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Film treatments (not documentaries) of great composers
By an Amazon.com customer
Testimony - Tony Palmer's Story of Shostakovich /  Ben KingsleyTestimony - Tony Palmer's Story of Shostakovich / Ben Kingsley
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $35.24
Ben Kingsley plays Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich in an adaptation of "Testimony", the composer's memoirs. TCM says, "Ben Kingsley shines in this winning biopic. More than simply offering an overview of Shostakovich's symphonies and musical influence, the film presents a compelling look at his relationship with Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party'
ImpromptuImpromptu
Buy new: $10.49 / Used from: $5.54
An outstanding film that is beautiful, historically accurate, funny and exceptionally entertaining. Subject is the romance between Chopin and George Sand (he was a woman) with Liszt and Delacroix playing important roles. In one magnificent scene, Liszt and Chopin play a four hands piano transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
Death in VeniceDeath in Venice
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $10.54
Beautifully-filmed, it focuses on Gustav Mahler, the late romantic composer. Only thing is, the flick suggests he was gay and history suggests otherwise.
AmadeusAmadeus
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $5.13
A magnificent production full of Mozart's majestic music, the film is somewhat wayward in its depiction of the genius.
Immortal BelovedImmortal Beloved
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $5.03
Beautifully made but intellectually and historically bankrupt, this version of Beethoven's life should be accepted for entertainment purposes only.
Copying BeethovenCopying Beethoven
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.14
Again Beethoven with as much reality as Tyrone Power's "Suez" but an improvement over "Immortal Beloved".
Beethoven - Eroica / John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et RomantiqueBeethoven - Eroica / John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $24.32
The history is right in this dull film that addresses one day in the composer's life.
MahlerMahler
Buy used from: $39.99
"Mahler" gets the Ken Russell treatment in this 1975 biopic that focuses on the composer's neuroses. Visually stunning with caution that Russell overdoes everything.
Lisztomania [VHS]Lisztomania [VHS]
Buy used from: $7.99
More Ken Russell, this time the subject is Franz Liszt. Only VHS on Amazon right now. The Who's Roger Daltrey plays Liszt.