Product Description

'One of the finest movies about a great musician I've ever seen' The Observer.

In Search of Beethoven offers a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of the great composer. Over 65 performances by the world's finest musicians were recorded and 100 interviews conducted in the making of this beautifully crafted film. It delves beneath the mythical image of the tortured, cantankerous genius to search for the real Ludwig van Beethoven.

2 DVD set. Extras:

• in the edit room
• complete movements
• deleted scenes
• interview with the director

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6154 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-09-28
• Rating: Exempt
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Classical, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 139 minutes

Synopsis
Juliet Stevenson (TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY) narrates this documentary account of the life of composer Ludwig von Beethoven, covering all the major highlights from his birth in 1770 through his death in 1827. Writer-director Phil Grabsky opts for an impressionistic approach, building much of the film around the basic foundational material of interviews and studio performances of the great man's work by artists including Ronald Brautigam, Emanuel Ax, and The Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Grabsky also offsets Stevenson's traditional chronicle of Beethoven's life with letters from the composer, read by David Dawson, that unveil an intense and almost belligerent side to the musical giant, leavened with offbeat humour.

Review
A hit...it was so terrific I wept --Mail on Sunday

Review
In Search of Beethoven is fit for a maestroAs good as Grabsky's In Search of Mozart which also took the usual cliches about the man and gently tore them apart --Evening Standard

Customer Reviews

An inspiring look at a wonderful man
Congratulations to Phil Grabsky and all those involved in putting together this excellent 2-disc DVD set. I first saw the more than 2-hour documentary at a cinema and was enthralled. Since then I have been waiting with great anticipation for the release of the DVD. Now that it's here I'm not disappointed. Doing justice to such a complex and fascinating genius as Beethoven is no easy task, but this documentary achieves it admirably. We are left feeling that, despite a few forgivable foibles, Beethoven was truly a wonderful human being whose legacy is an unrivaled body of music that spans the spectrum of emotions. For me the most memorable part in the film, where music, musician and film-maker work sublimely is around the 88th minute. Hélène Grimaud is playing the slow movement of the 5th Piano Concerto. It brought tears to my eyes. On Disc 2 there are interesting and useful extras, including an interview with Phil Grabsky and full movements of works shown in part during the main feature. As a result of seeing the documentary I'm sure you will be inspired to listen again to your old Beethoven CDs (or vinyl), or to buy some new ones. Cheers, Richard.

Superb
Saw this in a mini cinema. I was enthralled for the entire film, which i believe is almost 2 hours long. The film portrays Beethoven's character very well with a fitting mix of tragic, comic, outrageous and inspiring scenes. Contempary sources such as letters to and from Beethoven are coupled with interviews with modern day top-level conducters and performers to give a well rounded look at this extraordinary man from many perspectives. And of course, the best thing of all is that throughout there are many snippets of Beethoven's music, and in my book thats a good enough reason in itself to watch a film.

Highly recommended.

An intelligent look at Beethoven the man and musician
I saw, over 2 days, both In Search of Mozart & this DVD, In Search of Beethoven. Both are excellent productions, and of the two I think this is perhaps the best, because it is a pretty balanced look at a very difficult - and in many ways a very unfortunate - man, and offers a very decent sample of his music placed in the context of his life.
I haven't see the "extras" DVD, but since I've heard Phil Grabsky talk about the difficulties of producing things like this, including spending 6 months editing down from umpteen hours to less than 2, I think they would be pretty interesting too.