Pierre Boulez - a life for music

"Lasting over 90 minutes, A Life For Music constitutes a remarkably rounded and perceptive portrait of Boulez ... It uses recollections, analyses and assessments of colleagues such as Daniel Barenboim and Peter Eotvos, as well as family (his brother, Roger). The un-narrated documentary takes a loosely chronological approach from Boulez' early development, through the various phases of his life, of his education, and his work in its widest context. Yet it cuts and intersperses commentary from several decades when relevant in order to arrive at a authoritative and totally convincing summation of just how much of such significance Boulez could not have helped doing throughout his admittedly long life ... The film presents Boulez particularly honestly - he describes his nervousness on first conducting the Sacre du Printemps (also in a splendid performance by the LSO) ... just as much of a treat ... If you have even a minimum interest in the world of contemporary music; if you want to be clearer about Boulez, and perhaps understand better why he was such a great figure in (modern) music; if you already know the musician and his work, then this is an essential DVD so rich and full of material that it cannot fail to communicate the energy, inventiveness and rock-solid musicianship of Boulez".

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