John Aler

John Aler

Movies for John Aler...

The Making of Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Symphony
Title: The Making of Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Symphony
Character: Self
Released: May 1, 2002
Type: Movie
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Letter to Peter, on Saint François d'Assise by Olivier Messiaen
Title: Letter to Peter, on Saint François d'Assise by Olivier Messiaen
Character: Tenor
Released: January 1, 1992
Type: Movie
In 1992, Olivier Messiaen's epic opera "Saint François d'Assise" was brought to the Salzburg Festival in a staging by Peter Sellars. The distinct visual appearance that Sellars lent to the opera, where video monitors with powerful images are used as a sort of high-tech metaphor for a cathedral's stained glass, drew critical acclaim and is still talked about as a watershed moment in opera to this day. This film here is a 75-minute documentary on the 1992 staging. Jean-Pierre Gorin filmed Sellars, baritone José van Dam (St. Francis) soprano Dawn Upshaw (The Angel), and the LA Philharmonic and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen as they rehearsed for the big day. There are interviews with these artists, though Sellars gets most of the screen time. The documentary is very much about Sellars' vision for Messiaen's theatrical drama. Very little is said about Messiaen's music.