gavrilov playing two works by the great pianist/composer Sergei Rachmaninov: Piece No. 1 in E flat minor from Morceaux de Fantaisie Op. 3, and Piece No. 3 in B minor from Moments Musicaux Op. 16.
Maria Joao Pires
The Portuguese pianist’s return to the concert platform in the mid-1980s, after a break due to ill health, was a triumph. This programme shows her pursuing her professional career with renewed vigour and talking with great frankness and intensity about her life and work. Performances of works by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, Poulenc and Chopin are featured.
On the Edge – Improvisation in Music
The essential role which improvisation plays in music is revealed through the playing and words of a wide selection of performers for whom it is central to their creative process. Musicians in Africa, India, America and Europe were filmed on location, and contributors include jazz drummer Max Roach, rock guitarist Jerry Garcia, baroque specialist Christopher Hogwood, flamenco doyen Mario Maya, blues man Buddy Guy, the great Indian sarangi player Ram Narayan, salsa ace Eddie Palmieri, Nashville session player Buddy Emmons, contemporary composer John Zorn and organist Naji Hakim.
Symphony No.9
For a long time Beethoven was unsure whether he ought to write a choral symphony or not, before deciding to use Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ for the last movement of his 9th symphony. He could not know that this work would be his last symphony, and that ‘nine’ would always be regarded as a ‘fateful number’ for the symphonic works of others. This work received ist first performance in Vienna in 1824, under his own direction (Beethoven was already almost completely deaf by then!).
In 1991 Kurt Masur conducted the choir and orchestra of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, whose direction he took over in 1970. The events of 1989 have left Masur and the Gewandhaus orchestra forever linked in people’s memories. The quartet of soloists in this performance consisted of Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger, Doris Soffel, James Wagner and Gwynne Howell.