Documentary on conductor Pierre Boulez and his work with young musicians, as they prepare to perform masterpieces of the 20th century - Igor Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" (1913) and Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Gruppen" for 3 orchestras (1955-57).
With subtitles in English, French and German in KZfaq player.
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Music performed:
Igor Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gruppen for 3 orchestras
For more then six decades, Pierre Boulez has had a greater influence on the development of contemporary music than anyone else. Already in his younger days, he gained a reputation as a doughty champion of the avant-garde. With his compositions, interpretations, and ideas he indelibly shaped the international music scene - not only as a composer and conductor but also as a music philosopher and teacher. The documentary “Workshop for the Future of Music: Pierre Boulez and the Lucerne Festival Academy” is a homage to him on the occasion of his 85th birthday on 26 March 2010.
For the past five summers, Pierre Boulez and highly gifted young musicians from all over the world have converged for intensive rehearsal weeks during which they learn from the maestro and one another, discuss and play selected compositions, and finally present subsequently the fruits of their labour in a number of outstanding concerts.
To convey the fascination for contemporary music, the documentary captures the perspectives of Pierre Boulez and the young conductors, composers, and musicians involved. Their infectious enthusiasm gives viewers emotional access to the world of new music.
Accompanied by retrospective accounts, this endeavor narrates significant experiences and encounters in Boulez’s career and gives a graphical depiction of the way he passes these experiences on to his current students. Consequently, this makes selected works by Stravinsky, Stockhausen, and Boulez more approachable. On a different level, it demonstrates how strongly personal experiences leave their mark on individual action, aesthetic sensitivity, and our perception of others.
Title: Workshop for the Future of Music: Pierre Boulez and the Lucerne Festival Academy
Directed by Günter Atteln & Angelika Stiehler
2009, EuroArts Music International, in co-production with Lucerne Festival