- published: 04 Oct 2012
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Frédéric François Chopin (/ˈʃoʊpæn/; French pronunciation: [fʁe.de.ʁik fʁɑ̃.swa ʃɔ.pɛ̃]; 22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and a virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed his earlier works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising.
At the age of 21 he settled in Paris. Thereafter, during the last 18 years of his life, he gave only some 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon. He supported himself by selling his compositions and teaching piano, for which he was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired by many of his musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. In 1835 he obtained French citizenship. After a failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska, from 1837 to 1847 he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with Sand in 1838–39 was one of his most productive periods of composition. In his last years, he was financially supported by his admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848. Through most of his life, Chopin suffered from poor health. He died in Paris in 1849, probably of tuberculosis.
Actors: Hannelore Hoger (actress), Nina Hoger (actress), Lavinia Wilson (actress), Klaus Kirschner (director), Klaus Kirschner (writer), Stephan Wolf-Schönburg (actor), Gwendal Costa (actor), Irmgard Fitz (actress),
Genres: Biography, Music,Actors: Bernadette Peters (actress), André Chaumeau (actor), Sylvie Herbert (actress), Anna Massey (actress), John Savident (actor), Judy Davis (actress), Hugh Grant (actor), Fernand Guiot (actor), Georges Corraface (actor), Judy Davis (actress), Mandy Patinkin (actor), Ralph Brown (actor), Anton Rodgers (actor), Julian Sands (actor), Emma Thompson (actress),
Plot: Novelist 'George Sand' (qv) ('Judy Davis') falls in love with composer 'Frédéric Chopin' (qv) ('Hugh Grant (I)' (qv)). She tries to profess her love for him at a weekend hosted by a pretentious, artistically minded duchess for famous musicians, artists, and writers of the day. The gentle and sickly Chopin is wary of the outspoken Sand, but finds himself strangely drawn to her, as well.
Keywords: 1830s, 19th-century, aristocracy, author, based-on-real-people, classical-music, composer, composing, cross-dressing, duelActors: Kenneth Colley (actor), Harry Fielder (actor), Ken Russell (writer), Ken Russell (director), Ringo Starr (actor), Ann Skinner (miscellaneous crew), David Puttnam (producer), Murray Melvin (actor), Rick Wakeman (actor), Rick Wakeman (composer), Roger Daltrey (actor), Oliver Reed (actor), Stuart Baird (editor), Andrew Faulds (actor), Paul Nicholas (actor),
Plot: A send-up of the bawdy life of Romantic composer/piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, with ubiquitous phallic imagery and a good portion of the film devoted to Liszt's "friendship" with fellow composer Richard Wagner. The film begins during the time when Franz would give piano performance to a crowd of shrieking teenage fans while maintaining affairs with his (multiple!) mistresses. He eventually seeks Princess Carolyne of St. Petersburg (at her invitation), elopes, and, after their marriage is forbidden by the Pope, he embraces the monastic life as an abbé.
Keywords: absurdism, anachronism, art-vs-politics, belch, blessing, bondage, candle, cape, castle, castrationActors: William Goetz (producer), Jean Louis (costume designer), Geneviève Page (actress), Ivan Desny (actor), Marcel Dalio (actor), Dirk Bogarde (actor), Martita Hunt (actress), Lester Matthews (actor), Walter Rilla (actor), Albert Rueprecht (actor), Abraham Sofaer (actor), Hans Unterkircher (actor), Robert Warwick (actor), Bess Flowers (actress), George Cukor (director),
Genres: Biography, Drama, Music,Actors: Sarah Churchill (actress), Ann Shoemaker (actress), William Corrigan (director), William Corrigan (producer), Chet Stratton (actor), William Post Jr. (actor), Alan Shayne (actor),
Genres: ,Actors: Carl Boese (director), Ludwig Rex (actor), Conrad Veidt (actor), Clementine Plessner (actress), Hella Thornegg (actress), Hans Brennert (writer), Erwin Fichtner (actor), Gertrude Welcker (actress), Rita Clermont (actress), Friedel Köhne (writer), Hermann Bachmann (actor), Erna Denera (actress),
Genres: ,