1. August Rush
is a 2007 drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and
James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. Deciding to run away to New York City, musical prodigy Evan Taylor begins to unravel the mystery of who he is, all the while his mother begins searching for him and his father searching for her.
2. Amadeus
is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus (1979), the story is a variation of Alexandr Pushkin's play Mozart i Salieri (Моцарт и Сальери, 1830), in which the composer Antonio Salieri recognizes the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but thwarts him out of envy. The story is set in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half ofthe 18th century.
3. Beethoven lives upstairs
is a Canadian 1992 HBO Original Films TV movie directed by David Devine. Based on a vocal recording written and directed by Barbara Nichol, the film stars Illya Woloshyn as Christoph, a young boy who develops a friendship with composer Ludwig van Beethoven (Neil Munro), a boarder in the boy's parents' house. The film was shot in Prague in the Czech Republic and has been broadcast in over 100 countries in numerous languages and is used extensively in U.S. and Canadian elementary classrooms in music lessons.
4. Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions.
More suitable for adults
5. The Art of Piano –Great pianists of 20 th century (1999)
The Art of the Piano is a feature-length, 106-minute documentary that presents in refreshingly
straightforward fashion a portrait of 20th-century piano playing. The format is simple: short segments
on virtually all of the great pianists who have ever been captured on film, augmented by extracts from
interviews, sometimes with the pianists themselves, or with later conductors and musicians of
international stature, including specially filmed contributions from Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis,
Evgeny Kissin, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, and Tamás Vásáry. The narration by John Tusa offers an
overview of piano music through the century, though the heart of the film is the great quantity of rare
archive historic footage, with extracts from performances by Gould, Horowitz, Paderwski, Rachmaninoff,
Richter, Rubinstein, and many others.
6. The Art of Violin
As also seen on PBS, this is a film written and directed by French violinist and film maker Bruno
Monsaingeon who also filmed the Goldberg Variations performed by Glenn Gould. Compared to
pianists and singers, the number of violinists who have made a unique impact are very limited. This film
covered footages of about 20 of the greatest violinists of the 20th Century including Heifetz, Oistrakh,
Milstein, and Menuhin. Other great players such as Elman, Francescatti, Kreisler, stern, Szigeti and
Ysaye are also included.
7. Jacqueline du Pre in portrait (1996) ( this is an incredible film, but mostly for adults)
Jacqueline du Pré and the Elgar Cello Concerto, a documentary by award-winning film maker
Christopher Nupen, explores the artistic personality of one of the finest performing musicians of the
twentieth century, with the recurring theme of her special relationship with the Elgar’s melancholy
Cello Concerto. The film begins with an account of what she did after the onset of her illness when
she could no longer perform in public.
8. Remembering Jacqueline du Pre (Film by Christopher Nupen)
This video can be an inspiration to all people, not just musicians. It is a dedication to Jacqueline Du
Pre, the world famous cellist. It is a documentary but it is certainly not a documentary that you need
only watch once- I have seen it over and over again only to be more moved and inspired every time.
Ballet on video:
1. Stravinsky and the ballets russes (for older children)
2. Tchaikovsky’s ballets in film:
---Swan Lake ( with Makarova and Dowell)
---Nutcracker ( with Baryshnikov)
---Sleeping beauty ( with Rudolph Nureyev and Petipa, Paris Opera Ballet)
3. Romeo and Juliet ( by Prokofiev with Nureyev)
4. Carmen ( ballet)
5. Cinderella ( by Royal or Bolshoi ballet)