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Leonard Bernstein - Reaching for the Note
: :Originally aired on PBS's American Masters series, this evocative biography of the American composer, conductor, and de facto musical evangelist Leonard Bernstein offers a compelling balance of musical scholarship and personal insight. It's a fitting approach to the brilliant--and emotional--life and art of Bernstein, who elevated Broadway musical theater, demystified and democratized classical music for two generations of American children, and brought a true New Yorker's vigor and directness to his conducting. Writer-director Susan Lacy establishes the film's sympathetic tone in ...
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American Caruso
:Description:Mario Lanza did more to bring classical music and opera to the masses through the popular art of movies than anyone else. His unique tenor voice was known to millions through such hit films as The Great Caruso and The Toast of New Orleans, and on such chart-topping records as 'Be My Love.' The chubby 'singing truck driver' from Philadelphia became a Hollywood legend, only to be destroyed by his own excess. In a brief twelve years, Lanza went from being ...
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Richard Rodgers - The Sweetest Sounds
: :How did some of the most beautiful melodies of the 20th century come out of a man described as depressive, hypochondriacal, remote, and alcoholic? This stirring 2001 documentary cannot answer that question about Richard Rodgers, but it provides a near-perfect blend of biography, personal reminiscence, and music appreciation. The latter comes via experts sitting at their pianos: Richard Rodney Bennett, Barbara Carroll, Andrew Lloyd Webber. The composer himself gives a lucid explanation of his working method, as he demonstrates how the ...
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Speaking in Strings
:Description:Described as 'possessed, 'frightening,' and 'brilliant,' Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has either enraged or enraptured critics while earning herself the nickname 'the bad girl of the violin.' Academy Award® nominee Speaking In Strings explores the controversial and fascinating life of this funny, fearless, irreverent, and world-renowned musician. A deeply private look at the woman behind all the accolades and controversy. DVD Features: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Biography; Docurama Previews; Interactive Menu; Scene Selection :Emotional, raw, and revealing--those adjectives apply to the documentary Speaking in Strings ...
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Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back
:Description:When acclaimed documentary filmmaker D A Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, The War Room) filmed Bob Dylan during a three week concert tour of England in the Spring of 1965, he had no idea he was about to create one of teh most intimate glimpses of the rock legend essential video:Both a classic documentary and a vital pop-cultural artifact, D.A. Pennebaker's portrait of Bob Dylan captures the seminal singer-songwriter on the cusp of his transformation from folk prophet to rock trendsetter. Shot during ...
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The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
:Description:With archive footage, interviews, home movies and performances from television and movies, Danny Glover narrates this biography of the most recognizable and interesting figures in jazz and the history of the 20th century. :You would think there couldn't be anything else to say about Louis Armstrong after Ken Burns's Jazz, which elevated the trumpeter to the status of the 20th century's most important musical figure. But this hourlong program (produced in 1999, some two years before the Burns documentary began airing) ...
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Render - Spanning Time with Ani DiFranco
:Description:Join Ani DiFranco, her band, and members of the extended Righteous Babe family as they crisscross the country in this long-awaited, one-of-a-kind portrait of the Li'l Folksinger at work. Videographers spent years on Ani's trail, capturing her onstage, in the studio, and on the tour bus--footage which Ani herself shaped into a very personal self-portrait. The resulting movie, which draws on material from as far back as 1997, focuses on her 2000 and 2001 tours. This impressionistic collage takes you way ...
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Return of Rubén Blades
:Description:Follows the singer to Harvard where he gets his Master’s Degree in International Law, to his old neighborhood in Panama, to California for a recording session with Linda Ronstadt, and to New York for a performance at S.O.B’s. :This 1986 documentary by filmmaker Robert Mugge chronicles the life, music, philosophies, and opinions of the singer, bandleader, political activist, and Harvard-trained lawyer Rubén Blades. Mugge captures Blades's intelligence, passion, and charisma in a variety of locales: from the bandstand of New York ...
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Ella Fitzgerald - Something to Live For
: :The neo-pop divas of the late 20th century may have turned up the glamour, and a few even introduced formidable technical prowess, epitomized by Mariah Carey's seemingly helium-induced falsetto (the bane of canine fans everywhere) or Celine Dion's breast-beating, stentorian climaxes. Yet only a few verses from an earlier, charter member of the first-name-only club provides instant perspective: when Ella opened her mouth, that perfectly pitched, luminous voice could leap octaves without breaking a sweat, its tonal purity and immaculate phrasing ...
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Marvin Gaye - Behind the Legend
: :This look at the legacy of Marvin Gaye passes over the great R&B singer's childhood and Motown career in favor of his turbulent final years, including exiles in Hawaii and Europe, the making of Midnight Love, his addiction to cocaine (and resulting paranoia and depression), and his tragic murder (shot by his father during an argument). While his final public performance, a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at 1983's NBA All-Star Game, is not included, his acceptance of a Grammy from ...
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