Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso dvd movie.|
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List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $21.99 You Save: $2.99 Features • Black & White • Color • DVD-Video • NTSC In Theaters : 2000 DVD Release : 07 November, 2000 |
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Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso description This American Masters production celebrating Isaac Stern is more a profile of the man than the musician. Fans hoping to hear Stern performing will have to settle for the briefest snippets of fiddling: a bar or two from Mendelssohn, a fragment of Rimsky-Korsakov, a taste of Beethoven. Though each of these begins enticingly, they all quickly fade into the background, little more than aural wallpaper behind the comments and testimonials from such notables as Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman--as well as some less-expected commentators such as Gregory Peck and Jimmy Connors. But the portrait that all give of this marvelous octogenarian is almost as dazzling and multifaceted as hearing him play. After all, master violinist is only one of the hats Stern can wear with aplomb. There's also the flashy celebrity who provided the music for Hollywood films like Fiddler on the Roof and Humoresque and who could share the stage as easily with Jack Benny as Eugene Ormandy; the musical emissary who sought to bridge cold war divides with music, touring the Soviet Union and communist China as soon as he was allowed (as recorded in the 1980 documentary From Mao to Mozart); the beloved teacher, demanding but genuinely respectful toward young performers; even the hard-driving fundraiser who kept Carnegie Hall from being torn down. Through it all, Stern has carried himself with a no-nonsense humility, born of his profound love of humanity and devotion to his craft that is never less than inspiring. Footage (again, far from enough!) of Stern performing in Israel during the Gulf War, ignoring the whine of the air-raid sirens and the anxious surreality of an audience decked out in their gas masks, rapturous as he unfolds the serene music of Bach, raises the inspirational to the magnificent. --Bruce Reid |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Too Much Talking instead of Music Making |
| The DVD is brief, but it offers a good sketch of the great violinist of the century the life as well as the vision of this great musicianin a well organized way. There are some very good advice and suggestions on music and music making, like playing not with your head but from your heart and a good teacher is someone who has taught you how to teach yourself etc...
But the most interesting part of this DVD are not the contributors' comments, still less those from the other musicians. Rather it is the short clips from which we could hear the singing of a musician loud and clear through his instrument, the violin. In his view, it is not absolute pitch that matters, still less virtuosity. Rather, it is his style, or his character that makes the difference. And the point is, as Gregory Peck succintly puts it, he makes you feel better after listening to him! And I share the same feeling, as I have been listening to him since my adolescence. The clips, some in B/W and some in colour, one must say, have done a good job in bringing this point home. While some might regret that the DVD is short, slightly less than an hour and crammed with so many contributors, and that it is not as colouful as his "From Mao to Mozart"...etc. Be that as it may, there isn't anything amiss from this DVD save and except that there should be a longer clip of violin playing of, say, one whole movement from any of the pieces. Have they included that, it would certainly derserve 5 stars if not more. Having said that, the production is really enjoyable. Viewers who wish to see more of his performance should perhaps check out his Brahms Trios recorded in the 70s with Istomin and Rose or else his recital with A. Zakin on the piano playing Bach, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms (Vai). Recommended. |
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