Movies: Humphrey Burton

Documentary on conductor Herbert van Karajan, focusing on his early adoption of audio and video recording technology and his impetus to make use of it to preserve his musical legacy for future generations....

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army....

In this documentary, award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke explores the creation of the Metropolitan Opera’s storied home of the last five decades. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills, and recent interviews, The Opera House looks at an im...

TV movie version of the famous Prince Igor opera...

A behind-the-scenes look at the Aldeburgh Festival and the opening by The Queen of the new concert hall at Snape....

This 1976 BBC documentary sees Ken Campbell (and his Roadshow) investigate the origins and the development of the traditional British Christmas pantomime....

This is the historic concert performance of the final operatic version of Bernstein's Candide. It was recorded on December 13, 1989 at the Barbican Centre, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with a stellar cas...

During a break in rehearsals with the Israel Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein sat down at the piano to film an introduction to the poetry and music of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde....

Leonard Bernstein's 1952 opera is a biting satire on the emptiness of materialist values and the false promise of suburban comforts. This production, conducted by the composer himself, presents a live-action cast performing on an animated set. Inspir...

Plácido Domingo, Sarah Brightman, Helmut Lotti and Riccardo Cocciante interpret traditional, European and American songs in Vienna, Austria. Vienna Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Steven Mercurio....

...

Alban Berg's black, satirical opera is one of the masterpieces of the 20th Century. It charts the rise and fall of a femme fatale "created to make trouble", from life as a society hostess to prostitution and eventual bloody death at the hands of Jack...

Short documentary originally featured on Aquarius containing interviews, concert footage, and general information about Elton John and his career up to 1971. Featuring Elton John working on an early version of Tiny Dancer before it had been recorded...

Based on Nicholas Wright's 2002 play exploring the life of the young Vincent Van Gogh during a stay in Brixton, London in 1873. In the play, which is largely fictional, he falls in love with an English widow....

Jean-Marie Villegier's modern interpretation of Handel's "Rodelinda" – filmed live at the world-renowned Glyndebourne Opera House in the United Kingdom, sets the timeless tale of jealousy and treachery in the black-and-white world of the silent-movie...

...

A documentary which shows, in great detail, the making of the 1985 Bernstein-conducted recording of the entire score of "West Side Story", featuring operatic stars....

Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Six Suites for Solo Cello in the early 1720's. Unlike the Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, composed around the same time, there is no extant autograph manuscript. Only four copies exist, of which one made b...

A partly dramatised account of the life of classical composer Sir Edward Elgar. An episode of the BBC arts series Monitor....

In a pair of passionate performances, American composer Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 4 and Andante Cantabile, then leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Russian composer's Symphony no. 5. Rus...