Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Political midget, musical giant, June 8, 1999
This review is from: David Oistrakh: Artist of the People [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Monsaingeon's Oistrakh film is indeed puzzling. Likewise the companion Richter tape, the musical contents of this TV-derived programme presents the viewer with stunning performances (excerpts only, though), both of chamber and of symphonic music, that amply secure Oistrakh's place amongst the really key violinists of the century. Yet more so than in the Richter tape, Monsaingeon also opts for stressing the man's lack of fortitude before the USSR's communist bosses, picturing him as a weak character who hid behind his music-making and looked the other way whilst enjoying the favourable status his condition as "Artist of the People of the USSR" gave him during much of the Stalin reign, one of the darkest periods of European history, and those of his successors, much like what has amply been discussed regarding similar stances in musicians like Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm or Richard Strauss during the nazi regime in Germany, or of other artists who cynically profited from a favoured position in totalitarian states in order to advance in their life (Dalí's flirtations with the Franco regime in Spain comes to mind, as well as Respighi's with the Mussolini Government and Karajan's with Hitler's). Oistrakh's lack of political courage, or perhaps his failure to defect to the West as commented by Menuhin in one of the programme's interviews, may well be deservedly criticisable, as well as his meek acceptance of the exploitation of which he was the subject by his government, be it economical (as the lion's share of his income from tours to the West was snatched from him by the Soviet authorities), political (as a sample of the Soviet regime's purported superiority in catering to the spiritual needs of its citizens) or as a propaganda vehicle (as in one of the film's initial sequences, probably one of the corniest ever filmed anywhere, the crème de la crème of soviet string players gather in an early Technicolour-washed strings-only adaptation of one of Rachmaninov's préludes from his Op.23), but I'd say that Monsaingeon's exaggerate concentration on that sad facet of this giant of a musician's personality ultimaltely proves the weak spot of the film. David Oistrakh may have been something of a midget politically speaking, but when he died in an Amsterdam hotel in 1974 the world lost a giant of a musician, and it is precisely his musical legacy what in the end solidly keeps him in a privileged place our memory and not anything else.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
* * * 1/2 Monsaingeon rambles, but Oistrakh is fascinating nonetheless, November 1, 2006
This documentary highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of Bruno Monsaingeon. The filmmmaker has the ability to find some amazingly rare archival footage of his subjects--I think for his Richter documentary he tracked down every frame available of the pianist. But his storytelling is often undisciplined and wanders. While this work isn't nearly as sprawling as his epic Richter bio, it still tends to be a bit out of focus, in my opinion. Rather than really talk much about Oistrakh as an artist--his technique, interpretations, ideas, etc.,--it instead spends most of its time dealing with how difficult it was for a Soviet artist to thrive in an oppressive regime. It's interesting material, but I couldn't help feeling that the same exact story could have been told about Rostropovich, Richter, Mravinsky, Kagan, Temirkanov, Gutman, etc. A better title for this DVD might have been "It's Tough To Be An Artist in the USSR."
That isn't to say it's a bad film or you shouldn't watch it. It just felt undisciplined and a little wide of the mark. There's an early bit where two neighbors where Oistrakh used to live argue over who bought him his country house. It's interesting, but Monsaingeon never contextualizes it--it's just presented as two people arguing. This is just one example of how the film, and most of M's films, can often feel like merely a hodge-podge of clips and interviews strung together, interesting in themselves but ultimately not organized into a larger whole by the filmmaker.
In short, why is Oistrakh special? Why do we care about him so much? The film never addresses that.
The interviews are fascinating, however. Now that the iron curtain has been lifted we have a clearer view than before of what former Soviet artists had to go through--a subject that seems to interest Monsaingeon. Rosdestvensky relates how when Oistrakh died, he was abroad but was prevented from staying and conducting memorial concerts for his comrade because his arbitrary 90-day period he could be out of the country was up. You can see he still feels pain and anger over this act.
If you live in North America, this disc, unfortunately, will only work if you have a region-free DVD player. (If you're not sure if you have a region-free DVD player, you almost certainly don't.) And don't even think about playing it in your computer, unless you have the proper hack. (Again, if you're not sure, you don't have it, and even if it plays it will then "lock" your machine onto the new region and you will be unable to play North America DVDs after that. It will not warn you about this; it will just do it.) For some reason most of Monsaingeon's work is not available on region 1 DVD. That's a shame. Overall I recommend this, if you have the right equipment to view it. If not, you may want to search out a VHS version.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Has high moments, wonderful performances, July 3, 2001
This review is from: David Oistrakh: Artist of the People [VHS] (VHS Tape)
In the face of power, the tyranny of a corrupt regime, what is a musician to do when his life is dependent upon it for survival, It is far to facile for Yehudi Menuhin to fault Oistrakh's lack of courage in the face of the Stalinist/Zhadnov Kultura regime, Menuhin sitting comfortably in his posh London flat,what does he know of Oistrakh's struggles,nothing. Yet Menuhin had brokered Oistrakh's appearance in England, a coup that he would have informed the press of the Soviet tyranny had they not allowed him out of Mother Russia. This other installment by Bruce Monsaindeon is not as interesting as the Richter film, there the vintage footage was breathtaking spanning Richter's entire career. Was it the KGB who followed him with a camera?,with such intimate situations,even funerals,tours, and film appearances. Here in the Oistrakh there are also great moments, as now older with jowls and a "grosse bauch" mid section, the ultimate power of his playing, here the excerpt is the Cadenza in the Violin Concerto in A minor, of friend Dmitri Shostakovich. There is also vintage humiliating like performaces from the Thirties Oistrakh playing in one of these Russian Stalinist Odes to the Leader,with many Harps and Flowers, the spectacle of the Dialectic. But Oistrakh's powerful interpretations, the massive sound,conviction he summoned from this tiny box with strings running on its top is/was astonishing. There's also a touching tribute by Rostropovich where Oistrakh was compelled to renounce him(ficticiously Purge Trial mentality-like), for the apparent defection, a luxury not all Soviet artists managed during their careers. Gidon Kremer reflects surprisingly perceptively on Oistrakh's meaning to violinists of his generation as well as Igor, Oistrakh's musician son.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
