Our next event: Shabbat 18.4.15 at 11:00am
Yoel Shemesh-Gold - piano; Yedidia Schwarz - violin; Daniel Schwarz - cello
Astor Piazzolla: "Oblivion" ( J. Bragato), Garden Proms Dec 2o14 - Tzur Hadassah
We recommend:
Ensemble cast (fr. left): Mark Ivanir, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener
A Late Quartet contains no car chases or explosions. There are no girls in bikinis carrying big guns. Aliens do not invade.
The film offers first-rate, mostly middle-aged actors in an intelligent screenplay that’s decently crafted, covers interesting but unfamiliar ground and has a worthwhile central idea. A Late Quartet dares us to care whether a string quartet stays together or not after 25 years.
It’s aimed at a mature audience — the kind who flocked to see The King’s Speech, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Quartet.
Christopher Walken plays an elderly cellist who’s aware he’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease. When he tells the other members, they react in different ways.
His wife (the ever-reliable Catherine Keener) realises this would be a mistake, and wonders if they should disband the quartet — especially when she finds out her husband has had a one-night stand with a gorgeous young flamenco dancer he met while out jogging.
To undermine the group further, the couple’s highly musical daughter (played by the beautiful, soon-to-be-a-star Imogen Poots) develops a crush on the first violinist. Needless to say, her parents are unimpressed when he succumbs to her attractions.
As a pianist, I’m always irked when actors don’t even try to play the correct notes on pianos when they’re miming. Here, to my untutored eye as a non-violinist, the actors seem to have taken the trouble to prepare.
Their music may be played by the Brentano Quartet but the actors’ fingering and bowing are apparently extraordinarily accurate. Bravo.
The acting is pretty faultless, too. It makes a pleasant change to see Walken — usually typecast in sinister cameos — underplaying and thinking his way through a leading role.
Keener is as sympathetic yet spiky as only she can be, while the formidably talented Hoffman never descends to the shallow, award-hunting bombast that has diminished his recent movies. Ivanir is a revelation, and Poots — a blue-eyed English rose reminiscent of a young Susannah York — does her best with the least well-written role.
She succeeds in making her somewhat shallow character touchingly naive, which is no mean feat, as some scenes descend into soapy histrionics and bedroom farce through no fault of the actors.
The Israeli-American writer-director Yaron Zilberman is new to drama, and his inexperience shows in some awkward shifts of tone. He and co-writer Seth Grossman don’t have great ears for dialogue.
An obvious glory of the film is its music. Beethoven’s No.14, Op.131 is one of his most profound late quartets, and its colours illuminate the drama that develops, right up to the climactic concert.
The film does two other things miraculously well. First, it takes us behind the scenes and convincingly shows us how a musical ensemble works — or fails to work. Anyone who has performed music with other people — even in a rock group — will recognise themselves in these characters. Secondly, A Late Quartet cleverly dramatises its central message, which is that some combinations of people are much greater than they could ever be on their own or in another group.
This is an anti-individualistic film, a picture that prizes co-operation and self-sacrifice over personal ambition. That’s a rarity in cinema — and virtually unknown in a Hollywood product.
A Late Quartet may have a brief life in cinemas, for it has little appeal to the young. But even if it never reaches a cinema near you, my advice is to watch out for it when it is released on DVD.
High-quality movies aimed at grown-ups remain rarities — and this is one of the best.
Quartet - a film about getting older
At Beecham House, music is always in the air. The residents of this very special retirement home include ageing opera singers Wilf (Billy Connolly), Reggie (Tom Courtenay) and Cissy (Pauline Collins), who once toured together as part of a famous quartet. Rehearsals are in progress for the annual concert, which will raise crucial funds to keep Beecham House afloat. But a new arrival is about to disrupt the delicate harmony of the home.
Highly strung diva Jean (Maggie Smith) was once the fourth member of the quartet, but after a romance with Reggie which went disastrously wrong, she has been estranged from the others for years. As old grudges threaten to undermine past glories, and theatrical temperaments play havoc with the rehearsal schedule, it becomes apparent that having four of the finest singers in English operatic history under one roof offers no guarantee that the show will go on.
Quartet offers a joyous and gently comical take on getting older. The film's director, screen legend Dustin Hoffman, explains his take on the topic: 'Someone once commented that 'old age ain't no fun', but I've always believed that your soul can expand.' Sure enough, we see that the characters in Quartet still have plenty to experience and to learn.
No matter what stage of life we're at, we'll glimpse themes which resonate with all of us through the journeys of Reggie, Jean, Wilf and Cissy. The film entertainingly explores love and loss, life and hope, and fun and fulfilment. As such, it presents the perfect opportunity for conversations around these ideas in our church and community groups.
The Damaris Trust, an educational charity which produces resources to accompany the latest feature films, is providing free videos and a leader's guide for Quartet's DVD release. Available to download from www.damaris.org/quartet, this 'Knowing the Score' guide explores the film's themes in relation to its featured music: classical opera, light opera, and music hall. The stories behind the music help throw a fascinating new light on the film, making for an enjoyable and thought-provoking activity for people to explore how music illuminates life.
Though suitable for people of all faiths and none, the 'Knowing the Score' guide touches on topics which are close to the heart of the Christian message. Reggie and Jean's tale of romantic conflict offers a chance to think about forgiveness and reconciliation, while Cissy's childlike attitude raises questions about hope.
Wilf's fun-loving approach to life leads us to think about community, purpose, and where we go to look for our fulfilment. For people who might not be used to talking about spiritual questions like these, the film could be a fun and engaging place to start.
Hans Christian Andersen said that 'Where words fail, music speaks' - and Quartet certainly has something to say to all of us.
Featured this week:
Astor Piazzolla
Living in Argentina, Vicente Nonino Piazzolla and Asuta Manetti (both of Italian descent) welcomed their son Astor Piazzolla into this world in the year of 1921. While he was born in Argentina, Astor spent most of his early years of life in New York City. This is where his love of music began to bloom. Enjoying Jazz and the music of J.S. Bach, his love and knowledge of this art became his passion. His father found a bandoneon in a New York pawnshop and purchased it for his young son. This seemed to be one of the most significant steps in molding the musician that Astor Piazzolla became. In addition to his music, he also excelled in multiple languages including French, English, Italian and Spanish.
Returning to Argentina in 1937, he found tango to be the reigning style of music. Continuing his love of playing the bandoneon, he and his various ensembles performed in a multitude of nightclubs throughout Argentina. Quickly becoming known as the best bandoneon player in Buenos Aires, Astor Piazzolla expanded his musical knowledge by studying under Alberto Ginastera. Covering a number of composers like Stravinsky, Bartok and Ravel, he began to take from their excellence when composing his own music. That was until he met Nadia Boulanger. She quickly noticed his own magic and encouraged him to focus on his own style and talent leaving the others to theirs. In 1955, he organized the Octeto Buenos Aires and began playing his own style of tango.
Astor Piazzolla is well known in the music world for his contributions to the tango. He took elements from jazz and classical music, added them to tango and created Nuevo tango. As an accomplished composer and bandoneon player, he commonly performed his compositions adding electronic and acoustic sounds creating his unique form of music. While this new form of the tango was widely accepted in the United States and Europe, Argentina in general showed resistance to this change. Among some of his most notable pieces are Adios Nonino (written in 1959 in memory of his father), Libertango (written in 1974 symbolizing his liberation from the traditional tango), Oblivion as well as Milonga Del Angel. In 1990 he suffered a thrombotic event that eventually led to his death in Buenos Aires in 1992.
Simon Callow's Classical Destinations (The BBC series on DVD)
Classical Destinations I - Trailer Classical Destinations II - Trailer
The beautiful places that inspired our great composers
Why did Respighi love Rome’s fountains so much? What spurred Handel to write his famous Water Music? And what is the story behind Shostakovich’s agonised Leningrad Symphony?
British actor Simon Callow explores the beautiful places where the romantic composers lived and worked.
Visiting towns and regions steeped with history, the screen star mixes travel, music and philosophy while profiling romantic and baroque composers such as Chopin, Elgar, Liszt and Rachmaninov.
Walking in their footsteps, sitting by their favourite fountains and visiting their former homes, Simon discovers the energy and beauty of the places where they lived out their often tumultuous lives, revealing the emotions, motivations and personalities behind some of the most enduring pieces of classical music.
Accompanied by the seasoned travellers of The Australian Chamber Orchestra who perform in each episode, Simon’s journey takes him to France, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany and Serbia.
Episode 1 – London and Halle: George Frederic Handel
Simon Callow travels to Handel’s birthplace of Halle, Germany, he tells of Handel’s Water Music on the banks of the Thames and we visit Westminster Abbey where the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform two movements from Handel’s Water Music.
Episode 2 – London and Dublin: George Frederic Handel
Simon takes us through Handel’s house in London where he wrote Messiah before taking a side trip to explore the premiere of the famous oratorio in Dublin. We hear of his charitable work with the Foundling Hospital in London before heading to Westminster Abbey where the great man is buried.
Episode 3 – Malvern, Worcester and Aldeburgh: Sir Edward Elgar & Benjamin Britten
The English countryside surrounding Worcester, Malvern and the Malvern Hills is where we explore the music of Sir Edward Elgar. We also visit the Royal Albert Hall before a sojourn to the beachside town of Aldeburgh, home to Benjamin Britten and the inspiration to many of his great compositions.
Episode 4 - Paris: Claude Debussy & Maurice Ravel
The great city of light and love is the perfect backdrop to the life, music and times of Claude Debussy. Simon shows us this sensational city before travelling west to the historic village of Montfort l’Amaury where the pioneering French composer Maurice Ravel lived for the last sixteen years of his life.
Episode 5 - Moscow and Switzerland: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Simon commences this captivating episode in the heart of Moscow, where Sergei Rachmaninoff spent his life overlooking the Kremlin and Red Square. We stop for a performance inside the Kremlin before travelling to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland where Rachmaninoff wrote his masterpiece Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
Episode 6 - Munich and Garmisch: Richard Strauss & Richard Wagner
The great German city of Munich with its famous Opera Houses provides the perfect destination to showcase Richard Strauss, Munich’s favourite son. We finish in Garmisch and the beautiful Bavarian Alps where Strauss lived the latter part of his life and where he is buried.
Episode 7 – Budapest: Franz Liszt, Bella Bartok & Zoltan Kodaly
The picturesque city of Budapest is the home to three famous Hungarian composers, Liszt, Bartok and Kodaly. Simon takes you on a tour through this magnificent city showcasing the memorable legacy and music of Liszt.
Episode 8 - Rome and Naples: Rossini & Respighi
Discover the famous Italian cities of Rome and Naples as we explore the lives of Rossini and Respighi. The historic city of Rome with its majestic ruins is contrasted with the seaside port city of Naples. Featured works performed are Rossini’s The Silken Ladder and Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances.
Episode 9 - Warsaw & Krakow: Frederic Chopin & Karl Szymanowski
The intriguing city of Warsaw was home to Poland’s greatest piano player and composer, Frederic Chopin. We contrast the stark city of Warsaw with the beautiful country retreats where Chopin was born and baptized as a child, before travelling to the southern city of Krakow, a city full of history and charm.
Episode 10 - London, Thaxted and Cheltenham: Gustav Holst & Ralph Vaughan Williams
Once again Simon returns to London and the English countryside to explore the lives of two great English composers, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In this picture postcard of the traditional English countryside we also travel to the delightful village of Thaxted where Holst spent many years.
Episode 11 - Paris and Versailles: George Bizet & Saint Saens
We again feature Paris in all its beauty and splendour as we explore the lives of Bizet and Saint Saens. Simon unfolds this episode within the Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris undertaking a comprehensive tour of this magnificent iconic landmark.
Episode 12 - Madrid: Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albeniz & Stephan Mokranjac
The music of Albeniz and de Falla bring the Spanish city of Madrid to life before we travel to Belgrade to discover the life and music of Stephan Mokranjac a hero of the Serbian people and composer of nationalistic music that is at the heart of the Serbian culture.
Episode 13 - Moscow: Dimitri Shostakovich & Sergei Prokofiev
- What finer way to finish the series than by returning to Moscow where Simon unfolds the music and lives of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. We visit the Kremlin for a choral performance within the historic Cathedral of the Archangel.