| | |  | RUSSIA | Home » » Tchaikovsky | | | | | | | Description: | | This two-part biodrama, comprised of "Tchaikovsky: The Creation of Genius" and "Tchaikovsky: Fortune and Tragedy," offers a stunning account of the Russian composer's life. Ed Stoppard plays the enigmatic artist, who enters into a disastrous marriage only to fruitfully pursue his homosexual desires. The film includes sterling performances by the Maryinsky Young Philharmonic; Charles Hazlewood conducts. Alice Glover, Sam Marks co-star. 116 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English; documentary. | | | Features: | |
• Conductor Charles HAZLEWOOD travels to Russia in search of the real Tchaikovsky, an elusive figure who's long been painted as a hypersensitive neurotic and whose musical reputation as suffered. Hazlewood brings his insight as a conductor to delve into the secrets of Tchaikovsky's greatness.Running Time: 116 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 8839290142
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Alice Glover, William Mannering, Sam Marks, Ed Stoppard | | Director:
| Matthew Whiteman | | Format:
| Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| BBC Worldwide | | Run Time:
| 116 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 27, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 17 reviews |
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65 of 69 found the following review helpful:
 The Extra is Better Than the Main Show!!!Jun 13, 2008
By Richard Masloski
Despite the fact that this BBC documentary/drama is extremely watchable, it is also extremely flawed. Great life, great music - how can one go wrong? Well, our guide through Russia and Tchaikovsky's life - conductor Charles Hazelwood - takes one stroll too many, pops up a bit too often with many banal commentaries and if I had to watch him conduct one more time, I probably would have had to put the DVD on pause and take a break. (Come to think of it, in the recreations of Tchaikovsky's life, why are there no scenes of Ed Stoppard as the famous composer conducting? Maybe Hazelwood did not want to share his beloved baton? As to Ed Stoppard, his performance - unlike Tchaikovsky's music - is decidedly one-note.) Anyway, too much Hazelwood, no mention of T's extended family, no info as to his wife's eventual sad fate, no account of T's early suicide attempt (hauntingly captured in Ken Russell's biopic),not a wisper of "The Nutcracker" and no exploration of the mystery of how T actually died. The filmed flashback takes his brother's account as gospel, even though his recollections are historically suspect (as pointed out in this disc's terrific extra). As to the filmed flashbacks, they are extremely reminiscent of scenes from Ken Russell's "The Music Lovers" - as another reviewer here perfectly pointed out. The movie with Richard Chamberlain (despite some historical inaccuracies and compressions) is actually a much better take on Tchaikovsky than is this BBC production. The Russell film had it all: great performances, more insight into the creative process, full exploration of T's tortured marriage and unique relationship with his widowed patron, and a great shot of a living, exhilerated, conducing T in springtime turning in one cut into a frozen statue atop a pedestal in the snow, a cut which speaks volumes about the nature of fame. It is a cut as awesome in its way as the jump from Moonwatcher's skyward flung bone to a spaceship in moon orbit in "2001." Plus...the movie didn't have Hazelwood strolling in and out and hamming it up for the cameras whilst conducting. Now, what I much preferred on the disc in question was the extra! The 1993 Omnibus "Who Killed Tchaikovsky" was much more interesting and illuminating than the more current BBC production, the main feast on this disc. The ending shot at Tchaikovsky's grave in the "extra" is, in itself, worth the price of the DVD. It is absolutely moving and utterly Tchaikovsky-esque and left me shaken. I won't reveal what this closing shot of the extra is, simply know that it, like the scene referred to earlier in the Russell film, silently (wordlessly) speaks volumes through visuals and music. So, in summation, the extra on the disc is better than the main feature and "The Music Lovers" is likewise much better. One final note: in the Hazelwood production, none of the interviewed Russian music students and dancers and singers has anything very interesting or original to say about Tchaikovsky - although in the one scene shot in a bar, you can see that the musicians do love their beer! I got thirsty myself watching that scene! But not thirsty for a cholera-tainted glass of water.
30 of 31 found the following review helpful:
 Superb BBC productionJun 06, 2008
By frankenberry
This is a two-hour BBC production from 2007 which originally aired in two parts. The DVD presents both parts separately as originally broadcast in the UK.
Mixing a documentary approach, dramatic recreations featuring actors, and conductor Charles Hazlewood conducting a young Russian orchestra performing Tchaikovsky in modern-day, this BBC production flows seamlessly and will immerse any viewer looking for historical coverage of Tchaikovsky, as well as other viewers simply looking for a dramatic tale of an historical legend. All the important aspects of Tchaikovsky's life and music are touched on, and the music is always given its time to breathe and enthrall. The only small quibble is that the sequences showing host-narrator Hazlewood conducting the modern orchestra are somewhat laughable. His conducting just comes off as a bit ridiculous looking (and I'm trying to be nice here) - otherwise, Hazlewood's host-narration segments are exemplary.
I'm a huge fan of Ken Russell's 1970 film THE MUSIC LOVERS starring Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson (an incredible film that has many sequences recreated in this BBC production) and only hope that someday MGM will finally release a widescreen DVD edition of that film (although I've only been waiting 10 years already so I'm not holding my breath). If you haven't seen the film, seek out a dub off the old 2.35:1 widescreen laserdisc version as the old VHS is horribly pan-and-scanned and ruins all the compositions. The film may not get every historical detail correct and has been criticized for that, but it's still an amazing visual and musical tour-de-force that delivers the complete essence of Tchaikovsky and his music. It's an absolute masterpiece of filmmaking.
In the meantime, this BBC production brings back some of that magic and Tchaikovsky's music continues to be timeless. This BBC production is definitely superb. The DVD also includes a bonus 50-minute BBC production from 1993 called "Who Killed Tchaikovsky?" which tries to answer just that. It's interesting, and does include clips from Ken Russell's "THE MUSIC LOVERS" (but in pan-and-scan!), but overall this earlier BBC expose is kind of cheap and unpolished, especially compared to the main and primary BBC production on the DVD. So this bonus is simply an extra, so no complaining there.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
A RequeimOct 31, 2009
By G. Froelich
"Bleuangel"
A fantastic journey through the best of the best of this composer, ending with his death just weeks after his last composition which became his requiem. At the height of his brilliance he was a world wide known "rock star" of his time, but a star without any of the freedoms we know today. His nanny said he was fragile as glass; he also appears as brittle as glass, and each thing that he wrote, each deed he did for society's sake, each love he lost -- all put a crack in that brittle glass of this great man. I dare say even those unschooled in symphony, will still recognize the music in this movie. An all time great biography, coupled with a musical journey. I loved it.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Largely unwatchableNov 19, 2010
By Sarakani
As a Tchaikovsky fan who has studied his life, I found this film revolting. I think it makes too much of his private life and what it does reveal of it, does not do it justice. The way his private life is dealt with makes everything else in this rather intellectual film somewhat redundant. There is too much overinterpretation perhaps of his personality and his theoretical suicide that is now largely discredited. Tchaikovsky was a more joyful being than the brooding, rather silent male model employed here. You'll find The Music Lovers by Ken Russell and some rather stiff communists biopics of him available on YouTube more informative and entertaining. Perhaps Poliakov/f as a film producer could have done a better job.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
great story, great actingMar 06, 2010
By ahusberg
"mfingers"
The acting is great in this story of Tchaikovsky, inter-mingled with examples of his work and stories about his life. There are two pianists who give examples of his composing genius and the Russian youth orchestra is a knock-out. It is great having a known conductor doing the story. BBC is always wonderful.
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