Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

The life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.

My Name Is Bach

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach is introduced to King Frederick II of Prussia in 1747. The aging composer and the young monarch clash and a battle of egos ensues.

Lifted

A little girl and her inventor father celebrate the success of their greatest dream, on a day she will never forget.

Tennessee Nights

When entertainment lawyer Wolfgang Leighton decides to take a break from business for some fishing in Tennessee's backwoods, he ends up embroiled in a bank robbery and murder. Pursued by the killers, he's running from the police and a young hitchhiker appears to be his only friend.

Encountering BACH

In this 130-minute documentary film, Dr. David Chin will be joined by 15 prominent German Bach scholars and musicians and visit the important Bach-landmarks throughout Central Germany, discovering the interesting stories and wonderful music of Johann Sebastian Bach, with musical excerpts performed by renowned musicians from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and others.

The Question of Instrument

Part I of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach" is devoted to Bach's "Art of Fugue." Gould's performance is followed by a lively repartee with Monsaingeon, in which the pianist provides dazzling insights illustrated by music examples. He explains, for example, why he plays some pieces extremely slowly, and bemoans the "musicological overkill" of scholars who insist that Bach's keyboard music should only be played on a harpsichord.

Man of the Woods

At night, in the dark recesses of the woods, a male cellist lures in viewers with a performance of Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major." It stars Paul McCoy Drutz-Hannahs, a professional cellist with the Johns Hopkins University Orchestra.

Sting: Beyond The Police

The personal life and professional career of music superstar Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, universally known as Sting, who became passionate about music at a very early age and founded the trio The Police in 1977 with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, achieving an immediate success.

An Art of the Fugue

In Part II of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach", Gould concentrates on the fugal form in Bach's works, showing us how Bach uses keys like stops on an organ, and how they give him ideas and colours. He performs various fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier and reveals why he feels the "Art of Fugue" is the work that summed up Bach's life.

The Goldberg Variations

Part III in the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach" spotlights Gould recording Bach's "Goldberg Variations" in a sound studio. In a brief introduction, he reminisces about his first recording of the pieces and explains why he wanted to record them again now, a quarter of a century later. It was to be his last recording of the "Goldberg Variations" and perhaps the last time he played the work: Glenn Gould died the year after the recording was made.

The Silence Before Bach

A beautiful, sometimes faintly bonkers celebration and contemplation of the role Bach’s music plays in the world today. Blending historical reconstruction with very loosely linked ‘dramatic’ scenes and documentary sequences, the film constitutes a playful, painterly sequence of variations on the argument that Johann Sebastian changed the way the world hears thanks to his extraordinary ear for harmony.

Bach pour tous

A musical journey in the footsteps of conductor Michel Brun, an atypical character, an atheist, who nevertheless plays sacred music, and who devotes his life to Johann Sebastian Bach. With the musicians of the Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse.

Bach & Friends

A two hour documentary on Johann Sebastian Bach. World-class musicians share their innermost thoughts and personal reflections on the power and genius of the most influential composer in history.

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories is a labyrinthine narrative in which notables such as Peter Sellars, Emio Greco, Simon Halsey and painter Rinke Nijburg explain their special relationship with Bach’s St Matthew Passion to Ramón Gieling (Johan Cruijff: en un momento dado). They speak against the backdrop of a church which has fallen into disrepair, while a choir of homeless people and Pieter Jan Leusink’s Bach Choir & Orchestra rehearse the Passion. Leusink isn't just the conductor, he is one of the main characters himself, with a painful past in which this musical piece has played a dominant role. Stories from the others alternate seamlessly with this. We learn how the St Matthew Passion played a decisive role in the relations between men and women, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and their unborn children, and finally that in spite of our differences we all find a common denominator in the secret of Bach's music.

Jean-Sébastien Bach : "Jésus demeure ma joie"

Orgues, Toccatas, et Fantaisies

Director Bruno Monsaingeon stages this live musical journey into the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, featuring virtuoso Marie-Claire Alain playing organs hand-selected to best represent Bach's Baroque style. The tour incorporates venues at which the maestro himself would have performed, such as Haarlem, Rötha, Groningen and Dresden, and includes masterpieces such as Toccata in F Major, Trio Sonata no. 1, Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, and more.

Christmas Oratorio

This recording of all six cantatas from the Salle Henry Le Bœuf in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2012 features internationally renowned Bach expert Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent.

Bach Brandenburg Concertos & Coffee Cantata

Deutsche Grammophon celebrates Nikolaus Harnoncourt's 80th birthday with this 2-DVD release of rare, vintage, period Bach performances for the first time. Never released on DVD and, to the dismay of fans, long unavailable--these glorious Bach pieces are conducted by period instrument pioneer, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, as only he can. Harnoncourt, a notable cellist, performs in two concertos and on gamba in one. Harnoncourt warns, "If we lose contact with the great works of Bach, we lose our contact with humanity." Vocalists Janet Perry, Robert Holl, and Peter Schreier sing with distinction in the Coffee Cantata. The Surround Sound makes clear that they revel in the acoustics of the visually magnificent Baroque library of Wiblingen Monastery.

Living Bach

There are more than 300 Bach choirs and Bach ensembles worldwide, most of which are made up of amateurs. For many, their lives are inextricably linked with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. What do people seek and find in his music? What connects them across continents? What fascination lies in the music of the famous German composer, which manages to transcend borders, cultures, religions and centuries? The film embarks on a journey through six continents to meet amateur musicians and singers who have made Bach their "centerpiece".

Ivo Pogorelich: Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven

Pianist Ivo Pogorelich in a 1987 studio recital of works by Bach, Scarlatti, and Beethoven, recorded at historical palaces of Veneto Villa Caldogno in Vincenza and Eckartsau Castle in Lower Austria. The program consists of: BACH English Suites ##2,3 // SCARLATTI Sonatas K487 in C, K20 in E, K98 in e, K450 in g, K1 in d, K159 in C // BEETHOVEN Sonata #11 in B♭ op22; Bagatelle "für Elise".

Paula

Painting is an unacceptable vocation for a woman in provincial Germany in the year 1900, but budding artist Paula Becker is determined to make her own rules.

This Crazy Heart

When 30-ish rich kid Lenny has to take care of 15-year-old David, who’s suffering from heart disease, it’s the beginning of a wild adventure. Lenny fearlessly breaks all the rules to fulfill his young friend’s every wish.

The River

Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.

The Caveman's Valentine

Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

Home Run

A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team

Fog in August

A Yenish boy is placed in a mental hospital and experiences the Nazi euthanasia program. Aware of what was happening and attached to friends, the lad attempts to sabotage the program. The film addresses the complexities of the program director, the lives of the child victims, and the struggles of the child protagonist. More than five thousand children died in the Nazi euthanasia program.

Munich - The Edge of War

At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.

Jonathan

Jonathan is a young man with a strange condition that only his brother understands. But when he begins to yearn for a different life, their unique bond becomes increasingly tested.

My Neighbor Adolf

South America, 1960. A lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbor is none other than Adolf Hitler. Not being taken seriously, he starts an independent investigation to prove his claim, but when the evidence still appears to be inconclusive, Polsky is forced to engage in a relationship with the enemy in order to obtain irrefutable proof.

The Sense of an Ending

A man becomes haunted by his past and is presented with a mysterious legacy that causes him to re-think his current situation in life.

TalhotBlond

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

Woman in Gold

Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.

Mary

A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.

The German Lesson

In a small North German village a drama played out during and shortly after the Second World War about duty versus individual conscience and morality.

Remember

With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

Starving in Suburbia

When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?

People Like Us

After flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, a struggling man discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew existed, and her troubled 12-year-old son.

Jerichow

In a small Northern German town, a dishonourably discharged Afghanistan veteran is offered a job as a deliveryman by an alcoholic Turkish entrepreneur, through which the former meets the latter's gorgeous wife.

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.

Flash of Genius

In this David vs. Goliath drama based on a true story, college professor Robert Kearns goes up against the giants of the auto industry when they fail to give him credit for inventing intermittent windshield wipers. Kearns doggedly pursues recognition for his invention, as well as the much-deserved financial rewards for the sake of his wife and six kids.