Biopics of Classical Composers
biographical movies about the lives of composers of classical music ... research started in 2007 ... work in progress ... any suggestions welcome
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsEdmund GwennEsmond KnightJessie MatthewsThe story of Johann Strauss the elder and younger.Johann Strauss I (German: Johann Baptist Strauß, Johann Strauss (Vater); also Johann Baptist Strauss, Johann Strauss, Sr., the Elder, the Father; March 14, 1804 – September 25, 1849) was an Austrian Romantic composer. Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899), also known as Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, the Son (German: Sohn), Johann Baptist Strauss, was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsHarry BaurAnnie DucauxJany HoltLyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantical hero, an accursed artist.Ludwig van Beethoven (17 December 1770[1] – 26 March 1827) was a German composer.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierVictor FlemingJosef von SternbergStarsLuise RainerFernand GraveyMiliza KorjusIn 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II (Fernand Gravey) - 'Jonahi' to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered proper society music. After he is fired from his clerical bank job because of his preoccupation with composing, he decides to follow his passion and form an orchestra. After some famed opera singers, including Carla Donner (Miliza Korjus), hear his music, they expose Johani's music to the masses, to royalty and to music publisher Julius Hofbauer (Hugh Herbert). As such, Johani becomes the toast of Vienna. With his new found musical fame, Johani's life, which includes his work in the European Revolutions, changes. He becomes torn for his love for his loving and faithful wife Poldi Vogelhuber (Luise Rainer) and his more emotionally passionate but somewhat destructive love for Carla Donner, who herself is involved with Count Anton Hohenfried (Lionel Atwill).Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899), also known as Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, the Son (German: Sohn), Johann Baptist Strauss, was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas.
- DirectorReinhold SchünzelStarsAlan CurtisIlona MasseyBilly GilbertThe romantic story of Franz Schubert 's fight for recognition of his music. Fleeing Austria, he arouses passion strongly akin to mother love in a beautiful bucolic girl, who loves him to much to sacrifice genius on the altar of marriage.Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsRenée Saint-CyrLise DelamareJean-Louis BarraultBiographical romance about the great composer Hector Berlioz, someone whom the French, during their WWII occupation by the Nazis, could look back proudly on.Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem).
- DirectorNorman WalkerStarsWilfrid LawsonElizabeth AllanMalcolm KeenA lavish period drama produced in 1942 by Lord Rank's G.H.W. Productions Ltd.George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German, later British Baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsPaul MuniMerle OberonCornel WildeBiography of Frederic Chopin.Frédéric François Chopin (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and a virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano.
- DirectorBernard KnowlesStarsStewart GrangerPhyllis CalvertJean KentBiography of the famous--and notorious--Italian violinist Nicolo Paganini.Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (27 October 1782 – 27 May 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsKatharine HepburnPaul HenreidRobert WalkerComposer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers her support. Also helping the Schumanns is their lifelong friend, composer Johannes Brahms.Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896)
Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856)
Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) - DirectorAleksander FordStarsCzeslaw WollejkoZbigniew LobodzinskiJózef NieweglowskiA story of the formative years in Chopin's life between 1825 and 1831, a time of social unrest throughout Europe, of rising nationalism, and of cries for reform. Chopin, an outstanding student in music, and inflamed with the revolutionary spirit in his native Poland, gives a number of concerts which are praised by the aristocracy. His fame growing, he sets out on tour and, while in Vienna, hears of the November uprising in Warsaw. He makes an attempt to return and join the fight but his carriage breaks down, and his is brought back ill. Warned by his doctor, he settles down to a quieter life in Paris, and continues his work.Frédéric François Chopin (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and a virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano.
- DirectorCarmine GalloneStarsGabriele FerzettiMärta TorénNadia GrayThis biographical story of Puccini (Gabriele Ferzetti) spans his creative life from early student days to the height of success, including his early flop Madame Butterfly and his incomplete Turandot. Along the way he encounters three women who change his life, including a sexy, beautiful singer (Nadia Gray) whom he drops for a small town girl (Märta Torén), and a servant girl who commits suicide over him.Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas are among the important operas played as standards.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsYvonne De CarloCarlos ThompsonRita GamThe life and career of German composer Richard Wagner.Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas").
- DirectorErnst MarischkaStarsKarlheinz BöhmRudolf SchockMagda SchneiderThe young composer Franz Schubert tries to gain a foothold in Vienna.Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer.
- DirectorCharles VidorGeorge CukorStarsDirk BogardeCapucineGeneviève PageThe romantic story of Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt (Sir Dirk Bogarde), whose scandalous love affair forced him to abandon his adoring audiences.Franz Liszt (Hungarian Liszt Ferencz, in modern usage Liszt Ferenc (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, philanthropist and Franciscan tertiary.
- DirectorVladimir GorikkerStarsPyotr GlebovSergei LemeshevAleksandr PirogovFilm version of the Rimsky Korsakov opera from the Pushkin story.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791)
- DirectorKen RussellStarsMax AdrianMaureen PryorChristopher GableTraces last 5 years of the life of Frederick Delius through the eyes of the young composer Eric FenbyFrederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH (29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsGustav LeonhardtChristiane LangPaolo CarliniThe life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRichard ChamberlainGlenda JacksonMax AdrianPiano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexuality by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy.Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (25 April/7 May 1840 – 25 October/6 November 1893), often anglicized as Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was a Russian composer of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire
- DirectorIgor TalankinStarsInnokentiy SmoktunovskiyAntonina ShuranovaKirill LavrovThe life and work of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky is shown through his relationship with aristocratic art connoisseur Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck.Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (25 April/7 May 1840 – 25 October/6 November 1893), often anglicized as Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was a Russian composer of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsFlorence HendersonToralv MaurstadChristina SchollinBased on the life of Norway's greatest composer Edvard Grieg, and filmed in Norway where he lived. The soundtrack is all Edvard Grieg's music with added lyrics.Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist.
- StarsStuart WilsonAnne StallybrassBarbara FerrisA seven-part mini-series produced in England about Vienna's Strauss family in the 19th-century. Members of the London Symphony Orchestra provided the music.Johann Strauss I Sr., the Elder, the Father; (March 14, 1804 – September 25, 1849)
Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899), also known as Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, the Son (German: Sohn)
Eduard Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916)
Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) - DirectorKen RussellStarsRobert PowellGeorgina HaleLee MontagueComposer Gustav Mahler's (Robert Powell) life, told in a series of flashbacks as he and his wife (Georgina Hale) discuss their failing marriage during a train journey.Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austrian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreySara KestelmanPaul NicholasComposer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, philanthropist and Franciscan tertiary.
- StarsRonald PickupCarla FracciGiampiero AlbertiniGiuseppe Verdi was born in 1813 and lived until 1901, his life spanning nearly a century of political turmoil and considerable personal turmoil. This 1982 biographical television miniseries, as seen on PBS's Great Performances, dramatizes the life of this classic Italian composer known for operas including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Aida and his Requiem.Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer of operas.
- StarsRichard BurtonVanessa RedgraveMiguel Herz-KestranekA huge panorama of Richard Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria, to the final triumph at Bayreuth. Richard Wagner's radical musical and political ideas, his German nationalism, and even his anti-Semitism are set in the context of his life and times.Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas").