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Up close and personal: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Four to screen series of legendary music films


Christopher Nupen's intimate and pioneering portraits of great musicians are among the most celebrated classical music films ever made. Â鶹ԼÅÄ Four is screening a series of eight of these classic films on consecutive Friday evenings over eight weeks during the autumn.

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Starting with the iconic film about the brilliant and tragic British cellist Jacqueline du Pré – and continuing with portraits of Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin and Nathan Milstein (two films) – the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Four series culminates in the debut screening of Nupen's latest film Karim's Journey.

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This new documentary follows the progress of Amman-born musician, Karim Said, a protégé of Daniel Barenboim's, from the age of 11 to 17.

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Now on the brink of his public career, Said has already won eight international prizes, and this film won the Special Jury Award at the Palermo Festival in July.

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Nupen says that the pioneering work of his Allegro Films team was based on four things: "Television was new, enthusiastic and full of hope that it could do something of real importance for the arts in general and for music in particular.

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"A new kind of camera was invented which made it possible to follow musicians into places where the camera had never been and to show intimate scenes not possible before.

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"With those cameras film became capable of remembering performers in a new way and one not matched by other media.

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"A new generation of musicians appeared young, full of bounce and different in kind from their predecessors, at least in their relationship with the camera.

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"It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time and the fact that we were making films with my friends added another and very telling dimension.

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"We were having fun and were able to make a kind of film that had never been possible before. We really were very lucky."

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The Oxford philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin, described some of Christopher Nupen's films as being "at just about the highest level which television is capable of reaching".

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Â鶹ԼÅÄ Four broadcast listings

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Friday 26 September

Jacqueline du Pré And The Elgar Cello Concerto

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Jacqueline du Pré's brilliant career as one of the finest musicians that Britain has ever produced was cut tragically short by multiple sclerosis when she was 28, and she died in 1987 at the age of 41.

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The film begins with an account of her activities after the onset of her illness and includes, at her request, a re-edited version of the film which Nupen made with her in 1967.

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It outlines her childhood, her first steps in music, her studies with William Pleeth, her meteoric career and her meeting with and marriage to Daniel Barenboim.

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It ends with a performance of the Elgar cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim – a performance which has already passed into legend.

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Friday 3 October

Pinchas Zukerman: Here To Make Music

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Six years in the making, this Emmy-nominated film traces the development of one of the finest violin talents of the 20th century through the crucial years of transition from wunderkind to early maturity.

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It was one of the first of its kind, presenting audio material from the age of nine and film from the age of 19.

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The film also follows the growth of Zukerman's relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra which drew him into conducting for the first time, and caused quite a stir, as can be seen in the film.

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Friday 10 October

Itzhak Perlman: Virtuoso Violinist (I Know I Played Every Note)

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Shot over a period of three years, this film is an intimate account of the formative years in the life and career of one of the world's leading violinists.

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Itzhak Perlman fell in love with the sounds of the violin at the age of three-and-a-half, but contracted polio a few months later and was soon to learn that it would be impossible for him to pursue a high-level career as a violinist.

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Not only has he succeeded in doing what the world thought impossible, but he has done it on a level that few have matched.

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It is a heartening story of the triumph of talent, determination, character and tenacity over seemingly insurmountable odds, producing glorious results along the way.

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Friday 17 October

Vladimir Ashkenazy: The Vital Juices Are Russian

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A pioneering film which takes an intimate look at the life, talent and trials of one of the most quietly successful musicians of our time.

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It was shot at a crucial turning point in Ashkenazy's life and career when, after leaving the Soviet Union and living in London for five years, he and his Icelandic wife, Thorunn, decided to move to Iceland.

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It is also a closely observed account of one of the most demanding and rewarding of all professions and a lively reminder of a new kind of television music film which inspired a new audience for classical music.

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It was described by Ingmar Bergman on Swedish television as the best he had seen about a living musician.

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Friday 24 October

Evgeny Kissin: The Gift Of Music

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The rise to fame of young Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin has seldom been equalled in the classical music world.

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This film shows Kissin in preparation, interview, rehearsal and performance with several dazzling performances shot live on stage, in true concert conditions, where this artist is undoubtedly at his best.

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It contains footage from Kissin's memorable Â鶹ԼÅÄ Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1997, the first solo recital in the history of the Proms.

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It also includes sequences with Kissin's mentor from the age of six, Anna Pavlovna Kantor, who has become a member of the family and remains a guiding friend to this day.

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The music is by Liszt, Gluck, Haydn, Beethoven, Kissin, Schubert and Chopin, the composer for whom Kissin feels the closest affinity.

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Friday 31 October and Friday 7 November

Nathan Milstein: Master Of Invention (part one and two)

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This two part film – the second part of which receives it first UK broadcast here – follows the life and times of one of the finest performing musicians of the 20th century.

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Nathan Milstein's career spanned a remarkable 73 years, one of the longest in the history of music, though he scrupulously avoided publicity throughout.

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It took Nupen three years to persuade this most modest of musicians to make this two-part film, and it includes revealing interviews about his life, his career, his music and his friends, as well as extended sequences of live performance.

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Friday 14 November

Karim's Journey

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Receiving its first broadcast here, Nupen's latest award- winning film follows the progress of pianist, conductor and composer Karim Said over seven years, from the ages of 11 to 17.

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Born in Amman where he studied percussion and piano, Karim Said has been applauded by several established musicians, is a protégé of Daniel Barenboim's and has already won eight international prizes although he is still only 19 years old.

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The film was shot in Lithuania, Jordan, Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany and the UK with music by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Schubert, Mozart and Liszt, and has recently won a Special Jury Award at the Palermo Festival.

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Category: Factual & Arts TV; Â鶹ԼÅÄ Four
Date: 22.08.2008
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