Wonderful to find this documentary today. Although I have listened to and loved Bartok's music for most of my life I had never seen any part of his two ballets danced before. It makes a big difference. Now I am going watch part 2.
'Bela Bartok was perhaps the last European composer bred out of the earth, rather than out of glass, brick and steel.' [2:10] - although there may be many others but they haven't been discovered.
Wow! A documentary on the great Bartok....from A&E?? I’m baffled by that (one would expect PBS or similar) but so very grateful - thank you for sharing 👏👏👏
I'm so glad I recorded it too. I had a teacher in grad school that taught a Bartok class and I let him borrow it. He said it almost brought him to tears. Glad you enjoyed!
Chris DeChiara Thanks a lot. So are you similar to me in that you have way too many Bartok recordings? Not that there’s actually such a thing as too much - not to an obsessive collector like myself anyhow 😉 For example the string quartets alone I have (at least) 15 different complete sets... the only other composer that tops that is Shostakovich, I have 22 different & complete interpretations of his quartets. The repertoire doesn’t get any better than Bela and Dmitri 😌
Omg... how can they put that music in the background, i can't focus on what the narrator tells.. i'm not a proffesional english speaker, so i find that's a bad election to put as background music. It's too powerful to lower it to that level.
I think the editors assumed most people watching the documentary were already familiar with Bartok's music, and a documentary of a composer without the composers work seems wrong.
Wonderful to find this documentary today. Although I have listened to and loved Bartok's music for most of my life I had never seen any part of his two ballets danced before. It makes a big difference. Now I am going watch part 2.
i have been listening to Bartok all my life. It is oxygen to my very soul.
💚💗💚
My right ear is loving this
Great documentary, the ones from the 60s to the 90's atre somehow better, less flashy, and great footage. particularly the ballet scenes, amazing!
Bartok is a musical genius of the first rank. Beautiful music.
'Bela Bartok was perhaps the last European composer bred out of the earth, rather than out of glass, brick and steel.' [2:10]
- although there may be many others but they haven't been discovered.
I think it’s so cool that Stanley Kubrick used his music in the shining. Music for percussion and Celeste the third movement adagio. Incredible music.
Agreed!
Wow! A documentary on the great Bartok....from A&E?? I’m baffled by that (one would expect PBS or similar) but so very grateful - thank you for sharing 👏👏👏
I'm so glad I recorded it too. I had a teacher in grad school that taught a Bartok class and I let him borrow it. He said it almost brought him to tears. Glad you enjoyed!
Chris DeChiara Thanks a lot. So are you similar to me in that you have way too many Bartok recordings? Not that there’s actually such a thing as too much - not to an obsessive collector like myself anyhow 😉 For example the string quartets alone I have (at least) 15 different complete sets... the only other composer that tops that is Shostakovich, I have 22 different & complete interpretations of his quartets. The repertoire doesn’t get any better than Bela and Dmitri 😌
@@TzadikTheManic That's an impressive collection! I don't come close to that. I don't even know how I got lucky to catch that film but glad I did!:)
A&E used to be pretty classy...
Don't listen with headphones: all the sound is channeled to the right side. Sigh.
There seems to be a large part of the story missing, between Miraculous Mandarin and emigration to the US.
It's been a while since I've watched. Maybe someone needs to do a true documentary soon:)
Omg... how can they put that music in the background, i can't focus on what the narrator tells.. i'm not a proffesional english speaker, so i find that's a bad election to put as background music. It's too powerful to lower it to that level.
I think the editors assumed most people watching the documentary were already familiar with Bartok's music, and a documentary of a composer without the composers work seems wrong.
Bartok, for me, was every bit as electric and potent as Stravinsky.