
Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty(2017)
A documentary about the composer of the Adagio for Strings
Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.
Movie: Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty
Top 5 Billed Cast
Self
Self
Self
Video Trailer Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty
Recommendations Movies
7.4That's Entertainment!(en)
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
8.5Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me(en)
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.
8.6Metallica and San Francisco Symphony: S&M(en)
Michael Kamen conducts the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in support of metal rockers Metallica in this 1999 concert performance.
7.4Supersonic(en)
Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.
7.9Live Aid(en)
Live Aid was held on 13 July 1985, simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, United States. It was one of the largest scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: watched live by an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations. "It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid...!"
7.0That's Entertainment, Part II(en)
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
7.2The Sound of 007(en)
Pull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.
7.8God Bless Ozzy Osbourne(en)
Featuring never before seen footage uncovered from the archives and interviews with Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee and others, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is the first documentary to take viewers inside the complex mind of rock's great icon.
7.8Adele One Night Only(en)
A primetime special with performances from the superstar including Adele’s first new material in six years plus her chart-topping hits. The special will also feature an exclusive interview with Adele by Oprah Winfrey from her rose garden, in Adele’s first televised wide-ranging conversation.
7.4Quincy(en)
An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing major pop hits of the early 1960s and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations in the same time period.
7.2I Called Him Morgan(en)
Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.
8.5Thriller 40(en)
Forty years after the release of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ the best-selling album of all-time, director Nelson George takes fans back in time to the making of a pop masterpiece, featuring never-before-seen footage and candid interviews.
6.8The Velvet Underground(en)
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.
7.5Artifact(en)
Follow 30 Seconds to Mars as they record their latest album, This Is War, and their battle against record label EMI.
7.5The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story(en)
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
6.8Howard(en)
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.
8.2Shawn Mendes: In Wonder(en)
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
7.4I Am Heath Ledger(en)
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
6.9Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound(en)
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
7.0Justin Bieber's Believe(en)
A backstage and on-stage look at Justin Bieber during his rise to super stardom.
Similar Movies
7.0The Revenge of the Dead Indians(en)
This is a full-length documentary honoring the life and work of American composer and artist John Cage. Cage is considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. This documentary features interviews with various personalities from different fields as they introduce us to the life and work of this great American artist.
10.0Die Akte Beethoven(de)
In a mixture of feature film, music documentary and animated comics, historical facts are retold, analyzed and interpreted in modern settings. Ludwig van Beethoven, played by Lars Eidinger, becomes a contemporary of today's audience. Quick-tempered, irascible, curmudgeonly - that is the common image of Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer with the wild lion's mane. But there is also another Beethoven - young, seductive, spirited and, above all, combative.
0.0You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story(en)
Biographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of archival material and interviews with the rich and famous that knew him, this portrait concentrates on his career and his public life events.
0.0The Crazy Comedy Concert(en)
Live action/animation special geared to educate young people about classical music.
6.7A Life in Waves(en)
Explores the life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani.
8.0Who plays me, hears my voices(es)
"Who plays me, hears my voices”, shows a recent moment in the life of Gaston Lafourcade, a classical pianist and harpsichordist who, at the age of 83, enters a recording studio for the first time in his life to record a solo album and to join his daughter, Natalia Lafourcade, who during a recess period in her career, decides to embark on this adventure as a love letter to her father and as a way to enjoy what brings them together, beyond blood ties: their deep love for music.
8.0Tosca by Giacomo Puccini(fr)
As part of the 2019 Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival, filmmaker Christophe Honoré delivers an innovative staging of Giacomo Puccini's famous drama. His cleverly staged "opera within the opera" is a melancholy homage to the fascinating figure of the diva, who thrives on art and love and upsets the laws of time and death.
7.0Mr. Holland's Opus(en)
In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.
5.1What Difference Does It Make?(en)
A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.
7.0Bach: A Passionate Life(en)
John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician. The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity. We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found. Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach.
7.0Not Mozart: Letters, Riddles and Writs(en)
Letters, Riddles and Writs is a one act opera for television by Michael Nyman broadcast in 1991.
0.0Maria Callas Sings Tosca, Act II(en)
At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as the prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Maria Callas wants to show everyone once again that she deserves the title of “prima donna assoluta.” On the condition that star director Franco Zeffirelli take over the direction, the exceptional singer agrees to sing the role of Tosca. The BBC recorded the 2nd act of the opera for television. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history: in order to free the painter Cavaradossi from the hands of torturers, Tosca ends up murdering the police chief Scarpia. The film footage is one of the rare opportunities to see Maria Callas in an opera performance and to experience her highly emotional performance art and vocal abilities...
7.4Once(en)
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
6.8The Life and Loves of Beethoven(fr)
Lyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantic hero, an accursed artist.
10.0Song of Rapa Nui(en)
This feature length documentary tells the story of Mahani Teave who grew up on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and left at age 9 to pursue her dream of being classical pianist-a journey that takes her from mainland Chile to The Cleveland Music Institute to Berlin and the great concert halls of Europe. At the age of 30, on the brink of international success, Teave gives up her career to pursue a new dream, coming back full circle to Rapa Nui to found a free music school for the island's children. The resulting school-named Toki, after the basalt tool once used to shape Easter Island's iconic sculptures-is a model of sustainability, incorporating tons of tires, bottles and Pacific Ocean plastic; surrounded by agri-environmental gardens to grow food. With Toki, Mahani hopes to shape a bold new future for Rapa Nui and inspire hope and change on Earth, our island home.
7.0Aida - Arena di Verona(it)
The 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.
0.0Crescendo(en)
Set amongst the unlikely backdrop of cowboy boots, rodeos, and global geopolitics, thirty of the world's most promising musicians travel to Fort Worth, Texas to compete in the renowned Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Vying for gold and their shot at classical piano stardom, the contestants must endure six grueling performances, multiple elimination rounds, and a discerning panel of jurists. Behind the scenes, we uncover the stories of adversity, sacrifice, and heartbreak driving the pianists to perform at the highest level. As fan favorites and early contenders are eliminated, one unassuming genius rises to the top.
4.5About the Looking for and the Finding of Love(de)
Director helmut Dietls and Patric Susskinds illustrate a legendary story of two lovers who cant keep themselves away from death.




