Celebrity Classics

The unresolved and ambiguous details of Robert Schumann’s psychological decline and death have tended to dominate his biography. Yet in his time Schumann was lauded as a protean Romantic literary genius whose writings, as a music critic, poet, novelist and dramatist, eclipsed his musical creativity. How did Schumann reconcile these elements? Does his music suggest he suffered from bipolar disorder? How did his pianist wife, Clara, influence his compositions?

Fifty years ago, a little boy was cast in a movie with some of Hollywood's brightest stars. The movie: It's a Wonderful Life; the boy: Jimmy Hawkins; today, he tells his story. Through personal recollection, careful research, and interviews with cast and crew, actor Jimmy Hawkins, who played four-year-old Tommy Bailey, takes you behind the scenes for a first-hand look at the American movie classic It's a Wonderful Life.

In 1969, a twenty-something screenwriter with one movie credit to his name is approached by Jimi Hendrix's management after the legendary guitarist saw the obscure indie film in London and wanted to collaborate on a project of his own. Jonathan Stathakis had no idea how thrilling the next eighteen months would be, as he and Hendrix formed not just a working partnership but a unique friendship.

The Blues Brothers hit theatres on June 20, 1980. Their scripted mission was to save a local Chicago orphanage; but Aykroyd, who conceived and wrote much of the film, had a greater mission: to honour the then-seemingly forgotten tradition of rhythm and blues, some of whose greatest artists.

Is there any music more instantly recognizable and beautifully scored than Tchaikovsky’s wildly popular ballet Swan Lake? These and other works have become enduring classics, yet they were not uncontroversial in Tchaikovsky’s day, and there are those that still wonder if his style is fundamentally European or ardently Russian. Find out more about Tchaikovsky’s childhood obsession with music, his turbulent relationships with friends and colleagues, and how he overcame the deepest of personal crises to transcend all with an ambition that has left us with some of the greatest music ever written.

In 1976, under the guidance of legendary label Stiff Records, he transformed himself into the snarling, spectacled artist who defied the musical status quo to blaze the trail for a new kind of rock star with his debut album, My Aim Is True. In Elvis Is King, Richard Crouse examines how the man, the myth, and the music of this arrestingly original album smashed the trends of the era to bridge the gap between punk and rock ’n’ roll.

An aging pop star will stop at nothing to preserve her youthful beauty! "Classic horror tale with a fresh twist. Equal parts Friday the 13th, Eyes Without a Face and The Skin I Live In, Unmasked takes familiar ingredients, joyfully mashes them together, and creates something refreshingly new." "PREPARE TO BE SCARED! A Taut, Sexy Page-Turning Gothic Thriller!" "It has all the trappings of cult horror, but swims in the realm of a psychological thriller while commenting on the very real (and often dangerous) pursuit of beauty and fame in our media-driven society." The world-renowned pop star, ...

Embark on an extraordinary journey through the life of one of the most influential and iconic figures in entertainment history in "Walt Disney: Creator of an Entertainment Empire" This comprehensive biography offers an exploration of Disney's life, from his humble beginnings to the monumental legacy that continues to inspire dreamers and creators worldwide. Walt Disney stands as a towering figure in the entertainment industry, revolutionizing animation, filmmaking, and theme park design. His innovative approach to storytelling and unwavering commitment to quality challenged traditional ...

베토벤이 젊은이였을 때, 대단한 피아니스트이자 작곡가로 이름을 떨쳤죠. 하지만 행복하게 살지는 못했어요. 독일 도시 본에서 태어나 일곱 살 때 첫 공개 콘서트를 열었는데요. 아버지가 아주 엄격해서 매일 몇 시간동안이나 연습하도록 시켰다고 해요. 20대가 되어 이미 유명해져 있을 때는 청력을 잃기 시작했고요. 그런 위대한 음악가에게 그게 얼마나 끔찍한 일일지 상상해 보세요: 그에게 음악 소리가 점점 약해지더니, 마침내 거의 하나도 들리지 않게 된 거예요. 이제 자기가 연주하는 소리를 들으려고 불쌍한 피아노를 점점 더 세게 내리치게 됐답니다. 성격도 나빠지고요!

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (January 6, 1946 to July 7, 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of Pink Floyd. He was the band's frontman and primary songwriter for their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), and portions of their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from Pink Floyd amid speculation of mental illness and his use of psychedelic drugs. In 1972, Barrett retired from public life and guarded his privacy until his death of pancreatic cancer in 2006. The following is from an August 1967 interview.

Entre las dos grandes guerras mundiales se originaron varios movimientos de vanguardia en el arte, incluso en la música, que, al poco de nacer, iban acompañados ya de una posvanguardia; ello explica la diversidad de estilos que configuran la mayoría de las décadas del siglo XX. Un compositor ruso, cuya extensa obra es síntesis del romanticismo e impresionismo, abrió vías hacia el vanguardismo.

Casino Royale, the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming, was published in 1953. As the first James Bond book, it paved the way for a further 11 novels and two short story collections by Fleming, and numerous further Bond novels by other authors. It tells the story of the British secret agent James Bond, gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt the treasurer of a communist union who is a secret member of Soviet state intelligence. The novel is packed with intrigue, action, close escapes, clever spy gadgets, intrigue, and glamorous women.

Johann Sebastian Bach, baroque music's finest composer: Life and works in a short biography! Everything you need to know, brief and concise. Infotainment, education and entertainment at its best!

손열음의 이번 책은 타 클래식 입문서와는 다른 세 가지의 차별점이 있다. 첫째, 클래식 매니아뿐만 아니라 음악을 사랑하는 사람이라면 누구나 읽을 수 있는 쉬우면서도 밀도 높은 글이라는 점. 둘째, 청중의 눈을 포함해서 연주자의 눈으로 음악을 바라보는 방법에 대해 소개하고 있다는 점. 그리고 마지막으로 대중들이 평소 궁금해했던 비밀스러운 영역인 '연주자의 삶'을 진솔하고 담백하게 고백하고 있다는 점이다.

Ruth Padel's new sequence of poems, in four movements, is a personal voyage through the life and legend of one of the world's greatest composers. She uncovers the man behind the music, charting his private thoughts and feelings through letters, diaries, sketchbooks, and the conversation books he used as his hearing declined. She gives us Beethoven as a battered four-year-old, weeping at the clavier; the young virtuoso pianist agonized by his encroaching deafness; the passionate, heartbroken lover. Padel's quest takes her into the heart of Europe and back to her own musical childhood.

At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. Father and son travelled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the carnivelesque birthplace of public opera.

Pat Sharp is a man out of time. For those of a certain generation, he is an iconic figure synonymous with good fun, great hair and excess gunge. For others, he's just that bloke with a mullet. Fame is a fickle beast and, since the cancellation of Fun House in 1999 ('Just ten years into its run, when it was finally finding its feet'), Pat has become a reclusive figure, only emerging from his splendid isolation to pop up on things like I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Come Dine with Me. Until now.

The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author - a woman very much ahead of her time - including her time spent on the glorious island of Skiathos. Nancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the '40s, '50s and '60s. Hilarious, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel...twice.

Giuseppe Verdi remains the greatest operatic composer that Italy, the home of opera, has ever produced. Yet throughout his lifetime, he claimed to detest composing and repeatedly rejected it. He was a landowner, a farmer, a politician, and a symbol of Italian independence, but his music tells a different story. An obsessive perfectionist, Verdi drove collaborators to despair, but his works were rightly lauded from the start as dazzling feats of composition and characterization. From Rigoletto to Otello, La Traviatato to Aida, Verdi's canon encompassed the full range of human emotion.

This original hour-long audio documentary will take you in the footsteps of the 19th century’s most beloved and most played piano composer in the world: Frederic Chopin. So here we are going to discuss a relatively undocumented musical event (rich in anecdotes): Frederic Chopin's concert at the Hotel de Ville in Rouen on the evening of March 12, 1838. Whether you are a music lover, passionate about history or simply of a curious temperament, I invite you to immerse yourself in this fascinating story, alone or with your family.