Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25915 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-04-09
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Classical, Colour, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A documentary film by Bruno Monsaingeon devoted to the 20th century's greatest violinists, The Art of Violin really cannot be faulted. The same, incidentally, can also be said of the similar volumes which cover the piano and singing, so there's never been a better time to collect a personal audio-visual archive of some wonderful historical performers. The added dimension provided by the painstakingly collected film material (here featuring no fewer than 20 outstanding soloists) is of course of exceptional value when observing violin technique, and the diversity of approaches presented here in loving detail is in itself a subject for endless comparison. The material mixes archive performance footage, much of which one might never have dreamed existed, with interviews and documentary commentary. However, rather than turn the project into a museum piece, Monsaingeon includes contributions from contemporary figures such as Perlman and, shrewdly, Hilary Hahn--not that there'd be any doubt of the huge relevance of the material to any contemporary player or lover of the repertoire. An absolute must. --Roger Thomas

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 5
French\Russian
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono English French Russian
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Weblink
English\French\German\Italian\Spanish

Synopsis
THE ART OF VIOLIN dramatically explores the heights to which violin playing has been taken over the 20th century. Acclaimed director Bruno Monsaigeon--who also helmed a series about the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould--brings his exciting visual sense to this program, which uses advanced video technology to restore rare film clips of some of the century's great violin players, including David Oistrakh and Fritz Kreisler. Commentary is provided by luminaries like Hilary Hahn and Yehudi Menuhin.

Customer Reviews

glorious stuff
I could write a very long and detailed review of these DVDs, listing the amazing segments of archive footage of the very great players represented here. There are some particular highlights, but suffice to say that everything is worth seeing, the commentary, with the excellent contributions from concert virtuosi, in particular the very engaging Ivry Gitlis, fiddle on lap ready as a tool to demonstrate what he says, are wonderful, and it's hard to imagine that this kind of historical survey of violin playing could be better done. The story is triumphant in places - Heifetz, Milstein (some amusing informal footage here), Kreisler, Francescatti doing a wonderful 'Ronde des Lutins' and talking engagingly about his love of gardining - wistful (Ferras) or even tragic (Rabin) in others, but always compelling. It is absolutely indispensible for connoisseurs of classical violin playing, and I just wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

Absorbing, fascinating and a must for all violinists
I have watched this DVD so many times I have lost count. Each time I discover something new about the technique and approach of each of the featured legendary violinists. The comparison of various passages played by different performers is an excellent feature, but what stands out in this brilliant film is the finely scripted commentary and in particular the intelligence with which Perlmann, Ivry Gitlis and others assess their fellow performers.

There is a wealth of rare footage which alone is worth buying this superb DVD for. It doesn't matter that the sound quality (inevitably) doesn't match current technology...the sheer magic of watching footage of violin legends is enough.

I only wish there was a sequel to this outstanding film following the emergence of the new school of fiddle playing post Perlmann.

In summary, I found this film to be the most absorbing documentary I have ever seen about music making, let alone violin playing and it will therefore appeal to anyone with a discerning view of the art of performing.

Outstanding and highly recommended.

A must for violin players
This was interesting to watch from the violin players point of view, to see the technicalities of playing and the speed was most facinating, also seeing the amount of sounds you can make this small instrument make was nice.