BBC - Great Composers (1997) Part 4 Mahler

A landmark series that goes beyond the famous melodies and magnificent musical landscapes to explore the men and myths. Great Composers presents the lives and works of seven musical giants from the Baroque era to the twentieth century. It examines the backgrounds, influences and relationships that make these seven composers part of the very fabric of the history of western music. Each composer's life and work is presented through extensive performance sequences, and through interviews and comment from some of today's greatest artists and most respected authorities. Further insights are gained through the use of dramatization and specially-staged set pieces. Contributors to the series include Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Valery Gergiev, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Colin Davis, Cecilia Bartoli, Ton Koopman, Michael Tilson Thomas, Maxim Vengerov, Andras Schiff, Thomas Hampson, Vladimir Ahskenazy, Yevgeny Kissin, Jonathan Miller, The Lindsays, Simon Callow and many more.

Series Executive Producer Kriss Rusmanis ; A BBC/NVC Arts/Thirteen WNET Co-Production in Association with RAI Thematic Channels.

Part 4 Mahler

Mahler was scarcely recognized as a great composer until the middle of the 1960s, when his music started to make a massive impact. In 1991, thirty recordings of his symphonies were released in one month. This film explores Mahler's life his childhood, surrounded by tragedy and abuse; his driven adulthood, torn between life as a composer and conductor, and his passionate and pained love-life. This program examines his music, the supreme expression of philosophical enquiry in music, embracing religion, nihilism, humanism, the revolutionary and the mundane. Reconstructions, archive footage, radio interviews, artifacts, private scores, letters, contracts and sculptures are used, along with interviews with many prominent artists and writers. The documentary is set in Vienna, Budapest, Hamburg and the Czech Republic.

Produced and Directed by Kriss Rusmanis

Full Version Available Upon Request
Episode One Shown Here