El Sistema - Music to change life (a film by Paul Smaczny & Maria Stodtmeier)
$46.00
Out of Stock6+ weeks add to cart
IL SISTEMA
El Sistema - Music to change life (a film by Paul Smaczny & Maria Stodtmeier)
Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel
[ EuroArts DVD / DVD ]
Release Date: Sunday 1 October 0209
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
A film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Venezuela's unique system of music education takes children from violent slums and turns some of them into world-class musicians. "El Sistema" shows how Venezuelan visionary Jose Antonio Abreu has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the past three decades. This lyrical and moving documentary takes us from the rubbish dumps and barrios of Caracas to the world's finest concert halls. Children from streets dominated by the gun battles of gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught through the model of the symphony orchestra how to build a better society. Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier's film finds hope and joy in unlikely places.
Includes bonus film: Audition for the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela.
"…the main emphasis here is placed upon the missionary zeal of José Antonio Abreu, the visionary politician who masterminded the Sistema… Abreu's staunchly held belief in the capacity of music to better people's lives is nowhere more eloquently illustrated than in the extensive exploration of the performing opportunities that have become available to children living in the crime-ridden ghettoes of the country's main cities."
(BBC Music)
"This inspiring film, subtitled "music to change life", takes us behind the scenes of the worldwide phenomenon of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela… Their founding father is José Antonio Abreu, composer, conductor and politician, who cuts an almost mystical figure in this stunningly photographed film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. El Sistema comes with several awards to its name. Surely it can't be long before its remarkable founder Abreu is the recipient of a prize for peace?"
(Gramophone)
