Christian Franz

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Otello
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Otello

Jan 01, 2001
One of the chief pleasures of this live production of Otello from the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden is Daniel Barenboim's conducting. From the opening gale-force blast of storm music, through the crunching and stabbing accompaniment of Iago's "Credo" to the shimmering strings of Desdemona's "Willow Song", he doesn't miss a trick. Everything works at the highest pitch of intensity and the orchestra sticks to his beat like glue. It's a necessary compensation for the shortcomings of the staging: the stolid chorus remains unperturbed by the storm and is directed to perform with unison movements; the acting (apart from Valeri Alexejev) is non-committal, and Alexandre Tarta's video direction somewhat flat-footed. She doesn't manage to make much small-screen sense of an impenetrably murky opening scene, for example, and doesn't seem fond of reaction shots.
Music
Leonard Knight: A Man & His Mountain
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If you had something to say to the world, how would you do it? 'A Man & His Mountain' is the story of Leonard Knight. A man whose conviction and dedication led him on a thirty year journey to spread the message burned on his heart. Here is a look at the creator of Salvation Mountain.
Documentary