FOCUS ON WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSERS
Dmitri Shostakovich, A Man of Many Faces
(56 min; 2015; English)
Director: Reiner E. Moritz
Narrator: John Hurt
Pianist: Daniil Trifonov
Conductor, violinist: Rudolf Barshai
Documentary on Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the 20th century's most brilliant and fascinating composers. With British actor John Hurt as narrator, the director, Reiner Moritz examines Shostakovich's life, focusing in on two events in particular: the 1936 banning of his highly successful opera Lady Mabeth of the Mtsensk District, and the composer's labelling as a "formalist and cosmopolitan" in 1948. Despite such setbacks, Shostakovich went on to pursue a resilient and fulfilling career that testifies to the power of art in the face of a dictatorial terror regime. In telling his story, Mortiz weaves together rare footage of the composer himself talking and performing his Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings with captivating performances of his 15 symphonies and 6 concertos by Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra and filmed excerpts of Lady Macbeth and his quartets.
