Re: Composer videos

Stan Gilliam (stan@pals.guilford.edu)
Mon, 16 Mar 1998 12:53:06 -0800

You have to be careful with these. A lot of them carry the bogus
mythologies
that have accrued to the composers' names over the years.
I think previewing them is the best bet.
There was a great one on Wagner that aired on PBS, starring Richard
Burton, but it was very long...(not surprising). It seemed very authentic
to me..filmed on location
in Bayreuth, etc, including the hall specially built by Prince Ludwig of
Bavaria for Wagner.
Immortal Beloved (which has several gory scenes)portrayed Beethoven as
a sex maniac and sadistic sociopath....on the other hand....a music student
came to me the other day and stated that her music teacher had said that
Beethoven never had a relationship with
a woman...so, go figure. However the look of the film, costumes, etc, seemed
authentic. (But the piano sound was of a modern concert grand, not the
instrument
Beethoven really played on.)
I remember thinking the Ken Russel film on Tchaikovsky was great when I saw
it twenty-some years ago.
Some of the costume dramas from the forties are really corny and
lacking in authenticity.
Well.. I must get back to work.

At 10:15 AM 3/13/98 -0800, you wrote:
>I have a professor wanting to located feature films based on the lives of
>classical composers, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Richard Wagner, Schmann.
>Two examples of the type of films I am looking for are AMADUS and IMMORTAL
>BELOVED. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. I really don't know where to
>start looking.
>
>Thank you.
>
>
>Pat Means ^^
>Media Specialist _('('\ ^
>Abell Library Educational Media Cntr. (__ / / \
>Austin College | | / \
>900 N. Grand Ave. Suite 6L ___/ \ / \
>Sherman, TX 75090 (_____ \ / \
>(903)813-2395 / \ / \
>pmeans@austinc.edu \ \/ /
>Go!!! ROOS __( / /
> (__________________)
>
>
>