Search - In Search of Mozart on DVD

Pricey but Fantastic

James T. Wheeler | TUCSON, AZ United States | 05/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some will look at the price of this DVD and simply say it's too much. Besides, they know all they care to know about Mozart's sad life. Plus, they've seen the 1984 movie, "Amadeus," and how could anything top that? Finally, the music is over 200 years old. Isn't it passe at this time?

To pursue these and other questions I would urge any music lover to take the plunge and buy this DVD. You won't regret the decision. Sure, you'll keep wondering why it all happened. Why such genius was taken out of the world at the young age of 35? Why didn't he have people around him to take care of him? Why didn't more people nurture the musical genius that touches us so long after his death?

What you do come away with is an appreciation of what Mozart did during his short, 35 years on Earth. How a tiny, sickly child composed masterpieces at the age of five. How Mozart could move his little fingers with such dexterity that almost defy medical science. How one human being could compose one masterpiece after another and finally count over 600 master works to his credit.

The DVD contains some of the most sublime music ever conceived by mortal man. (Of course, some people insist that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not a mortal man, but that's another subject altogether). Samples from the piano concerti, #5, #17, #20, #24, and #27 are there, along with parts of the violin concerti, the clarinet concerto, the flute concerto, and various sonatas and chamber pieces. Excerpts from seven of Mozart's operas are also included, including "The Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," and "The Magic Flute." The DVD claims to have 80 musical pieces represented and I would not doubt it.

A "making of" feature is included which was really very good. In it, the director, Phil Grabsky, reveals that he took two full years to produce this recording and did the vast bulk of filming and editing himself. This must have been a gargantuan task and one for which he knows can easily be criticized. For example, he says he omitted the famous horn concerto from the DVD because it didn't fit in the flow and he was trying to get the movie down to around 2 hours. A critic might say that he might have inserted a snippet of this wonderful piece of music to further show how Mozart really was a master of all instruments in the orchestra at that time.

Grabsky was asked, as he'd asked others, what was his favorite of Mozart's compositions. He vaguely mentions Figaro, Don Giovanni, and the Magic Flute, but then tries to wriggle off the hook. He said that was what happened when he interviewed such people as Jonathan Miller, Roger Norrington, Charles Mackerras, et al. Grabsky does say that one of the musicians said there is something about the harmonic combinations Mozart uses that makes his work so advanced and superior to other composers of his time. But I think we're owed a little more than that. For me a list of favorites starts with the piano concerti. And to be more specific, #20 and #24, are the most powerful symphonic pieces Mozart ever composed. I can't hear them today without some sort of emotional reaction. I don't know if it's sadness, anger, joy, or all these things wrapped up in one. There's simply something other-worldly about this music which transcends time and space. For the uninitiated, get Rudolf Buchbinder's DVD's with these and the other major piano concerti. Then, you might even buy the other Mozart piano concerti on DVD, as I've done. After seeing and hearing, you'll know what I mean.

Phil Grabsky also stresses the point, that Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father, was not the money-grubbing parent who simply exploited his two gifted children in order to make money. Much to the contrary, Leopold virtually sacrificed his own life for the betterment of mankind in nurturing Wolfgang's genius. Leopold's goal was to educate Wolfgang throughout Europe with the various musical styles and methods of the day. Rather than the villain, as most would have us believe, Leopold was actually the single most important force in making Wolfgang grow and develop. The end result is that we can appreciate his sounds so far in the future. Similarly, Wofgang's wife, Constanze, is not shown to us as the bawdy young thing that appeared in the famous movie. Without her care and devotion to Mozart's memory, declares Mr. Grabsky, his compositions would not have been preserved for us. For that we owe Constanze great praise.

There is the obligatory bathroom humor we saw in "Amadeus," but it's not overdone, thank heavens. Such humor mostly takes the form of readings from Mozart's letters to his parents and other family members. Apparently, it wasn't unusual for people to talk about these things in public or in writing. After all, there was no indoor plumbing and sanitary conditions were largely wishful thinking at this time.

Narrated mainly by the British actress Juliet Stevenson, with Samuel West (as the voice of Mozart), and others, the film moves smoothly along from one European city to another. Many of the buildings that Mozart occupied and performed in are still extant, even after the world wars. We see and hear the fabulous music composed by this man and the development that occurred as he grew older and even more proficient with this skills.

Sadly, the documentary ends with Mozart succumbing to rheumatic fever and kidney failure at the age of 35. This may or may not be the true story. There was program on the Discovery Health Network, a few years ago, part of the "Medical Mysteries" series. It made a convincing case that Mozart actually died from eating tainted pork. He had all the symptoms of someone who had contracted Trichinosis and I believe that was the real cause of Mozart's death.

Summing up, if you are a Mozart fan, you must get this DVD. If you're not, get it and you will be one for life.

--Jim Wheeler, Tucson, Arizona


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