DVD Videos

Opera Fanatic, the world’s first opera road movie, needs no Route 66, no Harley Davidson and no smell of gasoline and burning rubber. Things are altogether more stylish when ten divas and a tenor come together with their heady combination of droll humour and vanity. Their quest for the secret of the “chest voice” turns into a road movie that will appeal to more than just opera fans. Jan Schmidt-Garre lets the eccentric old ladies speak for themselves and in tenor Stefan Zucker confronts them with an expert whose originality lends the film much of its charm. A journey to the heart of Italian opera in the 1950s - pure pleasure!

“We are living in an era of Barbie doll opera singers who look good and move well but lack expressiveness. What we need are singers with hair under their arms“. Stefan Zucker

BIS’s first-ever DVD is dedicated to one of the label’s most charismatic and longest-standing artists: Christian Lindberg. In celebration of his 50th birthday, BIS presents this DVD which reflects all aspects of his extraordinary career.

It forms an extensive – 3h 40 minutes – portrayal of this multi-faceted musician who since his début on disc (on BIS-CD-258) in 1984 almost single-handedly has turned the trombone into a solo instrument. But those who have followed his career, and his discography on BIS, will know that over the past few years Lindberg has also been developing a reputation as a composer and conductor.

The DVD includes two hour-long documentaries and the long-awaited re-release of four filmed performances including Jan Sandström’s Motorbike Concerto, which Lindberg performed at the Last Night of the Proms. Lindberg discusses these vintage performances as well as showing footage of him enacting his own Bombay Bay Barracuda for trombone and tape – mostly filmed under water! The final component of this DVD brings together some of the world’s finest brass players, including Håkan Hardenberger and Ole-Edvard Antonsen.

BLUE NOTE - A Story of Modern Jazz tells the story of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff and their record label. It is the story of the rise of Modern Jazz, of a friendship in exile and of uncompromising artistic excellence. Told by the musicians, by friends and associates and by fans of the Blue Note recordings from all walks of life, the film BLUE NOTE recreates an era of American cultural history.

Violette Verdy, best remembered for her years as one of George Balanchine’s prima ballerinas at the New York City Ballet, has, in her retirement from the stage, been deeply involved in the training of young dancers. In this fascinating film, Ms. Verdy is shown coaching principal and guest artists at the Paris Opera Ballet in works of Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Her deep respect for the material and her supportive work with her dancers define the qualities of a great teacher. Among the stars appearing in the program are Elisabeth Maurin, Isabelle Guerin, Elisabeth Platel, Margaret Illmann, and Vladimir Malakhov. Also with the participation of Roland Petit. Color, approx. 75 min., All regions. In French and English only.

Program:

• Violette coaches Elisabeth Maurin in Emeralds (1967; Balanchine / Fauré)

• Violette coaches Isabelle Guerin in Dances at a Gathering (1969; Robbins / Chopin)

• Violette coaches Lucia Lacarra & Cyril Pierre in Liebeslieder Walzer (1960; Balanchine / Brahms)

• Violette coaches Elisabeth Platel & Nicolas Le Riche in In the Night (1970; Robbins / Chopin)

• Violette coaches Margaret Illmann & Vladimir Malakhov in Tchaikovsky Pas de deux (1960; Balanchine / Tchaikovsky)

With the permission of The George Balanchine Trust. “Tchaikovsky Pas de deux 1960”, “Liebeslieder Walzer 1960” and “Emeralds 1967” are presented by arrangement with the Balanchine Trust and have been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style and Balanchine Technique service standards established and provided by the Trust.

With the permission of The Robbins Rights Trust (Mr. Christopher Pennington) and the authorizations of Mrs. Marilyn Wayne, Mr. Peter Martins, the NYCB, Mrs. Anne Parsons

and Mr. Jean-Pierre Frohlich.

Violette and Mr B, 2001

© Dominique Delouche-Les Films du Prieuré

Dominique Delouche, Director

DVD 1 features the Barcelona concert from the ongoing Maria album tour La Rivoluzione Romantica. The 80 minute programmed performed in the stunning Palau de la Musica Catalana features highlights from the Maria album, and includes Rossini’s Willow Song as a DVD exclusive.

DVD 2 features a fascinating 70 minute film Malibran Rediscovered , following Cecilia Bartoli as she researches the life of Maria Malibran and records the album.

This DVD contains three productions from Christopher Nupen’s famously comprehensive portraits of leading performers: the portrait film, Itzhak Perlman: Virtuoso Violinist (I know I played every note) and two memorable performances of Bach partitas shot live, on stage, at a concert in London where this polyfaceted artist is at his best.

It also contains two sequences in which Itzhak Perlman looks back. The first of them, The Trout Remembered looks at the making of the film The Trout, probably the most frequently broadcast classical music film in the history of television and one which has become the lasting emblem of a great age in music. The second, made especially for this DVD, "Jacqueline du Pré Remembered", recalls a friend who was very close for many years, a colleague with whom he made chamber music in many places and an artist and personality for whom he has an unbounded admiration and an enduring affection.

Itzhak Perlman is one of the world’s leading musical performers, famous all over the world not only as a virtuoso violinist of the highest rank but as a much loved television personality, an honoured guest at the White House and an extremely effective spokesman for the disabled, having been handicapped himself by polio since the age of 31/2. All of these things together, plus a famously lighthearted ebullience, have won him a particularly affectionate following.

Furtwängler’s Love is a film essay on Wilhelm Furtwängler, the great conductor; on Furtwängler, the dedicated composer and on Furtwängler, the loving partner. It is also a search for the aesthetic phenomenon and a perspective on the constant struggle of the conductor versus the composer. His widow, Elisabeth Furtwängler, tells in a private atmosphere a lot of intimate, entertaining but also thought-provoking details of their joint life: from their first date to their last kiss. Jan Schmidt-Garre portrays the love-story of two people, and by pure chance one of them belongs to the greatest conductors of our century.

An intimate and in-depth portrait of one of the world's greatest sopranos, a true primadonna assoluta!

Yves Saint Laurent's garden paradise in Marrakech provides the lush, tropical background for this deep insight into Jessye Norman's professional and private life. Filmed by German film maker Andre Heller this DVD gives a deeply personal and emotional portrait of one of opera and lieder's most respected exponents.

The film also includes 14 specially-staged performances in fantastical settings of her repertoire, of pieces by Mozart, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Ravel, Schumann, Mahler, Wagner, Purcell and Schubert and Berg. The performances give a beautiful and unique look at the artistic world of this very special diva.

Filmed in widescreen, this is the first new Jessye Norman DVD for many years and is significant for being the only programme-length, in-depth interview film of both the public and personal sides of someone with a reputation for being fiercely protective of her privacy.

Amongst many other subjects, Norman discusses her childhood, family, her idols, working relationships with different conductors and directors, how she chooses repertoire, her career path, her political views, relationships, attitudes towards religion, and her aspirations and dreams. The wide range of interview matter, coupled with the striking performances, make this DVD a fascinating, unusual and essential product for all vocal afficionados and certainly for the many fans of Jessye Norman.