DVD Videos

This DVD of a specially recorded recital features the beautiful young Russian pianist, Valentina Igoshina performing much of the music contained in Tony Palmer’s classic film: The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka - The Mystery of Chopin.

Igoshina is an internationally acclaimed pianist who is best known for her interpretations of Chopin and Rachmaninoff. She has appeared as a soloist with many famous orchestras including the Royal Concertegebouw Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Hallé.

In an article in Gramophone (September, 2008) "Chopin Reprogrammed and a Vital Young Russian Relishes the Task," Bryce Morrison said “she relishes every aspect of Chopin's enchanting urbanity, his alternating exuberance and introspection, his light and shade." Her recording “Chopin: Complete Waltzes” was chosen by Classic FM magazine as its November 2008 ‘Disc of the Month’.

This recording commemorates the 50th anniversary of Joaquín Achúcarro’s debut with the London Symphony Orchestra after winning the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic International Competition in 1959. Recorded at Jerwood Hall, St Luke’s, London, with Britain’s eminent conductor Colin Davis at the helm, Achúcarro delivers a consummate performance that brilliantly expresses his delicate and passionate style. Extra features include a substantial documentary about Achúcarro’s career and performances of solo piano pieces by Brahms, Chopin, Scriabin and Albéniz filmed in the beautiful setting of the Prado museum, Madrid.

“Achúcarro’s approach is unorthodox in today’s stick-to-theletter-of-the-score, mechanically perfect musical world. His rubati seem excessive to some; to others, like a throwback to a Golden Age. For all of his reverence for the great composers whose music he plays, he maintains a healthy sense of their humanity as well. “Our duty is first of all to understand what composer does and wants, and then to try to deliver it the best we can, but also to serve the music,” he says. “And maybe sometimes the composer is wrong.” He adds, “People say you must follow the text. But if you follow the text, perhaps the music is not totally served.” … And he views what he does as a performer as an act of creation in its own right.” The Washington Post

Extra features:

Joaquín Achúcarro: 50 years on

Documentary including interviews with Plácido Domingo, Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta.

Running time 131 mins

Region code All regions

Picture format 16:9

Anamorphic Sound format 2.0 PCM & 5.1 DTS

Menu language EN

Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT

Conductor-composer-pianist Andre Previn has been a noteworthy presence in the music world for five decades. This fine documentary, directed by Tony Palmer, tells Previn's remarkable story. Chronicling his rise from a dispossessed Berlin refugee to an Academy Award-winning composer of film scores (Gigi, Porgy And Bess) and conductor of two world-renowned orchestras, The Kindness Of Strangers, is a fascinating musical portrait.

“André Previn at 80! It scarcely seems credible. This is the man who won 4 Oscars almost 50 years ago, and still maintains a full conducting, playing and composing schedule, each discipline of which would exhaust a man half his age. And he really is a phenomenal pianist, a conductor of profound insights, and a composer of considerable tonal originality. I once asked him how many songs he had written. After much hesitation, he told me he couldn’t really remember. And that was not modesty; he just had no idea. In fact, there are hundreds, in a sense culminating in his much underestimated opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, which is how we met.

This film was made during the preparations, rehearsals and first performances of that opera in San Francisco. Two anecdotes illustrate for me the extraordinary musician I had the honour to work with. I knew of course that he was a jazz pianist whom even Oscar Peterson held in awe, so I was determined to film him playing jazz. He refused. “I really haven’t played jazz in public for years”, he told me. Then by chance I discovered that he had been invited to play at bass player Ray Brown’s 70th birthday celebrations at the Blue Note Club in New York. I pleaded with Previn to allow me to film this. He refused. So, of course, I hid away in the Blue Note Club and, thanks to the wonders of digital cameras, no extra lights were required, so I was more-or-less invisible. After the first of the two shows, I went backstage to say hello. As always, he greeted me with the utmost courtesy and said: “not bad, eh, for an out-of-practice old timer?” (His playing and improvisation had of course been breathtaking). “Pity you didn’t film it….”

Well, um……. He laughed and said: “hope you got it in focus.”

So, on the occasion of Previn’s 80th birthday, here is the newly re-mastered original film by way of a small tribute. It was, and is, a privilege to know him and to acknowledge his greatness as a musician and his very special qualities as man.”

Tony Palmer

This documentary celebrates Malcolm Arnold, one of Britain's most underestimated and yet most popular composers, who wrote scores to altogether 132 films including 'Whistle Down the Wind', 'Hobson's Choice' and the Oscar winning 'Bridge Over the River Kwai'. Sir Malcolm also composed ballets, symphonies and operas. The DVD features interviews with friends and family, and includes extracts from his works, however, it does not shirk the darker side of Arnold's life full of complications caused by mental illness.

At the international Chopin competition in 1980, his spectacular failure to win the first price made him famous overnight. Martha Argerich, a member of the jury resigned in protest, claiming "Pogorelich is a genius!"

These fantastic performances are from 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s during his high point of his career. Unitel recorded these works with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty (Vincenca, Vienna, Turin, Padua).

Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: "He was an entire orchestra."

Running Time 101 minutes

Picture 4:3. color

Packaging NTSC: Amaray 1 DVD

Booklet German, French, English

Güher and Süher Pekinel is the exceptional Turkish twin piano duo that has gained international success over the past 40 years. Starting as prodigies in their early childhood, they had their first public performance at the age of six. Their career brought them from Turkey over to France, Germany, Japan, the US, Great Britain and many more.

Güher and Süher Pekinel are known for playing the piano backto-back, only relying on sound. Their ability is often described as a telepathic gift which offers the listener a perfectly balanced sound. This internationally often adored style of piano playing gives each performance an engrossed tension and makes it a unique musical experience.

This DVD comprises the remarkable live concerts from London, Lucerne and Zurich which are conducted by the brilliant Sir Colin Davis and famous Chinese conductor Muhai Tang. Both belong to the greatest maestri of our time and bring these Pekinel concerts to a musical highlight. Together with the special bonus that shows an interview of the sisters in London, 2009 this DVD is a sublime document of amazing Güher & Süher Pekinel.

BONUS: Interview + Special Features with Jacques Loussier

Sound Format: PCM STEREO

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Picture Format: 16:9

Running Time: 88 mins + 42 mins Bonus

Subtitle Languages: B, DE, FR, ES, TR, JP

FSK: 0

James Galway, ‘The man with the golden flute’, is the world’s best-known flautist, and is celebrated for his outstanding musical talent, his enthusiasm, and his efforts to redefine the boundaries of classical and popular music. He has sold millions of recordings and won many awards throughout his career.

In 1999, the year of his sixtieth birthday, Galway undertook his first major recital tour of Britain in a decade. He returned to his native Belfast to play in the new Waterfront Hall. This video features a 90-minute recital with the pianist Phillip Moll and a guest appearance by Galway’s wife Jeanne. Also on this video is the South Bank Show profile of Galway, with Melvyn Bragg, also from 1999.

Galway gives a fascinating account of his childhood years and first teachers, his scholarship to The Royal College of Music in London, his time as Principal Flautist for the Berlin Philharmonic under von Karajan and his subsequent resignation which set his career on a different track. He also talks about the factors that contribute to his unique sound. Entertaining and insightful, this documentary reveals Galway as a man of great artistic depth as well as dedication, generosity and twinkling humour.

Approx Duration: 139 mins

Picture format: NTSC

Concert: 16:9 FHA

South Bank Show: 4:3 Letterbox

Colour

Region Code: 2,3,4,5

Audio spec:

Concert: L-PCM Stereo

South Bank Show: Dolby 2.0 Stereo

Subtitles: None

Directed by David Starobin, 2009

Volume 14 of Bridge’s complete George Crumb Edition comes in the form of a DVD. The 66 minute film is a celebration of American composer George Crumb's 80th birthday.

It features performances by the George Crumb Ensemble, including the composer himself performing on percussion instruments.

The film includes interviews with George Crumb, historic photographs, complete performances of Apparition (1979) on texts by Walt Whitman; Three Early Songs (1947); Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (2001) on Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight. The film's soundtrack features excerpts from many of Crumb's masterpieces including Star-Child, Music for a Summer Evening, Mundus Canis, Pastoral Drone, and Sit Down Sister. With Tony Arnold, soprano; David Starobin, guitar; Robert Shannon, piano; George Crumb, percussion.

Running Time: 66 mins

Sound format: Stereo / 5.1 Surround Sound

DVD format: NTSC

Region Code: 0

Stephen Kovacevich's international reputation as a pianist has been built both on his concert appearances, renowned for their thoughtfulness and creative intensity, and on the highly acclaimed recordings he has made throughout his career. He is considered as one of the most searching interpreters of the core classical repertoire and he has won great admiration for his recordings of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Chopin. In this masterclass he works with a student on Schubert's Impromptus Nos 1 and 3 from Op 90.

Stephen Kovacevich's international reputation as a pianist has been built both on his concert appearances, renowned for their thoughtfulness and creative intensity, and on the highly acclaimed recordings he has made throughout his career. He is considered as one of the most searching interpreters of the core classical repertoire and he has won great admiration for his recordings of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Chopin. In this masterclass he works with students on Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Nos 21 "Waldstein" and 31, Op 110