''Pianomania'' is a 2009 German-Austrian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by directors Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis. The film presents Stefan Knüpfer, a virtuoso piano tuner from the piano company

Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to ...

, in his work with pianists such as

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ' ...

and

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music priz ...

Synopsis

The collaborative work between

and Stefan Knüpfer is at the centre of the film. Bach's ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'' is to be recorded.

has decided in favour of concert grand piano Nr. 109 for the Bach recording. The film begins one year before the recording. Knüpfer wants to study instruments from the time of Bach for Aimard. He experiments with sound absorbers made from felt and with glass sound mirrors. But as fate will have it, the number 109 grand piano is sold to Australia a few months later; and that is not the last obstacle that gets in their way. Knüpfer and Aimard meet regularly, and when the tension is so thick it can be cut with a knife, Knüpfer saves the day with his sense of humour. The road toward the pianist’s longed for “bravo” is long. One afternoon, a rather sleepy musician in jeans and sneakers shows up. It is the Chinese star pianist

, who will be giving a guest performance in the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

concert hall. Still suffering from jet lag, he has to choose an instrument to play. His overcrowded tour calendar leaves little time for individual settings. Instead, and almost shyly, he asks for a heavy bench that will hold up through his extrovert style of playing without sliding around. The piano superstar completes his performance in the large hall in a dark suit and wild hairstyle. The bench holds up, and he receives thunderous applause. The sketches of the comedy duo Igudesman & Joo always parody the elitist music world. Together with Knüpfer they come up with some of the craziest scenarios for the next show. One of

's last concerts takes place at the

Grafenegg Music Festival The Grafenegg Festival is a major international classical music festival in Grafenegg, close to Vienna, Austria. The annual festival takes place on the grounds of Grafenegg Castle. Two venues have been built particularly for the festival in the ...

. Knüpfer prepares the piano for him while the star pianist gives his directions humorously.

Technical aspects

Corresponding to the struggle of the protagonists to find the perfect sound, the sound recording of the film itself was made with great efforts. All the scenes were recorded in Dolby Surround quality and on up to 90 separate sound tracks.

Nominations, awards and prizes

*Lola, German Oscar, category Best sound ( Deutscher Filmpreis) *Golden Gate Award as best documentary (

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

) *Audience award for the best documentary (International Filmweekend Würzburg) *‘Lüdia’, first prize (Cinema Festival in Lünen) *Award for "Best Editing” (Diagonale) *Best film, category ‘Week of the Critic’(

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

) *Nominated for European Film Prize (

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soc ...

) *Nominated for Austrian Film Prize *Rating ‘Highly Recommended’ by The Film Evaluation Committee in Wiesbaden *Honourable Mention (EURODOK film festival, Oslo)

Official selection in international festivals

2010

*The Magnificent 7, Serbia *Internationales Filmwochenende Würzburg, Germany *Göteborg International Film Festival, Sweden *Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Berlinale), Germany *Jameson Dublin IFF, Ireland *Zagrebdox, Croatia *Sofia International Film Festival, Bulgaria *34th Hong Kong International Film Festival, China *Macau International Film Festival, China *BAFICI – Festival International de Cinema Independiente Buenos Aires, Argentina *St. Paul International Film Festival Minneapolis, USA *Doc Outlook-Market, Switzerland *San Francisco International Festival, USA *DOK.Fest München, Germany *Planet Doc Review Film Festival, Poland *Moscow International Film Festival, Russia *Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia *New Zealand International Film Festival, New Zealand *Semana de Cine Aleman in Cinemateca Nacional Mexico City, Mexico *Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington DC, USA *Flickers – Rhode Island International Film Festival, USA *Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, South Korea *Ghent Film Festival, Belgium *Berlin & Beyond Festival San Francisco, USA *Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan *Canberra Film Festival, Australia *St. George Brisbane International Film Festival, Australia *PIANO-PAM! Internationales Festival für Neue Klaviermusik Uster, Switzerland *IDOCS International Documentary Forum Beijing, China

2009

*International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), Netherlands *Max-Ophüls-Preis, Germany *Kinofest Lünen, Germany *

Hof International Film Festival The Hof International Filmfestival is a German film festival that takes place in Hof, Bavaria, every year in October. Apart from numerous foreign productions, the main focus traditionally is on German films. During six festival days, about 130 f ...

, Germany *Unerhört Hamburg, Germany *Diagonale, Austria *Cork Festival, Ireland *Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland *Zurich Film Festival, Switzerland *Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain *Sheffield Doc/Fest, Great Britain *SoNoRo Bucharest, Romania

Directors biography

*Lilian Franck studied at the

Film Academy Baden-Württemberg The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (German: ''Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg'') was founded in 1991 as a publicly funded film school in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Filmakademie is one of the most internationally renowned film sc ...

and at Le Fresnoy, the National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France. In 2002, she received the French-German prize for Young Journalism for the humorous documentary “Half a Chance,” which she co-directed with Robert Cibis. After this collaboration, the pair founded the filmmaking company OVAL Filmemacher in Berlin, Germany. In 2009, Lilian Franck co-directed ''Pianomania'', which premiered in more than 20 countries and was awarded, among others, the prize of “Semaine de la critique” at the

, the Golden Gate Award at the

and the German Deutscher Filmpreis “Lola” for Best Sound. *Robert Cibis studied at the

, FÉMIS, École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son and Le Sorbonne Nouvelle. In 2002, he received the French-German prize for Young Journalism for the humorous documentary “Half a Chance,” which he co-directed with Lilian Franck. After this collaboration, the pair founded the filmmaking company OVAL Filmemacher in Berlin, Germany. Since, he has produced scientific documentaries for television on the theme of health. In 2007, Robert Cibis and Michaela Kirst received the Slovenian Festival Prize “EKOTOPFILM” for their project DISGUSTINGLY HEALTHY which uncovered the use of maggots, called

maggot therapy Maggot therapy (also known as larval therapy) is a type of biotherapy involving the introduction of live, disinfected maggots (fly larvae) into non-healing skin and soft-tissue wounds of a human or other animal for the purpose of cleaning out th ...

, in the medical field. In 2009, Robert Cibis co-directed ''Pianomania''.

Played tracks in the movie and artists

* Béla Bartók – Klavierkonzert Nr. 2, Sz 95 (Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Orchestra –

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

, Director –

, Piano) * Robert Schumann – Fantasie C-dur, op. 17 (

, Piano) *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

– Sonate Nr. 13 (

, Piano) * Franz Liszt – Ungarische Rhapsodie Nr. 6 (

, Piano) *

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard compo ...

– Mein junges Leben hat ein End (Ingomar Rainer, Clavichord) *

– Baletto del Granduca (Ingomar Rainer, Cembalo) *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

– Klavierkonzert Nr. 3, op. 37 (

Till Fellner Till Fellner (born 9 March 1972) is an Austrian pianist. Biography Till Fellner was born in Vienna and studied at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien with Helene Sedo-Stadler, and subsequently with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg ...

) * Maurice Ravel – "Ondine",

Gaspard de la nuit ''Gaspard de la nuit'' (subtitled ''Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand''), M. 55 is a suite of piano pieces by Maurice Ravel, written in 1908. It has three movements, each based on a poem or ''fantaisie'' from the collection '' ...

(

) * Johannes Brahms – Sommerabend, op. 85 ( Heinrich Heine, Text -

Julius Drake The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

, Piano -

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

, Tenor) *

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

– Sonate, Hob. XVI: 20 (

, Piano) *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

– "Impromptu“ Nr. 1, op. 142 (

, Piano) *

– Sonate Nr. 31, op. 110, 3. Satz (Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo) (

, Piano) * Thomas Koschat – Schneewalzer (Stefan Knüpfer tuning the 109 grand at styriarte) *

– Klavierkonzert Nr. 13, KV 415 (Chamber Orchestra of Europe -

, Piano and Director) *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

– Prelude, op. 45 (Client buying the 109 grand) * Erik Satie – Gymnopédie (

Hyung-ki Joo Hyung-ki Joo () is a Korean-British pianist, composer, comedian and one half of the comedy-musical duo Igudesman & Joo. Billy Joel chose Joo to arrange and record his classical piano pieces for the album '' Fantasies & Delusions''. It was rec ...

, Piano) *

–

Für Elise Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor ( WoO59, Bia515) for solo piano, commonly known as "Für Elise" (, ), is one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most popular compositions. It was not published during his lifetime, only being discovered (by Ludwig Nohl) 40 ye ...

(Sketch from "A Little Nightmare Music":

, Piano -

Aleksey Igudesman Aleksey Mikhailovich Igudesman (russian: Алексей Михайлович Игу́десман, link=no; born 22 February 1973) is a Russian-German violinist, composer, conductor, comedian and actor. He performs in the comedy-musical duo Igude ...

, Violin) *

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

–

Die Kunst der Fuge ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

, BWV 1080 (

, Piano) * Sergei W. Rachmaninoff – Rhapsodie über ein Thema von Paganini fur Klavier und Orchester, op. 43 (

Rudolf Buchbinder Rudolf Buchbinder (born 1 December 1946, Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia) is an Austrian classical pianist. Biography Buchbinder studied with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1965, he made a tour of North and South Americas. In ...

, Piano) *

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

– Caténaires (

)

References

External links

* * * *
The New York Times: ''Pianomania: A Master of the Piano Whose Performances Receive No Applause''The Guardian: ''Pianomania''Los Angeles Times: ''Movie review: 'PianomaniaVariety: ''Review: 'Pianomania: In Search of the Perfect Sound
{{Steinway & Sons 2009 documentary films 2009 films Austrian documentary films Austrian independent films Documentary films about musical instruments Films about pianos and pianists German documentary films German independent films 2000s German-language films Steinway & Sons 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s German films