Composers And Classical Artists: Biographical Films/Films Based On A True Story/Inspired By
List activity
252 views
• 2 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
46 titles
- DirectorScott HicksStarsGeoffrey RushArmin Mueller-StahlJustin BrainePianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsGary OldmanJeroen KrabbéIsabella RosselliniThe life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was--not easy, as Beethoven has had many women in his life.
- DirectorGérard CorbiauStarsBenoît MagimelBoris TerralTchéky KaryoCorbiau repeats the Farinelli formula, artistic rivalry and social private drama expressed in dazzling, sometimes excessively lavish baroque scenery, music and costume, but this time in its ultimate setting: Versailles. There are two protagonists - first the title character, Louis XIV, the French sun-king who has two passions, establishing absolute rule over the realm -after decades of religious/civil wars- by divine right and artistic brilliancy as a dancer (like Nero wrote and performed musical poetry), and starts asserting himself against the entourage of his Medici mother, the regent during his minority, by building his palace complex and launching a 'fitting' new, mainly musical display of baroque show. Secondly the musical genius Gianbattista Lulli ('Jean-Baptiste') Lully, a Florentine upstart of unbridled ambition, quickly gains the king's absolute trust, despite the nationalist and aristocratic opposition to a low-born Italian, and thus turns the normally socially humble post of court composer into a 'ministerial portfolio of culture' of Cabinet rank, complete with a monopoly which kills of his artistic rivals in operatic theater. The script also weaves a complex web of court scheming for individual power and social interests, and even a sadistic but accidental murder on a young valet, producing a sensuous and sumptuous drama too complex for this format, ending in a freakish but fatal accident. Louis XIV's mother was Ana de Austria (in French, Anne d' Autriche), the daughter of one of the Hapsburgh Kings of Spain. Maria di Medici (in French, Marie de Médicis) was his grandmother, his father's mother. She was dead before Louis XIV reached the throne. Please correct the reference to "his Medici mother"
- DirectorJan KounenStarsAnna MouglalisMads MikkelsenElena MorozovaParis 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The revolutionary dissonances of Igor's work parallel Coco's radical ideas. She wants to democratize women's fashion; he wants to redefine musical taste. Coco attends the scandalous first performance of The Rite in a chic white dress. The music and ballet are criticized as too modern, too foreign. Coco is moved but Igor is inconsolable. Paris 1920, Coco is newly wealthy and successful but grief-stricken after Boy's death in a car crash. Igor, following the Russian Revolution is now a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris. Coco is introduced to Igor by Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes. The attraction between them is instant and electric. Coco invites Igor along with his wife - now sick with consumption - together with his four children and a menagerie of birds to stay at her new villa, Bel Respiro, in Garches.
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsGérard DepardieuJean-Pierre MarielleAnne BrochetThe story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, fierce and somber man, grand master of the viola da gamba and professor of Marin Marais, prestigious musician in the court of Louis XIV.
- DirectorJames LapineStarsJudy DavisHugh GrantMandy PatinkinIn 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsPasquale D'OnofrioSalvatore CatoranoAngelo CarrabsWorks, legend and murders of Carlo Gesualdo, a notorious Italian composer and murderer from the 16th century.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRichard ChamberlainGlenda JacksonMax AdrianPiano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexuality by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreySara KestelmanPaul NicholasComposer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).
- StarsRichard BurtonVanessa RedgraveMiguel Herz-KestranekA huge panorama of Richard Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria, to the final triumph at Bayreuth. Richard Wagner's radical musical and political ideas, his German nationalism, and even his anti-Semitism are set in the context of his life and times.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRobert PowellGeorgina HaleLee MontagueComposer Gustav Mahler's (Robert Powell) life, told in a series of flashbacks as he and his wife (Georgina Hale) discuss their failing marriage during a train journey.
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsTobias MorettiEulàlia RamonSergi RocaA drama based on the life of 18th century Italian lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte, who collaborated with Mozart on his "Don Giovanni" opera.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsGustav LeonhardtChristiane LangPaolo CarliniThe life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.
- DirectorFelix O. AdlonPercy AdlonStarsJohannes SilberschneiderBarbara RomanerKarl MarkovicsAlma Mahler's affair with the young architect Walter Gropius sets in motion a marital drama that forces her husband Gustav Mahler to seek advice from Sigmund Freud.
- DirectorKlaus KinskiStarsKlaus KinskiDebora CaprioglioNikolai KinskiA biography of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsPaul MuniMerle OberonCornel WildeBiography of Frederic Chopin.
- DirectorIgor TalankinStarsInnokentiy SmoktunovskiyAntonina ShuranovaKirill LavrovThe life and work of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky is shown through his relationship with aristocratic art connoisseur Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck.
- DirectorTony PalmerStarsBen KingsleySherry BainesMagdalen AsquithThe story of the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his life and career during the rule of Stalin.
- DirectorCharles VidorGeorge CukorStarsDirk BogardeCapucineGeneviève PageThe romantic story of Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt (Sir Dirk Bogarde), whose scandalous love affair forced him to abandon his adoring audiences.
- DirectorTony PalmerStarsValery GergievJohn GielgudDmitri HvorostovskyTony Palmer tells the life story of Sergei Rachmaninoff through the use of home movies, concert footage, and interviews. John Gielgud reads from Rachmaninoff's diaries in a voiceover.
- DirectorRené FéretStarsMarie FéretMarc BarbéDelphine ChuillotA reimagined account of the early life of Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart, five years older than Wolfgang, and a musical prodigy in her own right.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsEd HarrisDiane KrugerMatthew GoodeA fictionalized account of the last year of Beethoven's life.
- StarsUdo SamelDaniel OlbrychskiWojciech PszoniakDepicts the final years of the life of 19th century Austrian composer Franz Schubert.
- DirectorPeter SchamoniStarsNastassja KinskiHerbert GrönemeyerRolf HoppeChronicles the illustrious 19th-century love affair between composer Robert Schumann and pianist Clara Wieck.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsEdmund GwennEsmond KnightJessie MatthewsThe story of Johann Strauss the elder and younger.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierVictor FlemingJosef von SternbergStarsLuise RainerFernand GraveyMiliza KorjusIn 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II (Fernand Gravey) - 'Jonahi' to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered proper society music. After he is fired from his clerical bank job because of his preoccupation with composing, he decides to follow his passion and form an orchestra. After some famed opera singers, including Carla Donner (Miliza Korjus), hear his music, they expose Johani's music to the masses, to royalty and to music publisher Julius Hofbauer (Hugh Herbert). As such, Johani becomes the toast of Vienna. With his new found musical fame, Johani's life, which includes his work in the European Revolutions, changes. He becomes torn for his love for his loving and faithful wife Poldi Vogelhuber (Luise Rainer) and his more emotionally passionate but somewhat destructive love for Carla Donner, who herself is involved with Count Anton Hohenfried (Lionel Atwill).
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsKatharine HepburnPaul HenreidRobert WalkerComposer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers her support. Also helping the Schumanns is their lifelong friend, composer Johannes Brahms.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsDavid GarrettJared HarrisJoely Richardson19th Century violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini incurs the wrath of his diabolical manager while preparing for his debut performance in London, and falling for the daughter of an English impresario.
- DirectorSimon Cellan JonesStarsPeter HansonJack DavenportLeo BillOn June 9, 1804, Ludwig van Beethoven and his pupil Ries assemble a group of musicians to give the first performance of his Third Symphony, 'Bonaparte', to his patron Prince Lobkowitz and his guests, including hypercritical Count Dietrichstein, in Vienna. The piece provokes political arguments among players and audience as to whether Bonaparte is a tyrant, or, as Beethoven believes, a liberator. The composer is also rejected by his former love, the recently widowed Josephine von Deym, though the visiting elder statesman of composers Haydn pays him a strange compliment. Leaving the gathering, Beethoven confesses to Ries that he is losing his hearing and later he reads that Bonaparte has declared himself the French emperor. As a result he will lose all respect for Napoleon and will change the symphony's title to 'Eroica'.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsMarie-France PisierJanusz OlejniczakSophie Marceauthe film covers the last few days of fragile Chopin's professional life.
- StarsRonald PickupCarla FracciGiampiero AlbertiniGiuseppe Verdi was born in 1813 and lived until 1901, his life spanning nearly a century of political turmoil and considerable personal turmoil. This 1982 biographical television miniseries, as seen on PBS's Great Performances, dramatizes the life of this classic Italian composer known for operas including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Aida and his Requiem.
- StarsPaul RhysCharles HazlewoodDavid BamberA dramatized documentary on the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven.
- StarsRosemary HarrisMarina McConnellLewis FianderThe incredible life of novelist George Sand is explored, with a particular focus on her romance with famed musician Frédéric Chopin.
- DirectorFrançois GirardStarsColm FeoreDerek KeurvorstKatya LadanA collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
- DirectorIrwin WinklerStarsKevin KlineAshley JuddJonathan PryceInspecting a magical biographical stage musical, composer Cole Porter reviews his life and career with his wife, Linda.
- DirectorAnand TuckerStarsEmily WatsonRachel GriffithsJames FrainThe tragic story of world renowned classic cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsJamie FoxxRobert Downey Jr.Catherine KeenerA newspaper journalist discovers a homeless musical genius and tries to improve his situation.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsMax AdrianMaureen PryorChristopher GableTraces last 5 years of the life of Frederick Delius through the eyes of the young composer Eric Fenby
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
- DirectorPeter FarrellyStarsViggo MortensenMahershala AliLinda CardelliniA working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsTim RothPruitt Taylor VinceMélanie ThierryA baby boy discovered on an ocean liner in 1900 grows into a musical prodigy, never setting foot on land.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsRobert Downey Jr.Geraldine ChaplinPaul RhysAn elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.
- DirectorHans-Jürgen SyberbergStarsHarry BaerIngrid CavenHanna KöhlerThe story of the legendary King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886), his opera interest and friendship with theatre personalities such as Richard Wagner and Joseph Kainz, and at the same time a reflection of the German 1800s.
- The life story of American Leonard Bernstein who began conducting for the New York Philharmonic at the age of 25.
- DirectorBradley CooperStarsCarey MulliganBradley CooperMatt BomerThis love story chronicles the lifelong relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.