Music, History, Documentary
Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
What Difference Does It Make?
Swan Lake - Filmed for IMAX
House of Ricordi
El corazón del Teatro Real
Die Deutschmeister
Pavarotti, Birth of a Pop Star
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
Mahler: Symphonies 1-7
Once
Wandering Stars
Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
Le Chevalier de Saint-George
Maria and the Lost Movie
A Life in Waves
Toscanini: The Television Concerts, Vol. 5: Verdi: Aida
Immortal Beloved
The Nutcracker
Maria Callas Sings Tosca, Act II
Perpetuum mobile. Raimonds Pauls
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
SIMILAR MOVIES
What Difference Does It Make?
IMDB 5.1 | Feb , 2014
A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.Swan Lake - Filmed for IMAX
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2024
During his birthday’s celebration, Prince Siegfried must choose a bride. Trying to escape reality, he dreams of a perfect love. His tutor tries to bring him down to Earth and reminds him of his duties. On a dreamlike getaway, the prince meets Odette, a princess who has been transformed into a swan by the powerful sorcerer Rothbart. Only true love can break the spell. Captivated, Siegfried promises Odette to save her and invites her to his party. To trap the prince, the sorcerer sends his daughter Odile, disguised as Odette, to seduce him.House of Ricordi
IMDB 6.2 | Dec , 1954
The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other historic personalities, whose careers intersected with the growth of the Ricordi house. It beautifully draws the parallel between the great music of the composers, the historic and social upheavals of their times, as well as the "smaller stories" of the successive generations of Ricordi.El corazón del Teatro Real
IMDB 8 | Sep , 2018
Documentary about an emblematic institution of the Spanish Arts, Madrid's Teatro Real, or Royal Theatre, released to celebrate it's 2nd centenary anniversary.Die Deutschmeister
IMDB 7 | Aug , 1955
Young Stanzi who is visiting Vienna helps a young corporal and musician to become famous for his marching song "Die Deutschmeister".Pavarotti, Birth of a Pop Star
IMDB 8 | Sep , 2017
Although he is unanimously credited with having democratised opera, making it accessible to the greatest number, focus is rarely put on the strategy he devised and implemented in order to carry out his actions, nor what his actions reveal of the man and artist, and of the resulting metamorphosis from opera singer to pop artist. Through this angle, this film sets out to pay tribute to the man who summed up his credo, obsession and life’s work, in the following way: “They led the public to believe that classical music belonged to a restricted elite. I was the way to prove to the world that was wrong.An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1994
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa is an Italian documentary that aired on the Videomusic channel on January 7, 1994. It includes footage from Zappa's Universe, Video From Hell, Does Humor Belong In Music?, Baby Snakes, The True Story Of 200 Motels, The Late Show, Zappa's May 17, 1988 show at Palacio de Deportes in Barcelona, Spain, The Dub Room Special, various other interviews and performances.Mahler: Symphonies 1-7
IMDB 0 | May , 2011
The unforgettable performances by Claudio Abbado and the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA of Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1−7 are newly celebrated in a set which showcases their exceptional quality – both audiovisual and musical. Claudio Abbado has set new standards in the interpretation of Gustav Mahler’s works; he and his exclusive ensemble of hand-picked musicians held audiences spellbound in these concerts. REPERTOIRE: Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1-7; Five lieder based on poems by Friedrich Rückert; Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26Once
IMDB 7.4 | Mar , 2007
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.Wandering Stars
IMDB 7.4 | Jun , 2019
This film follows the making of Nekfeu's 3rd album, between Paris, Japan, Greece and the United States.Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
IMDB 8 | Jul , 2019
As part of the 2019 Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival, filmmaker Christophe Honoré delivers an innovative staging of Giacomo Puccini's famous drama. His cleverly staged "opera within the opera" is a melancholy homage to the fascinating figure of the diva, who thrives on art and love and upsets the laws of time and death.Le Chevalier de Saint-George
IMDB 0 | May , 2011
Maria and the Lost Movie
IMDB 7 | Jul , 2023
The pianist Miguel Ángel Lozano embarks on a personal and artistic journey with the purpose of reconstructing the life of his grandmother, Maria Forteza (1910-60), singer and pioneer of Spanish sound films.A Life in Waves
IMDB 6.7 | Mar , 2017
Explores the life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani.Toscanini: The Television Concerts, Vol. 5: Verdi: Aida
IMDB 0 | Mar , 1949
The historic Toscanini television concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. This concert, broadcast in two parts, on 26 March and 2 April 1949, from NBC Studio 8H, features the opera "Aida" by Giuseppe Verdi. (Both broadcasts were released as "Vol. 3" in the DVD series.)Immortal Beloved
IMDB 7.1 | Dec , 1994
A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.The Nutcracker
IMDB 8.6 | Dec , 1977
The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critically acclaimed Emmy-nominated production. This spectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both showcased at the peak of their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.Maria Callas Sings Tosca, Act II
IMDB 0 | Feb , 1964
At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as the prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Maria Callas wants to show everyone once again that she deserves the title of “prima donna assoluta.” On the condition that star director Franco Zeffirelli take over the direction, the exceptional singer agrees to sing the role of Tosca. The BBC recorded the 2nd act of the opera for television. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history: in order to free the painter Cavaradossi from the hands of torturers, Tosca ends up murdering the police chief Scarpia. The film footage is one of the rare opportunities to see Maria Callas in an opera performance and to experience her highly emotional performance art and vocal abilities...Perpetuum mobile. Raimonds Pauls
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2021
Raimonds Pauls is almost 85 years old, rehearses almost every day and performs at least once a week. What drives him? Not only he is the most popular composer in Latvia: his songs are sung all over the world. "Dāvāja Māriņa" is so popular in Japan that Paul received the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun. In concerts, he collaborates with world stars of Latvian origin - soprano Elīna Garanča, organist Iveta Apkalna, conductor Mariss Jansons. The Latvian Television film crew follows him during the pandemic, realizing that the restrictions and threats of Covid-19 hardly stop the Maestro in the course of his eternal engine. How does he cope with the challenges that time imposes on a person's physical form and the loneliness when most friends have passed away? What is the source of his inexhaustible lifestyle and creative spirit?The Revenge of the Dead Indians
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1993
This is a full-length documentary honoring the life and work of American composer and artist John Cage. Cage is considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. This documentary features interviews with various personalities from different fields as they introduce us to the life and work of this great American artist.