Hans Werner Henz, Memoirs of an Outsider
A Portrait & Concert (DVD)
Composer: Han Werner Henze
Film directed by: Barry Gavin
Conductors:
Ingo Metzmacher
Simon Rattle
Markus Stenz
Performers:
Ian Bostridge (tenor)
Julius Drake (piano)
Hakan Hardenberger (baritone)
Michaela Kaune (soprano)
Ueli Wiget (piano)
Ensemble Modern
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Format: Classical, Colour, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, PAL
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 – 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: ARTHAUS
Recording Date: 200
Release Date: 28 March 2003
Run Time: 160 minutes – 89 minutes (Portrait), 71 minutes (Concert)
PAL 100 360
NTSC 100 361
ASIN: B000092WBT
Contents
“Requiem – Nine Sacred Concertos”
Contributions by Ensemble Modern, CBSO, Sir Simon Rattle, Ian Bostridge
“I have evolved a concept of beauty nurtured by experiences both terrible and wonderful.”
Henze pours his very soul in to this portrait. Interviewed at his home just outside Rome his life story is one of political protest and struggle in many guises. It is clear that his many experiences both terrible and wonderful are deep-dyed into the very fabric of his music.
Henze’s dramatic and moving Requiem begins in gentle, tender mood and ends with a radiant, hymn-like Sanctus. It contains fierce and satirical passages, but also ones which express penetrating or suppressed sorrow.
“Essentially, he is always going to be an outsider…as a gay man, a liberal, growing up in the third Reich…as a person who is always somewhere else…”
(Sir Simon Rattle)