Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso

Starring:Isaac Stern, Jimmy Connors
Studio: Winstar
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This American Masters production celebrating Isaac Stern is more a profile of the man than the musician. Fans hoping to hear Stern performing will have to settle for the briefest snippets of fiddling: a bar or two from Mendelssohn, a fragment of Rimsky-Korsakov, a taste of Beethoven. Though each of these begins enticingly, they all quickly fade into the background, little more than aural wallpaper behind the comments and testimonials from such notables as Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman--as well as some less-expected commentators such as Gregory Peck and Jimmy Connors. But the portrait that all give of this marvelous octogenarian is almost as dazzling and multifaceted as hearing him play. After all, master violinist is only one of the hats Stern can wear with aplomb. There's also the flashy celebrity who provided the music for Hollywood films like Fiddler on the Roof and Humoresque and who could share the stage as easily with Jack Benny as Eugene Ormandy; the musical emissary who sought to bridge cold war divides with music, touring the Soviet Union and communist China as soon as he was allowed (as recorded in the 1980 documentary From Mao to Mozart); the beloved teacher, demanding but genuinely respectful toward young performers; even the hard-driving fundraiser who kept Carnegie Hall from being torn down.

Amazon.com

This American Masters production celebrating Isaac Stern is more a profile of the man than the musician. Fans hoping to hear Stern performing will have to settle for the briefest snippets of fiddling: a bar or two from Mendelssohn, a fragment of Rimsky-Korsakov, a taste of Beethoven. Though each of these begins enticingly, they all quickly fade into the background, little more than aural wallpaper behind the comments and testimonials from such notables as Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman--as well as some less-expected commentators such as Gregory Peck and Jimmy Connors. But the portrait that all give of this marvelous octogenarian is almost as dazzling and multifaceted as hearing him play. After all, master violinist is only one of the hats Stern can wear with aplomb. There's also the flashy celebrity who provided the music for Hollywood films like Fiddler on the Roof and Humoresque and who could share the stage as easily with Jack Benny as Eugene Ormandy; the musical emissary who sought to bridge cold war divides with music, touring the Soviet Union and communist China as soon as he was allowed (as recorded in the 1980 documentary From Mao to Mozart); the beloved teacher, demanding but genuinely respectful toward young performers; even the hard-driving fundraiser who kept Carnegie Hall from being torn down.

Customer Reviews:

Too Much Talking instead of Music Making.......2005-05-31

The DVD is brief, but it offers a good sketch of the great violinist of the century the life as well as the vision of this great musicianin a well organized way. There are some very good advice and suggestions on music and music making, like playing not with your head but from your heart and a good teacher is someone who has taught you how to teach yourself etc...

But the most interesting part of this DVD are not the contributors' comments, still less those from the other musicians. Rather it is the short clips from which we could hear the singing of a musician loud and clear through his instrument, the violin.

In his view, it is not absolute pitch that matters, still less virtuosity. Rather, it is his style, or his character that makes the difference. And the point is, as Gregory Peck succintly puts it, he makes you feel better after listening to him! And I share the same feeling, as I have been listening to him since my adolescence. The clips, some in B/W and some in colour, one must say, have done a good job in bringing this point home.

While some might regret that the DVD is short, slightly less than an hour and crammed with so many contributors, and that it is not as colouful as his "From Mao to Mozart"...etc. Be that as it may, there isn't anything amiss from this DVD save and except that there should be a longer clip of violin playing of, say, one whole movement from any of the pieces. Have they included that, it would certainly derserve 5 stars if not more. Having said that, the production is really enjoyable. Viewers who wish to see more of his performance should perhaps check out his Brahms Trios recorded in the 70s with Istomin and Rose or else his recital with A. Zakin on the piano playing Bach, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms (Vai). Recommended.

Worthwhile........2003-01-02

This is a good DVD about Stern's life. It is greatly aided by interesting comments made by a varied group of famous people, violinists and otherwise. These include Eugene Istomin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pinchas Zukerman, Zubin Mehta, Jack Benny, Sarah Chang, Gregory Peck, Henry Kissinger, Shimon Peres, Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma. I watched this DVD after I had seen the excellent one "From Mao to Mozart" which has more depth and many more great extras (this has no video extras). Otherwise I might have given it 4 stars.

Help!.......2000-09-20

This is a plea for a DVD release of the Oscar-winning documentary: From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1980). The documentary recounts Stern's famous visit to China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, during which the listening to, and performing of, Western classical music was a capital offence.

(It's now 2002 and all's forgiven! The DVD is finally here and it's even better than the original since it contains footage of Stern's reprise visit to China in 1998. The producers managed to track down some the children Stern trained in 1979. We see them practicing again with the master, this time as adult professionals.

Stern's earlier insights into the true abilities of his proteges are revealed. In 1979 Stern asked one struggling child violinist to sing, rather than play, a difficult passage. The child grew up to become a professional singer. How did Stern know?!

It was very interesting to contrast Stern's teaching style of children with that of adults. With the children he was most forgiving; almost indulgent. With adults he was unforgiving; almost harsh.

I formed the view that Stern was a man of great compassion. His students, young and old, desired as much instruction as could be absorbed in the short period of time each had with the master. Stern maximized the learning, based upon the age, experience and psychological fortitude of each of his tutees.

PS You get one last glimpse of Stern by buying/renting an entertaining popular film starring Meryl Streep entitled Music of the Heart.)

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