While he began receiving international acclaim durring his stints with The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Claption truly rose to the status of rock's premier guitar hero with the bluesy power trio Cream, which teamed him with two unusually gifted and individual collaborators, Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums. Cranking ...
This documentary follows the tumultuous life and career of opera singer Maria Callas. Using archival footage and interviews with Callas and critics, director Tony Palmer explains why this slender and beautiful singer was hailed by some as the greatest opera singer of the twentieth century while others called her a talentless fake. Callas rose to ...
Less a movie than a purposely crude series of musical vignettes and inside jokes for die-hard fans, Frank Zappa informs viewers in the opening scene that "Touring can make you crazy, ladies and gentlemen, and that is what 200 Motels is all about." The rest of the plot-less production is filled with more self-reflexive reminders, as the close-up ...
The acclaimed Tony Palmer helmed this 1984 biopic on 19th and early 20th century Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, here portrayed by Robert Stephens. Palmer opts to focus not on the whole gestalt of Puccini's life, but on a devastating scandal that transpired in 1909, when Giacomo's wife, Elvira Puccini, accused maid Doria Manfredi of bedding her ...
Originally a nine-hour British miniseries, this film on the last four decades in the life of Richard Wagner may have taken its long-winded cue from the lengthy operas of the famous 19th-century German composer and musical theorist -- the Ring des Nibelungen is 14-15 hours in itself, divided into four separate operas. This biographical film begins ...
Documentarian Tony Palmer's feature-length Harvest of Sorrow constitutes one of the first nonfiction works to recount the life story of 19th century Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninov with express permission from that great artist's family. As in Paul Cox's Vincent (1987) and other works, first-person narration culled from the artist's letters, ...
Tony Palmer, music aficionado, occasional rock performer (the albums See You at the Knee, Long Time Comin' Home), and director of classic performance films from multiple musical genres such as Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (1971), the massive Wagner (1983), and Maria Callas: La Divina (1987), helms the 3 hour documentary Tony Palmer's Film About the ...
Originally broadcast on the BBC back in 1968, filmmaker Tony Palmer's groundbreaking rock documentary features vintage performances by such legendary rock and roll acts as The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Cream, and Jimmy Hendrix. Additional insight by such revered artists as Frank Zappa offers a telling snapshot of a truly revolutionary moment ...
Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo leads the distinguished cast; Tony Palmer directs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The Space Movie can be described as Marshall McLuhan for the eyes. This British documentary traces the history of space travel, from the early rocket experiments of the 1920s to the lunar landings of the 1960s. The information is conveyed in near-kaleidoscopic fashion, minus narration, with one image following the other at an exhausting rate. ~ ...
A passionate blues guitarist whose technical dexterity, blinding speed, and fiery solos won him a loyal cult following in the United States and stardom in Europe, Rory Gallagher was one of the great guitar heroes of Irish rock, and this home video captures him in his natural environment -- playing a loud and sweaty show for his loyal fans during a ...
As directed by acclaimed documentarist Tony Palmer, this epic-length biographical portrait of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) draws on rarely-seen archival footage, vintage photographs, and interviews with Stravinsky contemporaries including Tatia Rimsky-Korsakov and Nadia Boulanger to provide unique and rare insights into the said Russian composer. ...
Tangerine Dream: Live at Coventry Cathedral 1975 captures one of the concerts held by the band during their tour of religious venues. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Andre Previn has enjoyed an inarguably remarkable career, rising from humble beginnings as a German refugee to become one of the world's best respected composers and orchestral directors. Previn has won Academy awards for his film scores, served as conductor for the London Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and recorded a series of well ...
This film is a portrait of the illustrious violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Born in New York April 22, 1916, Menuhin was a child prodigy on the violin. He went to San Francisco to study, and gave his first public performance with the Mendelssohn concerto at the age of seven. At age 15, he recorded what is still considered the high water mark of the Elgar ...
The life and career of legendary English ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn is explored in a comprehensive documentary from filmmaker Tony Palmer. A woman whose remarkable experiences would read as fiction if they weren't all rooted in fact, Fonteyn was taken as an underage mistress before marrying a Panamanian Ambassador, surviving an attempted coup, ...
This musical documentary profiles British composer/conductor Benjamin Britten. Directed by filmmaker Tony Palmer, who also documented opera legend Maria Callas, it mixes biography with excerpts from such famed operas as Death in Venice and Peter Grimes. A special segment shows archival footage of the maestro working his magic behind the scenes in ...
This in-depth, feature length documentary explores the controversial life of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Often dismissed as a happy folk hero, Williams was in fact often frustrated and unhappy with both his small town life and his obligations to care for his invalid wife. Exploring both his musical and personal legacy, the film paints a ...
In this installment in the All You Need Is Love documentary series, filmmakers examine the musical phenomenon of Tin Pan Alley, a collection of New York City singers and songwriters who made composing a lucrative industry. Artists featured in concert footage and interviews include Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, and more. ~ Cammila Albertson, ...
This documentary about the history of popular music in America focuses on the advent of the musical, and how musical theater influenced the sounds of pop music. Artists featured in concert footage and interviews include Galt MacDermott, Agnes de Mille, and more. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
This British biopic attempts to chronicle the life of 17th-century tunesmith Henry Purcell. The filmmakers have had to do much speculating about Britain's first great composer, as little is known about his life back then. It is known that Purcell had been a chorister as a child and then became the court composer for three kings: Charles, James and ...
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