Seungyong Chang

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The Stories about Music Films: 56. The Child Prodigy (2010)

Basic Info

Title: The Child Prodigy

Genre: Biography, Drama

Country: Canada

Language: French

Running time: 101 minutes

Release date: May 28, 2010

Staff

Director: Luc Dionne

Producer: Denise Robert, Daniel Louis

Screenplay by: Luc Dionne

Cinematography: Bruce Chun, Daniel Jobin

Edited by: Jean-François Bergeron

Cast

Guillaume Lebon as Young André Mathieu

Patrick Drolet as André Mathieu Adult

Marc Labrèche as Rodolphe Mathieu

Macha Grenon as Mimi Mathieu

Karine Vanasse as Camillette Mathieu

Summary

"The Child Prodigy" is a 2010 Canadian film directed by Luc Dionne. A biographical drama about classical pianist André Mathieu, this film stars Guillaume Lebon as young Mathieu and Patrick Drolet as adult Mathieu.

André Mathieu was a Canadian pianist and composer who was born on February 18, 1929 and died on June 2, 1968. As a composer, Mathieu's style leaned towards the late Romantic school of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and his music was influenced by Claude Debussy. He also left behind many works for piano.

André Mathieu at eleven years of age

Its cast also includes Marc Labrèche as his father Rodolphe Mathieu, Macha Grenon as his mother Mimi Mathieu and Karine Vanasse as his sister Camillette.

The film was nominated for two awards at the 13th Jutra Awards in 2011.

Movie Review

“Great biopic on a French Canadian piano child prodigy”

“Must buy for the desert island”

The Behind Stories about the Film

1. André Mathieu was the first French-Canadian to play more than 20 hours during an endurance piano competition in the 1950s.

André Mathieu at 11 with his sister

2. André Mathieu's wife died a year after the film was released.

Thank you.

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Sunday, February 6, 2022

Amedeo Modigliani in Worldwide Museums: 7. The Art Institute of Chicago

How are you?

The 7th place I would like to introduce for this week is The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois in the United States.

Founded in 1879, The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curation and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts around 1.5 million people annually. Organized by 11 curatorial departments, its collection includes iconic works such as Georges Seurat's “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, Pablo Picasso's “The Old Guitarist”, Edward Hopper's “Nighthawks”, and Grant Wood's “American Gothic.” Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works is exhibited in more than 30 special exhibitions held annually.

As a research institution, the Art Institute of Chicago also houses conservation science department, conservation laboratories and the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, one of the largest art history and architecture libraries in the United States.

The growth of the collection has resulted in the expansion of the museum after the museum's 1893 building, built for the World's Columbian Exposition. The latest expansion, the Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano, opened in 2009, made the museum to nearly one million square feet, making it the second-largest art museum in the country after the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Associated with a leading art school, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the few remaining integrated art institutions in the United States.

The works of Modigliani currently in the possession of The Art Institute of Chicago are as follows.

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Thursday, February 3, 2022

108. Classical Music: 23. Igor Stravinsky, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

This week's lecture is “Igor Stravinsky”, the 23rd topic of “Classical Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “108. Classical Music: 23. Igor Stravinsky” introduced on October 28th, 2017.

Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor born on June 17, 1882 and died on April 6, 1971.

Igor Stravinsky (1903)

Stravinsky first gained international fame with three ballets, “The Firebird”, “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring”, commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, and premiered in Paris by Ballets Russes.

Sergei Diaghilev by Léon Bakst (1906)

In particular, The Rite of Spring has contributed greatly to Stravinsky's lasting reputation as one of the revolutionary works that have broken static music boundaries and many composers have since arranged for their tastes.

Group of supporters and members of the Ballets Russes
(1911)

The earliest period in the evolution of Stravinsky's musical style is the ‘Russian period (c. 1907–1919)’, the period began with works created under the tutelage of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from 1905 to the death of Rimsky-Korsakov in 1908.

Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov seated together on the left
(1908)

The ‘Neoclassical period (c. 1920–1954)' is a period in which Stravinsky not only returned to the music of the Classical period, but also explored the themes from the ancient Classical world, such as Greek mythology.

Igor Stravinsky by Pablo Picasso (1920)

In the 1950s, Stravinsky was making a transition to the ‘Serial period (1954-1968)', where he began to use serial compositional techniques such as dodecaphony, the twelve-tone technique originally devised by Schoenberg.