The life and music of Franz Schubert, one of the most lyrical composers in musical history, is featured in these two award-winning Christopher Nupen films, The Trout and The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow, each of which has its own distinct character.
Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Jacqueline du Pré, Pinchas Zukerman, Zubin Mehta, Andreas Schmidt, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Michael Sanderling, Antje Weithaas
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus / Wolfgang Sawallisch
Features
The Trout is an exuberant explosion of youthful enjoyment in music: first from Schubert himself, who wrote his famous Trout quintet when he was 22 years old, and then from five young artists of the highest rank. They pick up the spirit of Schubert’s music magnificently, both in preparation and rehearsal, and in their 1969 performance of the work, which has become one of the most remembered ever given.
The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow is a film which sets out to bring the viewer closer, not to the details of Schubert’s life, but to the spirit of what he was trying to express with what he called his creative gift and with which he tried “to brighten the world”. The film begins with the funeral of Beethoven, at which Schubert was a torch-bearer, His story is told almost entirely in music written in the twenty months that remained to him after that date, together with quotations from Schubert’s letters, diaries and the words that he chose to set in some of his songs.
Includes personal introductions by Christopher Nupen and Jacqueline du Pré and features the legendary 1969 performance of The Trout with Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Jacqueline du Pré, Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta.
Reviews
‘I doubt if the sheer fun of music-making has ever been better conveyed…’
The Guardian
'Christopher Nupen’s classic film of one extraordinary event in 1969 is here paired with his portrait of Schubert - very different, yet equally compelling. The Trout… manages to preserve the atmosphere of a magical day, portraying the youthful performers - now all legends in their own way - brimming over with fun both on and off stage. …Nupen’s inspired filming gets right to the heart of the performance. The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow also seeks the essence of its subject… The music is fabulously performed…'
BBC Music Magazine
‘Nupen’s award-winning 1969 film The Trout combines documentary with live concert (a complete performance of Schubert’s masterpiece). It remains a classic of its kind, all the more priceless now as a record of the exuberant youthful talents of Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Jacqueline du Pré, Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta, then all on the brink of international stardom. Poignant too, of course, knowing how soon after this concert the career of Nupen’s beloved cellist du Pré would end. The second film, made in 1994, is a portrait of Schubert’s life told through the music he wrote in the 20 months between Beethoven’s funeral, at which he was a torch-bearer, and his own death, together with quotations from his letters and diaries. It’s a classily produced, leisurely paced visual and musical treat with contributions from pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy and baritone Andreas Schmidt.’
Classic fM
‘In 1969, five young musicians got together in London for a performance of Schubert's Trout Quintet that is still deeply engraved in the memory of many music-lovers. The players were Daniel Baremboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline du Pré and Zubin Mehta. Except for du Pré, who died tragically young, these players are still at the top of the musical world, and that performance would still be fascinating in view of the players' later careers, but it is also a superb performance, spontaneous, technically assured, playful and energetic, a joyful communication among the players and with the audience. Fortunately, documentary filmmaker Christopher Nupen was on hand to record not only the performance but the interactions leading up to it. The film is a classic (indeed the classic music documentary) and it is good to have it on DVD. The disc is filled out with another Nupen documentary on the tragic but creatively amazing last months of Schubert's life.’
redludwig.com
‘…an exuberant explosion of youthful enjoyment in music first of all from Schubert who wrote the Trout aged 22 and secondly from the five young musicians at the start of their glittering careers. … Both films complement each other and this DVD is a must-have for any classical music lover.’
Audience Today
'This well presented and eminently watchable DVD offers two music documentaries directed by the hugely successful classical music film-maker Christopher Nupen. Regularly repeated on TV (and rightfully so) The Trout is his most popular work and one of the best-selling classical films ever made. … The music-making is superb, a unique meeting of five of the genre’s finest talents, but what makes the film so special is the warmth, humour, energy and insight of the musicians. This is serious classical music brought joyfully alive with a stirring intimacy that makes it accessible to everyone. Perfectly complementing the main feature is Nupen’s award-winning feature-length film about Schubert, The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow.’
HMV Choice
Awards
THE TROUT winner of the TZ-ROSE, Munich, 1973
THE GREATEST LOVE AND THE GREATEST SORROW winner of the Czech Crystal Award, Prague, 1994
