Award-winning filmmaker Phil Grabsky and Seventh Art Productions, the makers of 2006’s arthouse hit In Search of Mozart, are back in theaters with a new feature-length biographical film about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, In Search of Beethoven.
“An endearingly human biography….every bit as wonderful as In Search of Mozart,” writes John van Rhein, Chicago Tribune.
In Search of Beethoven will be showing at Emmanuel Episcopal Parish Hall of Orcas Island on Friday Feb. 12, with wine and food at 6 p.m. and the show at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students. In Search of Mozart was shown previously at the hall, on Dec. 4.
As with the Mozart film, In Search of Beethoven takes a comprehensive look at the composer’s life through historical research and Beethoven’s biography and letters, but with the emphasis always on the performance – and interpretation – of Beethoven’s music. From his early piano concertos through the “Moonlight Sonata,” “Für Elise, “and the immortal notes of the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, Beethoven’s music remains as beloved, popular, and relevant as any work of art has ever been.
In Search of Beethoven brings together the world’s leading performers and experts on Beethoven to reveal new insights into this celebrated composer.
The lineup of performers and interviewees includes Jonathan Biss, Louis Langrée, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Roger Norrington, Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Frans Brüggen, Ronald Brautigam, Hélène Grimaud, Vadim Repin, Janine Jansen, Paul Lewis, Lars Vogt, and Emanuel Ax, among others. The film is narrated by Juliet Stevenson and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s David Dawson.
A passionate portrait of a romantic soul and a magnificent voyage through some of the greatest music ever created, In Search of Beethoven is a film for music lovers and cineastes alike. The LA Times calls the film “splendid…a revelation to the uninitiated and a joy to music lovers,” and according to Time Out London, the film comprises “an extraordinary collection of musicians, conductors and musicologists.”
For more information, contact Doug or Ida Rae McDonald at 376-2352.
