

British filmmaker Simon Cellan Jones directs the BBC drama Eroica, starring Ian Hart as Ludwig van Beethoven. Shot on digital video, this TV film depicts the first performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony, June 9th, 1804, in Vienna, Austria. Prince Lobkowitz (Jack Davenport) has invited friends to listen to Beethoven conduct his new symphony for the first time. Among the aristocratic attendees are Count Dietrichstein (Tim Pigott-Smith), Countess Brunsvik (Claire Skinner), and composer Josef Haydn (Frank Finlay). The actual musical score is performed by the Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique, under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner.
Wranitzky

British filmmaker Simon Cellan Jones directs the BBC drama Eroica, starring Ian Hart as Ludwig van Beethoven. Shot on digital video, this TV film depicts the first performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony, June 9th, 1804, in Vienna, Austria. Prince Lobkowitz (Jack Davenport) has invited friends to listen to Beethoven conduct his new symphony for the first time. Among the aristocratic attendees are Count Dietrichstein (Tim Pigott-Smith), Countess Brunsvik (Claire Skinner), and composer Josef Haydn (Frank Finlay). The actual musical score is performed by the Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique, under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner.
2003-10-04
7.273
The Day That Changed Music Forever
7.0Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
8.5A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
7.4An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
7.8Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
8.0A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
8.4Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
8.2After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
6.7The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
8.6The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.
8.0Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
8.5Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
8.3At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
8.5An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks. (This standalone version of the series pilot was produced for the European VHS market and has an alternate, closed ending.)
7.6The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill's true parentage.
8.7Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
8.2Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
8.0Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.
8.0The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
7.6Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.
8.4A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
0.0A behind-the-scenes look at the Aldeburgh Festival and the opening by The Queen of the new concert hall at Snape.
8.0The Dutch violinist and the Johann Strauss Orchestra perform a number of musical hits. André Rieu is one of the bestselling modern classical artists, with over 20 million sales worldwide and a string of successful tours behind him. Rieu set up the Johann Strauss Orchestra in 1987 with the dual aim of promoting the waltz music he loves while introducing a wider audience to the pleasures of classical music. Here Rieu and his orchestra turn their attention to memorable songs from stage musicals, providing their own take on a number of popular tunes.
10.0Join the Muppets' best sidekick, Beaker as he spreads his passion for the classics with his rendition of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."
0.0From the euphoric first to the solemn sixth, the Brandenburg Concertos features some of Bach's finest and most popular orchestral music. Münchener Bach-Orchester ; Karl Richter, conductor and harpsichord. Recorded Apr. 1-10, 1970, Schloss Schleissheim No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 -- No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 -- No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 -- No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 -- No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 -- No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051. Apr. 1-10, 1970. Orchestra: Münchener Bach-Orchester - Conductor: Karl Richter - Violin: Otto Büchner - Trumpet: Pierre Thibaud - Recorder: Hans-Martin Linde - Recorder: Günter Höller - Oboe: Manfred Clement - Flute: Paul Meisen - Viola: Herbert Blendinger - Viola: Ingo Sinnhoffer - Viola Da Gamba: Hans Dieter Kruse - Viola Da Gamba: Oswald Uhl - Cello: Peter Steiner - Double Bass: Franz Ortner
Go behind the scenes with one of London's most important musical institutions.
0.0Jonas Kaufmann's very personal tribute to the city's famous music. We see the star tenor on the move in Vienna, visiting his favorite places, from the Ferris wheel to the sausage stand. The centerpiece of the more than 100-minute documentary is the acclaimed concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus, where Jonas Kaufmann, accompanied by the Prague Philharmonic under the direction of Jochen Rieder, sang world-famous melodies from Viennese operettas and famous Viennese songs. The Viennese audience was enthusiastic, and the reviews for the concert were glowing. Interspersed with the music from the concert, we experience Jonas Kaufmann at his favorite places in Vienna, in front of the Konzerthaus, at the Naschmarkt, and in the Vienna Cemetery – sharing interesting facts and stories about Viennese music. "My Vienna" is an atmospheric declaration of love, a personal documentary full of music and stories that touch the heart and put you in a good mood.
0.0In Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony, the listener encounters a music characterized by great spaciousness and profound solemnity, a music which speaks of grief and lamentation, but also of their transcendence. With its monumental architecture and intensity of sound, the symphony has moved listeners ever since its triumphal premiere in 1884. The Guardian calls Daniel Barenboim’s London interpretation “Tremendous … Barenboim and the Staatskapelle seem to have this work in their systems, and the overall impression was of music unfolding organically at its own pace rather than of a work being self-consciously interpreted or led.” Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E major (original version) Daniel Barenboim, conductor Staatskapelle Berlin Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, 25 June 2010
5.9Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.
7.2Based on the famous Gustav Holst musical suite, this musical film takes watchers on a magnificent journey of the planets of the Solar System.
6.1When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel's offer of "a kiss without consequences". Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else's life.
7.0The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.
0.0After the great success of his Beethoven cycle, Christian Thielemann now turns with his new orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, to the symphonic work of Johannes Brahms. Bonus features include: an extensive 52 minute interview with Christian Thielemann on Brahms' Symphonies and provides and in-depth look into his interpretation of Brahms.
0.0Relationships, rehearsals, performances, hobbies, and family life of the members of the Guarneri String Quartet.
7.0A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
0.0Idi and Rita live with their grandmother, Manie. Idi tries to keep the memories they have of their mother, by drawing on his school notebook. By the force of their desire, the children keep the link they have to their funny mother, despite the separation.
7.1The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than parody status would imply. In the context of this film, "Allegro non Troppo" means Not So Fast!, an interjection meaning "slow down" or "think before you act" and refers to the film's pessimistic view of Western progress (as opposed to the optimism of Disney's original).
6.6After marrying her long lost love, a pianist finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
6.0Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last completed symphony proves it’s possible.
Very few people really knew Herbert von Karajan. The conductor gave access to his private life only a little circle of strictly loyal people who kept their secrets even long after the maestro’s death. This documentary for the first time shows in the whole dimension the real man Karajan: not only the image of a dandy that he himself had shown to the public, but the unfiltered image of his personality. Newly discovered original film footage from the inner circle shows Karajan’s private life like it really was.