Gidon Kremer
The film, based on Robert Schumann's Pictures from the East, shows in an unusual perspective the work of Nizar Ali Badr, a Syrian sculptor whose unique language of stone sculptures radiates happiness and love in the face of war, destruction, migration, poverty and injustice. The animated sculptures made of pebbles present us with short stories. The soundtrack of the animation - original arrangements of melodies from Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Music Boxes" - is performed by Gidon Kremer and the musicians of his orchestra Kremerata Baltika.
He is the most performed contemporary composer in the world. And yet he rarely ventures out in public, prefers to keep quiet about his music, feels at home in the forests of Estonia and generates therewith - perhaps involuntarily - the impression of a recluse, which is attributed to him again and again: Arvo Part. In The Lost Paradise, we follow him over a period of one year in his native Estonia, to Japan and the Vatican. The documentary is framed by the stage production of Adam's Passion, a music theater piece based on the Biblical story of the fall of Adam featuring three key works by Arvo Part. The world-renowned director Robert Wilson has brought this work to the stage in a former submarine factory in Tallinn. Tracing their creative process, the film offers rare and personal insights into the worlds of two of the most fascinating personalities in the international arts and music scene.
Russian-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina entered the international spotlight at a relatively late age, when the 49-year-old came forward with her premier violin concerto, "Offertorium," in 1980. Gubaidulina authored that piece for Gideon Kremer. Curiously, it would be another 12 years before Gubaidulina received a commission (from Paul Sacher) to author her second violin concerto, and another 15 years after that until the notes fell on ears ripe with anticipation. For the debut of the "Second Violin Concerto," Gubaidulina insisted that no one other than German violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter perform it. That Mutter performance from August 2007 appears, in its entirety, in this classical concert film. Jan Schmidt-Garre directs.
In April 1981 violinist Gidon Kremer performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons leading the English Chamber Orchestra recorded in the baroque library of the monastery in Polling, near Munich. It is, as one would expect from a master violinist, a superbly insightful performance. The sound is resonant and satisfying although surely not true 5.1, and those who wish to have this music on video might well investigate it.
A series of three concerts performed by violinist Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica ensemble in Salzburg during "Mozart Week" at the Mozarteum on 31 January and 2 February 2002. On the program: Mozart's "Sinfonia concertante" and "Serenata notturna"; Arvo Pärt's "Mozart-adagio"; Alfred Schnittke's "Moz-Art à la Haydn"; and Teddy Bor's "McMozart's Eine kleine bricht Moonlicht Nicht Musik".
Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 Gidon Kremer(Violin) Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt Violin Concerto No.4 in D major, K 218 1. (0:29) 2. Allegro (8:31) 3. Andante cantabile (6:14) 4. Rondeau, Andante grazioso - Allegro ma non troppo (7:54) (Kadenzen und Eingänge von Robert D. Levin) Violin Concerto No.5 in A major, K 219 1. (0:27) 2. Allegro aperto (9:21) 3. Adagio (10:16) 4. Rondeau, Tempo di Menuetto (9:31) (Kadenzen und Eingänge von Robert D. Levin)
"Spring Symphony" is the story of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. Both were music entities. Robert Schumann turns out to have been a second tier composer, if that, never rising to the heights of a Beethoven or Mozart. In contrast, Clara Wieck was a master technician in the playing of the piano, a composer (probably not at Schumann's level), and was a child prodigy.
