Customer Reviews

The Great Composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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This work tries to please history, music, and ballet fans. If you loved the outfits in "The Matrix," you'll love the costumes here too. Clothes are designed to be tight in the perfect places and flowing in the perfect places. The work presents men dancing with women, children dancing with adults, men dancing with men, and women dancing with each other.

The narrator states that Schubert was chubby and short, yet the dancer portraying him was lean and at least of average height. The real Schubert and Beethoven had chin dimples, but the dancers portraying them did not, unfortunately. The work states that Schubert had failed relationships with women, however, other sources say his romantic preferences are a matter of dispute. By having the dancer who played Schubert dancing with a man, this may have been the rainbow flag signifier for those in the know.

This work pleased me and gave me the rudimentary knowledge of the composer that I sought. However, others may think the facts were edited in such as way as to give a reason for the accompanying dance. For example, the narrator says Schubert admired Beethoven but never met him and then one see a dance between the man portraying Schubert and one portraying Beethoven. First, it's hard to believe that a middle-aged Beethoven would dance ballet. Moreover, Schubert's admiration for his peer may not have composed one huge chunk of his life; but it merely gave a good reason to have another ballet scene.

I was looking for a DVD to help augment a unit on Vivaldi that I was teaching to Grade 4 students. There are some segments that are useable such as dance sequences and a comedic theater piece. Some of the narration is not suitable for younger kids so make sure you view it before you present the DVD.

I love Mozart, though this was not the item I was looking for, I wanted and bought "Amadeus" the DVD.