Admittedly, Franz Schubert's biography offers little in the way of great adventures, love affairs, glamour and long journeys. Jörg Handstein – in what is now his tenth audio biography in the successful BR-KLASSIK series - devotes himself here to a composer with an altogether quieter life. Schubert's story still remains an exciting one: no famous composer before him had ever chosen to lead a life in which his musical activities were supported solely by a private circle of friends. This did not succeed without resistance, setbacks, great disappointments and personal tragedies. Schubert's unhappiness in love, his terrible illness, and probably also his early death were, ultimately, the price he paid for this unconventional life. He bravely stood his ground, however, countering an age of cultural and political paralysis with his great and bold art. In this audio biography, Schubert’s creative path can be followed in around 130 musical examples – something impossible in any biography in book form. Alongside Udo Wachtveitl (narrator) and Robert Stadlober (Schubert), many other voices bring the composer’s world and his circle of friends to life. Schubert’s conventional image is encumbered by two clichés. On the one hand, we have the warm-hearted, sentimental man, known to his friends familiarly as Schwammerl (“mushroom”), churning out endless songs and beautiful melodies, and on the other, the incessantly tortured outsider, with music primarily conveying a sense of “brokenness” and “alienation”. This audio biography allows Schubert to speak for himself as often as possible. Despite the sparse documentation, a far more nuanced picture emerges – and the well-known Austrian actor and rock musician Robert Stadlober finds richly contrasting colors for it. We discover a different Schubert here: single-minded, argumentative, philosophical, reflective, and with a wide range of interests. That is also what makes his life story so exciting.
This comprehensive 3 DVD set, starring Anton Lesser, Daniel Radcliffe, Ian McKellan, Maggie Smith, explores the life, times and work of Charles Dickens, the great Victoria author. The full content of this box set demonstrates how much Dickens drew upon his own experiences when writing fiction. DVD 1 - Uncovering the Real Dickens - the great author's fascinating biography, presented by Peter Ackroyd is an innovative mix of documentary and dramatic reconstruction which vividly portrays his extraordinary life. Resembling the plot of one of his novels, this lavish literary production sets out to blur the lines between Dickens' fiction and his own life. The cast includes Anton Lesser, Prunella Scales and Timothy West (176 minutes).DVD 2 - David Copperfield - the classic 1999 BBC version of the most autobiographical of Dickens novels staring a star cast Bob Hoskins, Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellan, Zoe Wanamaker and Nicolas Lyndurst. Three hours of classic BBC drama. (186 minutes). DVD 3 - a Christmas Carol - at his house, a group of friends and relatives listen to Dickens as he tells his Christmas story. Anton Lesser as Dickens, brings this classic ghost story to life in a masterly and haunting way. (97 minutes).
Shostakovich: Doppeltes Spiel / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
BR Klassik
CD
$19.98$39.99Save 50%Jan 07, 2022
For the first time, the successful series of BR-KLASSIK audio biographies is devoting itself to a 20th-century composer: Dmitri Shostakovich. His symphonies are still highlights in the concert hall, and his fate has inspired great novels. But what do we really know about his life? He liked to play his cards close to his chest – and had good reason to do so... Dmitri Shostakovich himself claimed that his life was “rather grey and colorless". In reality, it was the most exciting composer's life of the 20th century. Revolution and civil war, Stalin's murderous terror, then the Second World War, the "thaw" under Khrushchev and finally Brezhnev's brutalist socialism: the whole tragic history of the Soviet Union runs like a thread through his work. As a functionary who seemed to be loyal to the party line, he played along - but his music spoke against the regime and in favor of its victims and of the freedom of art. "This is a game that can end badly," Stalin threatened, probably in person. Shostakovich was thus obliged to fight his own fears as well. He was playing a double game - and knew it was dangerous. This audio biography draws on many sources, some of them still little-known in Germany. The result is a comprehensive, colorful and detailed picture of the composer’s life, and contains several surprises – also with regard to his private life, which should not pale behind the historical panorama. Like every great composer, Shostakovich had his crises and affairs, his great sufferings and small joys.
Handel: Die Macht der Musik - The Power of Music (In German)
BR Klassik
CD
$34.99Oct 21, 2022
Handel's journey from Halle via Hamburg, Rome and Hanover to London is the story of an unprecedented ascent: from the auxiliary organist to the child of the High Aristocracy, from the courtly conductor to the free-lancing artist in the most exciting cultural metropolis of Europe. At the age of 26, he was a European celebrity, claiming to be a leading opera composer in the hard-fought music market of London, through his activities for the royal house and his church music, which also played a political role in the Anglican state religion: the king was the head of the church and The glorification of God served at the same time to represent its temporal power. The dramaturgically directed effect of Handel's mighty splendor could and cannot escape. In Jörg Handsteins audiobiography "The Power of Music" in nine chapters and on a total of 3 albums you can hear about the life of Handel, his most famous and most important compositions are heard, which are closely interwoven with the very exciting biography. The numerous musical examples are from well-known interpreters, choirs and orchestras - all of them important baroque specialists. A lively, music-rich portrait of Handel and his time - strictly according to the original sources, but always alive and narrated and inspired.
