Midway through August….not that you’d know it looking outside of my window in Brighton as the rain pours down in buckets…. The centre of the city is dotted with small floods…Ah, summer time in England. It is nice, however, to have a pause in the schedule and finally get back to giving everyone an update. It really has been toooooo long. My, how we have been busy. Yesterday we finished CONCERTO – A BEETHOVEN JOURNEY. On and off in production for four years it is a 92’ film about one of the world’s great pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and his dedication over those past few years to playing essentially just Beethoven, above all the 5 piano concertos. As soon as I heard the suggestion that this ‘journey’ was going to happen I asked him for permission to film from start to finish. Little did I know just how successful the touring would be and how extraordinary the reviews of the music would be. He and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra became the absolute must-have tickets…. Thus to be on-stage and behind-stage with them has been a privilege and a thrill. The film though is a re-evaluation of Beethoven and I think we offer a fresh and revealing new biography of arguably the greatest composer that has ever lived. As ever, making the film is one thing, distributing another. Our first release is the UK cinemas on September 7th…yes, that’s 3 weeks! Now, far be it from me to blow my own trumpet (well, maybe sometimes..) but here’s a review we just had from the highly esteemed Gramophone Magazine:
One of the highlights of the BBC Proms so far has been Leif Ove Andsnes’s Beethoven piano concerto cycle with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and if you’re suffering withdrawal symptoms from music-making of such freshness and imagination, there’s a treat in store on the horizon. Phil Grabsky’s film ‘Concerto: A Beethoven Journey’ looks at the five piano concertos in collaboration with Andsnes and the Mahler CO’s three-year series of concerts and recordings (for Sony Classical), 'The Beethoven Journey'.Andsnes proves a wonderful guide to these five extraordinary works, speaking with humility, wisdom and insight about what they mean to him and the challenges they present to the performer. He is disarmingly frank about his relationship with the works when in his twenties and how he came to terms with them. He explains what made him determined to perform them over the course of a few years, and record them. Footage from the concerts in Prague, which Sony Classical used for its CD releases, forms the backbone of the film. We also see Andsnes and Gustavo Dudamel talking about the works prior to performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For lovers of Beethoven’s music, admirers of Leif Ove Andsnes – and his fan base has probably grown exponentially in the past few weeks – or simply lovers of high-class music documentaries, ‘Concerto’ demands to be seen. It is a wonderfully uplifting and rewarding experience. ‘I knew this exclusive journey with Leif Ove would allow me access to great performance,’ said Grabsky, ‘but I had no idea it would be this great. These became the best reviewed concerts of the past few years and I was on stage to record them. Even more importantly the music and Leif Ove's intelligent and accessible insight creates a staggeringly interesting new biography of arguably the greatest composer of all time.’ The film will be screened throughout the UK on September 7 – for details of participating cinemas visit Seventh Art’s website.
Not bad! The release internationally will happen between now and next Spring. We also had two wonderful preview screenings in Norway, high up in the Arctic Circle in a city called Bodø. Leif Ove was there with the MCO playing the full 5 concertos and we screened the film twice to a sell-out crowd in between concerts. It was wonderful to be in Norway with Norwegians for the premiere of a film about Norway’s number one artist. More than that, it was a great excuse to travel up from Bergen and right up the western edge of this staggeringly beautiful country. I can’t recommend it enough.
To be honest, I needed the break. The EXHIBITION ON SCREEN mega-project is all-consuming and it was pretty exhausting right up to the US screening on 14th July (Bastille Day) of our last film in the Season – The Impressionists and the Man who Made Them. We are really pleased with the 5 films this season – and in some countries they are still screening them (New Zealand, Korea, Brazil to name but three). I’d always want (and need) a bigger audience worldwide but it’s growing and 40 countries is pretty impressive. It looks like Van Gogh (with in excess of 100,000 seats sold) will be our best but Impressionists and Rembrandt may run it a close second. Matisse deserved to do better but being first in the season (after a bit too long of a break from the end of Season 1) didn’t help. Girl with a Pearl Earring was some people’s favourite film but maybe was hindered a little by confusion from the Scarlett Johansson film of the same name.
Season three is underway….and there are some exciting films coming this Autumn/Fall and into 2016. I’ve been directing a film about Renoir that we are calling ‘Renoir – the Unknown Artist’. It’s based on the extraordinary collection of Renoirs at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. We are about two-thirds of the way through and my understanding and appreciation of Renoir has really increased. The artwork will look super on the big screen but there’s a fascinating story that we unveil as we go. My colleague David Bickerstaff is working on two films – Goya (based on the forthcoming exhibition at the National Gallery) and Painting the Modern Garden - Monet to Matisse (based on next year’s exhibition at the Royal Academy). Both films are looking stunning. Plus, plus. Plus..plenty more in the pipeline for next year and beyond.
From time to time I even get the chance to go to galleries for fun! I was in New York a few days ago and wandered (the very busy – who says no-one is interested in art!!) Metropolitan Museum of Art. Simply staggering – especially if you let yourself get lost and end up in galleries you’ve never seen before. I certainly left with lots of film ideas – I’d love for example to make a film about Islamic Art and also American (pre-20th century) art. I’ll never run out of subjects, that’s for sure.
One final thing: do keep an eye on our Facebook site for EXHIBITION ON SCREEN – we post a lot of art stories. They are really interesting. And do feel free to leave comments : we respond to them all.
