Massenet: His Life and Music (DVD)
Directed by Scott Murray, narrated by Richard Bonynge and filmed in London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Montreux and Sydney, this 55-minute documentary film on the life and music of Jules Massenet – the most popular and successful composer in Europe of his age – features Dame Joan Sutherland, Thomas Hampson, Rosamund Illing, Rodney Milnes and over a dozen interviews with world authorities on Massenet.
Massenet’s operas are so wonderfully crafted, the surface is so brilliant and so seductive that people don’t actually bother to look at what’s underneath that surface to see the extraordinary psychological penetration in his portrayal of his characters.
Massenet: His Life and Music is rich in atmosphere, filmed in Massenet’s chateau in Egreville, near Fontainebleau. We meet the composer’s descendent, Anne Bessand-Massenet, and see his bedroom, the piano he composed on, and many hitherto unseen photos.
We visit, in Montreux, the home of the late Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, the great Massenet champion Richard Bonynge, who talk of their love for Massenet’s music. The revered singer Hugues Cuenod, in Vevey, discusses the operas’ unfailing perfection in setting the French language.
In Rome, where Massenet studied, and London we meet Massenet’s biographer Dr James Harding and the Massenet specialist Rodney Milnes. Distinguished pianist Graham Johnson shares his insights into the music.
In Brussels we see the Théâtre de La Monnaie, where Massenet had his first success, and in Paris we hear from famous French vocal coach Janine Reis, an expert in the Massenet style. We also see Richard Bonynge and Australian soprano Rosamund Illing rehearsing Massenet arias at the piano in Sydney.
The soundtrack is a luscious recording featuring the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. We also see excerpts from Manon with Edita Gruberova and the Vienna Philharmonic, and Cendrillon, with Frederica von Stade.
Interviewees: Richard Bonynge AC CBE, Jean Christophe Branger, John Cox, Hugues Cuenod, Dr Annegret Fauser, Thomas Hampson, Dr James Harding, Rosamund Illing, Graham Johnson, Noël Lee, Madame Anne Bessand-Massenet, Rodney Milnes, Andrew Porter, Janine Reiss, Manuel Rosenthal, Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE, Dr Roland van der Hoeven.
“A cogent argument for Massenet’s enduring popularity” Opera Now (UK)
“One of the finest DVDs I’ve seen… beautifully photographed and intelligently crafted” The Bulletin (Australia)
