Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18517 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
• 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

Inspirational and Educational
This documentary may not be to everyone's liking, but the chances are that as you're reading this, it will be to yours. An absolute must have for any serious violinist especially, but for people interested in music at any level too, this DVD shows some of the best talents of the modern day eulogising and analysing some of the great violinists from the twentieth centuries - performers with personalities that shone through their playing, rather than being stifled by it.

The enthusiasm of some of the narrators - especially Hilary Hahn and Isaac Perlman - is infectious, and their comments are insightful, logical and understandable. Having such clear commentary from contemporary violinists around footage of the greatest talents playing the greatest works, then you can see why this disc, and this documentary, becomes essential viewing.

The clarity of the content of this disc and the enthusiasm with which the narrators speak always motivates me to practice, and helps focus my practice too. The value of being very analytical with every aspect of playing is shown, with every factor involved with playing the violin being a parameter to be improved and altered to really change the music and bring it to life, rather than just practicing until the notes are clean and phrases developed. Such details would also be useful to other performers, and as I said earlier, should be of interest to anyone interested in music at any level.

Great music, legendary talents, famous performers, insightful and enthusiastic analysis on one fantastic, inspirational and educational disc. If it's not clear from the plethora of positive adjectives in the last sentence, my advice is "Get this disc".

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 Perlman, 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 Perlman.

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 see for all interested in seeing the old greats
For all those who have forgotten what real violin violin playing sounds like compared with today's perfect but uninsparational players this will be a joy to watch. The sequence of various greats playing the Mendelssohn violin concerto is very well crafted and most interresting. The Bach Double concerto with Mehnuin and David Oistrakh was absolutley fantastic despite the short extract. Commentry from Hilary Hahn, Perlman and Glitis is interesting but I felt it would have been more so if they had shown extracts. Child prodigies such as a young Ricci are also jaw dropping A thoroughbly enjoable watch.