Song Without End
(Format : VHS)
Fifteen years after directing the florid and commercially successful Chopin bio-pic, the 1945 A Song to Remember, director Charles Vidor headed up this lush, Technicolor production about Franz Liszt--only to die a few weeks into shooting and be replaced by George Cukor. (Cukor insisted the credit remain with Vidor, and indeed there is little of Cukor's touch visible in this film.) Song Without End stars Dirk Bogarde as Liszt, and while the actor's stints at the piano are effectively dubbed by Jorge Boyet, the story really concerns the composer's entangled love life. Much, much less flamboyant than Ken Russell's Lisztomania, Song Without End is, in its own way, just as indulgent, extravagantly presuming that love is the major inspiration for the creation of music. No film about a composer would be complete without a few of his famous contemporaries, and Song Without End makes a point of bringing George Sand and Chopin himself to the proceedings. The sets are impressive, and the cinematography is by James Wong Howe. (Review by Tom Keogh)
The Franz Liszt Page
(Rich DiSilvio)
Remember "Lisztomania," the garish Ken Russell biopic starring Roger
Daltrey as the great Hungarian composer? Well, the real Franz Liszt was
nothing like that, as a visit to this thoroughly-researched website
will prove. Read the bio page to get an overview of Liszt's life, then
proceed to "Franz Liszt Live" to see a brief, Monty Pythonesque
animation of "Liszt" playing the piano. There's also a "liszt" (sorry,
couldn't resist) of recommended recordings and a bizarre ode to the
composer written, presumably, by the webmaster. It ain't a Ken Russell
movie, but this is one of the more unusual classical music fan pages
you're likely to encounter.
