A Mozart Celebration DVD

Advantages: Period drama, the music, the acting, the direction
Disadvantages: Not a true rendition

..., Sir Neville Marriner, and all the main actors. It covers aspects including the scriptwriting, the choice of music, casting, and the problems involved in filming in Communist Czechoslovakia with half the crew and extras working for the Secret Police. Conclusion Mozart's music obviously adds much of the movie's impact, and I'd strongly recommend that you watch this movie on DVD with a good sound system. The music alone makes this DVD worth purchasing. An enthralling period drama celebrating the life and music of Mozart. The film deserved it’s eight Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham, Best Screenplay Adaptation for Peter Shaffer, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up and Best Sound. I watched the original film when it was released and was suitably impressed. I was unsure what... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent performances in a perfect setting
Disadvantages: Very minor quibbles

...information about both artists in the DVD booklet, but not much - something which I'll be coming back to later... But here is some more info: http://www.harrisonparrott.com/artists/GilShaham.asp http://www.orlishaha m.com/ DVD: This DVD was filmed as part of the celebration year in Austria during 2006 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. One of the most unique things about it is that rather than choose a concert hall for the performance, the artists are seen playing in a room in one of Vienna's many beautiful palaces - the Palais Daun-Kinsky - which adds a tremendous amount of grandeur and atmosphere to the whole viewer experience and sets the music perfectly into the context of when it was composed. Here's some pictures of the palace - http://www.wien.gv.at/english/administration/civilstatus/wedding/kinsky.htm l... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Period drama, the music, the acting, the direction
Disadvantages: Not a true rendition

..., Sir Neville Marriner, and all the main actors. It covers aspects including the scriptwriting, the choice of music, casting, and the problems involved in filming in Communist Czechoslovakia with half the crew and extras working for the Secret Police. Conclusion Mozart's music obviously adds much of the movie's impact, and I'd strongly recommend that you watch this movie on DVD with a good sound system. The music alone makes this DVD worth purchasing. An enthralling period drama celebrating the life and music of Mozart. The film deserved it’s eight Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham, Best Screenplay Adaptation for Peter Shaffer, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up and Best Sound. I watched the original film when it was released and was suitably impressed. I was unsure what... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: superb musical score, 8 academy awards, well acted
Disadvantages: None

...I loved this film. It is a gripping drama about the life and works of Mozart. If you are a Mozart fan then you will love this film. It is a great celebration of the talented composers music. Set in 1781 it follows the life of the composor from childhood to his death. A memorable soundtrack accompanies the film throughout and the acting quality is superb Released in 1984 this film won eight academy awards including best picture, best actor and best director and it is easy to see how. Rated as a PG this is one film not to be missed. The DVD release is a little thin on 'extras' but it does have a Music-Only option so you can enjoy the compositions of this great man without the need to watch the film.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: based on ane excellent play
Disadvantages: Mozart's laugh

...that a true genuis has arrived. Salieri, in the play, might have coped with Mozart had the young composer not been rude, coarse, arrogant, trivial and generally unlikebale. Salieri is a polite and cultured man, offended by Mozart's physicallity, his lewd humour and his botty smacking wife. Salieri had considered himself a religious man, had strived to be good, but in response to Mozart, he finds himself at odds with god. There are some stunning powerful speeches in which Salieri protests against his fate - having the desire to celebrate god through music, but not having been given the skill, and then cursed to hear that skill in Mozart, who seems to lack all of the finer sensibilities. Having abandoneed his moral path, Salieri seduces his pupil, a young opera singer (having failed to seduce Mozart's wife) and then sets about destroying Mozart... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful