A step-by-step guide to learning to play
the violin. Presented by Jools Holland and
Ric Sanders
Learn to play the basics and techniques
of popular music on acoustic guitar with
Michael Thompson
Complete Fingerstyle Guitarist, The - Six
Guitar Lessons - Series One : Complete Beginner
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & other
pieces:David Oistrak
David Oistrakh was one of the greatest violinists
of our time but received very little exposure
in the media. This programme has been re-mastered
from original film held in the archives of
Soviet TV. David performs a number of works
by Kreisler, Lalo, Schubert, Tchaikovsky,
Locatelli, Beethoven and Sibelius. With the
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow
Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gennady
Rozdestvensky.
Yehudi Menuhin : The Violin of the Century
- A look back over the famous violinist's
career with comments by Menuhin himself and
his colleagues.
The Art Of Violin.
A documentary film by Bruno Monsaingeon
devoted to the 20th century's greatest violinists,
The Art of Violin really cannot be faulted.
The same, incidentally, can also be said
of the similar volumes which cover the piano
and singing , so there's never been a better
time to collect a personal audio-visual archive
of some wonderful historical performers.
The added dimension provided by the painstakingly
collected film material (here featuring no
fewer than 20 outstanding soloists) is of
course of exceptional value when observing
violin technique, and the diversity of approaches
presented here in loving detail is in itself
a subject for endless comparison. The material
mixes archive performance footage, much of
which one might never have dreamed existed,
with interviews and documentary commentary.
However, rather than turn the project into
a museum piece, Monsaingeon includes contributions
from contemporary figures such as Perlman
and, shrewdly, Hilary Hahn--not that there'd
be any doubt of the huge relevance of the
material to any contemporary player or lover
of the repertoire. An absolute must. --Roger
Thomas
The Red Violin (Video) 
The Red VIolin (DVD)
Review by Michael Jacobson
The Red Violin is a nearly perfect film, with a structure that allows it to encompass the best of two worlds. It combines the sumptuous beauty of a romantic period film with a modern fable of price versus worth.
The magnificent instrument that is the title character, of sorts, is the centerpiece of the film. Through flashbacks and bits and pieces, we see the story of the violin, beginning with its creation, and ending in an auction house in Montreal, and its 300 year journey in between. The story of the violin is, of course, the story of those whom the instrument touched over the years, and naturally, those who touched it as well.
The violin is created by a maestro in 17th century Italy, meant as a gift for his unborn son. But when his beloved wife and the child both die during the birth, he finishes the instrument by applying red varnish, then sets it aside.
Over the course of the film, it ends up in many different hands...and some of the movie's most well-conceived sequences demonstrate this notion. During one memorable series, the violin remains in exactly the same position in front of the camera, as the backgrounds and musicians who play it dissolve from one to another. Terrific use of editing, and demonstrates a way to exposit in a purely cinematic way.
The journey begins when it first goes to a monastery, and is used by a child prodigy, who is taken to Vienna by a poor but gifted teacher. I don't want to give away the terrific transitions in the story, but from there, the violin winds up in the hands of an English virtuoso, who uses its music in both public concert and private seduction, and later, goes to China, where under the Communist revolution, it becomes a symbol for evil Western cultural infiltration.
Each story is brief, and sketched with broad strokes, but all of them seem full and satisfying. The reason is the music. We may not get histories or exposition with the characters involved, but when they pick up the violin and play, the notes that weep from it give us more information about these people, and what emotions are in them, than any ten pages of written script. The violin is one of the most expressive instruments...the music that pours from it can seem like mirthful laughter or mournful tears. The notes can calm and sooth, or they can slash through the silence like a scream. This is one of the most masterful uses of music you'll find in a motion picture.
And eventually, the story culminates in the auction, which is hinted at throughout the film. By the time we actually experience it near the end, we know a little something about the people bidding on the violin, too, and how each one has some kind of connection with the stories we've experienced. As a modern day appraiser (Samuel L. Jackson) begins to probe the mysteries the violin has kept over the course of three centuries, we fully realize that the value of the instrument stretches far beyond its worth as an antique or item of historical importance...or for that matter, even beyond the stories attached to it, and the individuals who expressed their passion, sorrow, fear or love through its music.
Please understand, I'm purposely avoiding as many specifics as I can in outlining the film. To deprive viewers of experiencing the masterful way the picture unfolds and reveals itself over the course of a setting would be criminal. It needs to be experienced first hand to be fully appreciated.