Great Moments in Music | September 11, 2001: Hélène Grimaud in London

Great Moments in Music | September 11, 2001: Hélène Grimaud in London

Great Moments in Music September 11, 2001: Hélène Grimaud in London

A film by Holger Preusse & Philipp Quiring, ZDF/arte, 43 min., 2022

On September 11, 2001, two planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York and the world seemed to stop for a moment. This film about the concert by Hélène Grimaud and the Orchester de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach at the Royal Albert Hall tells the story of how sadness and dismay became a pinnacle musical moment and underlines the unique ability of music to provide comfort in tragic moments.

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For the young French pianist Hélène Grimaud, September 11, 2001, was going to be a day of joy. She has travelled to London from her adopted home of New York to make her much-anticipated debut at the BBC Proms – the world’s biggest and perhaps best-known classical music festival. She is set to perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Orchester de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

But after the dress rehearsal in the Royal Albert Hall, everything changes in a single moment. In her hotel room, Hélène Grimaud watches the horrific images coming from New York. A plane has flown into the World Trade Center. “I thought it was the latest Hollywood horror production,” she remembers.

The conductor of the upcoming performance, Christoph Eschenbach, is having lunch with the French ambassador in London when he hears about the terrorist attack. He and the organiser of the Proms, Sir Nicholas Kenyon, have a decision to make: Can you really put on a concert on a day such as this?

Sir Kenyon remarks: “Cancelling a Proms concert is no minor undertaking. Even after the death of Lady Diana, we chose to go ahead with the performance. And the people came.” Christoph Eschenbach and Hélène Grimaud are also prepared to perform.

The hall begins to fill. The mood is sombre. For Hélène Grimaud, the events have laid a leaden cloak of sadness and shock over the evening “They gave a concert of peace,” comments pianist Sophie Pacini. And indeed, after sounding the opening G major chord with trembling fingers, Hélène Grimaud begins to play increasingly freely. “This moment of catastrophe and tension and questioning inspired her to a musical moment that was increasingly captivating.”

In the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s concerto, her playing is even vocal. The Royal Albert Hall is charged with excitement. The Proms audience holds its breath in shared emotion. It is a collective and communal experience that Orchester de Paris violist Estelle Villotte recalls more than two decades later. “I cried on my viola during the concert. But Christoph Eschenbach and Hélène Grimaud carried me through.”

The dance-like and playful third movement is a liberation. For a moment at least, the terrible images from New York appear outshone by Hélène Grimaud’s playing. And the mood changes. At the close of the piece, the audience responds with a standing ovation.

The Voice of the Birds – Olivier Messiaen, Componist and Ornithologist

The Voice of the Birds – Olivier Messiaen, Componist and Ornithologist

The Voice of the Birds – Olivier Messiaen, Componist and Ornithologist

A film by Holger Preusse and Philipp Quiring, SWR/ARTE, 52 min, 2022
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For Olivier Messiaen, birds are “the greatest musicians inhabiting our planet”. Their endless melodies with the finest tonal gradations, their diverse singing and the infinite variety of rhythms are the lifeblood of the French musician. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his death on 27 April 2022, we tell Olivier Messiaen’s story from the perspective of the birds.

Messiaen became acquainted with birds at a young age, and when he came to Paris from the French provinces in his early 20s, they continued to flutter in his head. As organist of the parish church La Trinité in Paris, it is the birds that provide him with their songs, over which he improvises. Music lovers from all over Europe make a pilgrimage to see him. The premiere of his opera in Paris in 1983 is awaited with great excitement: In “Saint Francis of Assisi” (“Saint François d’Assise”), birds play a central role. For him, the birds are something metaphysical, a direct link to God.

Against the background of the “Voice of the Birds”, the film portrays the eventful life of the composer and ornithologist Messiaen through musical examples and narratives of selected interlocutors: There is conductor Kent Nagano, cellist Camille Thomas, Ondes Martenot interpreter Natalie Forget and organist Thomas Lacôte, Messiaen biographer Peter Hill, DJ and biologist Dominik Eulberg and, last but not least, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who vividly explains selected passages from Messiaen’s “Catalogue d’oiseaux” (“Catalogue of Birds”).

Magic Moments of Music | Nigel Kennedy & The Four Seasons

Magic Moments of Music | Nigel Kennedy & The Four Seasons

Magic Moments of Music | Nigel Kennedy & The Four Seasons

A film by Silvia Palmigiano and Isabel Hahn, ZDF/arte and C Major Entertainment, 43 min., 2022

In 1989, Nigel Kennedy’s recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons causes a turmoil in the world of classical music. The press call the musician the “punk violinist” while others treat him with scorn. However, the record goes on to sell more copies than any other classical album before or since. Kennedy succeeds in transcending the reservations of an audience that considers classical music too elitist or aloof. The film tells of the incredible rise of an outsider into superstar and of a Vivaldi interpretation that has achieved cult status.

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When Nigel Kennedy presents his vision of a new classical album to the record company EMI, he is met with broad scepticism. Certainly, with his wild hair and an outfit that mixes punk, gothic and new wave, he’s far from the typical classical musician. But manager John Stanley senses an opportunity: “If Kennedy is permitted to be who he is, you could sell millions of records.” And he’s proven right.

The film takes viewers back to 1989 when Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra shook up the music scene with their recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. With daring and verve, Kennedy appeals to an audience that was otherwise averse to classical music, resulting in album sales of over three million and an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

Early on, the protege of Yehudi Menuhin stands out as a rebel: in the day he studies at the renowned Juilliard School and at night he plays in the New York jazz clubs and learns the art of improvisation, among others from Stéphane Grappelli.

Kennedy recalls: “The classical world felt like a straitjacket. I had to change something or else I had to get out. There was nothing to lose.” During the recording of The Four Seasons, he strives to free himself both from historically informed performance and the Russian School of playing. He seeks out and finds an interpretation that is inarr keeping with the times. With his playing style and arresting appearance, he breaks with the conventions of the classical concert business. The controversy is even discussed in the UK Parliament.

In the concert recording – filmed in the manner of a pop concert – the London audience sits at the edge of the stage in jeans and jumpers. The outfits of the orchestra musicians and the stage lighting change depending on the season. Star violinist Maxim Vengerov tells us what is revolutionary about Kennedy’s playing, and fashion designer Esther Perbandt gives her own view: “He’s an individualist. He doesn’t dress like this to market himself.” Nigel Kennedy says of himself: “I can only be who I am. And that’s how I am.”

With his groundbreaking recording, Kennedy helps young musicians to question the limitations and precedents of the classical music world and he pushes the door wide open for an audience to discover Vivaldi’s famous music.

7 Lives of Music – The Kanneh-Mason Family

7 Lives of Music – The Kanneh-Mason Family

7 Lives of Music – The Kanneh-Mason Family

A Film by Catharina Kleber, ZDF/3sat, 60 min, 2022

They are a family with seven children, each of them an exceptionally talented musician. The Kanneh-Mason siblings, their enormous success and their incredible energy team up to prove that classical music is not exclusively for those with light skin and financial means. The documentary film “7 Lives of Music – The Kanneh-Mason Family” by Catharina Kleber will be aired on 3sat on February 5th 2022 at 8.15 PM. It will provide moving, emotional, and surprising glimpses into the private lives and the careers of this incredible family.

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It all started with Sheku: The winner of “BBC Young Musician 2016” was invited to play the cello during the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He became world-famous overnight and pulled his siblings into the spotlight along with him. The eldest of the seven is Isata. She plays the Schleswig-Holstein-Musikfestival while her sister Jeneba debuts at the Wigmore Hall in London with her brothers, as each of the siblings makes their way through the beginnings of promising careers that will lead them to the height of their fields. Along the way, they meet some of the current greats: Simon Rattle and Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Hope and Thomas Hampson. Every step of their path is taken together, lifting each other up and showing the younger siblings and the world: If I can do it, so can you. With this attitude, all seven play the BBC Proms and record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Their parents are never far from their sides, but they aren’t the drill sergeants one has come to expect from families such as the Bachs, the Mozarts or the Jacksons. Kadie and Stuart are as surprised as anyone at their children’s talent and determination. They are able to support these qualities, without pushing them.

The film is a portrait of all of the family, with glimpses of their dreams and goals but also the barriers and worries along the way. It spotlights rehearsals in the living room, battles on the soccer pitch and glamorous concerts with equal interest. The Kanneh-Mason Family know first-hand how hard it is for people of color and from outside the inner circle to succeed in the world of classical music, but they prove beyond a doubt, that it may not remain that way.

The Lucky Tenor – José Carreras turns 75

The Lucky Tenor – José Carreras turns 75

The Lucky Tenor – José Carreras turns 75

A film by Beatrix Conrad, BR/WDR/SWR and C Major Entertainment, 45 min, 2021

The private life of José Carreras was not always as glamorous and undiluted as his international career: his family was persecuted by the Franco regime, his mother dies of cancer when he was only 18, in the late 1980s he is diagnosed with leukemia. At that time a death sentence. Carreras takes on the fight and survives as one of the first patients to be treated with a bone marrow transplantation.

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Especially the handling of tragic moments in his life reveals a lot about the human behind the opera star. He is a tireless warrior, a great communicator, and a merciless optimist. His energy is demonstrated not least in 1990 with the founding of the Three Tenors alongside Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. Shortly before their formation, Carreras was part of the first recording of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, where he took on the lead role of Tony as the only Spanish person in the production.

The over 30 yearlong dedication for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation is another proof of the indomitable nature of the Catalan: year after year he invites stars to his charity gala in Leipzig. Over 220 million euros have been donated to date – another impressive lifetime achievement.

The film shows the ups and downs of a grand career – and lets companions, friends and José Carreras himself speak about it. Birthday wishes from Plácido Domingo, Peter Maffay, Klaus Meine, Barbara Schöneberger, and many other stars demonstrate the admiration and respect with what the lucky tenor is met with.