{"product_id":"2041508","title":"The Kindness Of Strangers [DVD]","description":"Brand New From Reputable UK Company With 30 Years Experience In Retail, Please Note Not All Our New Items Are Shrink Wrapped.\u003cbr\u003eAll items shipped within 3 working days of payment.\u003cbr\u003ePlease note that all our DVDs are Region 2.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Andre Previn at 80! It scarcely seems credible. This is the man who won 4 Oscars almost 50 years ago, and still maintains a full conducting, playing and composing schedule, each discipline of which would exhaust a man half his age. And he really is a phenomenal pianist, a conductor of profound insights, and a composer of considerable tonal originality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'I once asked him how many songs he had written. After much hesitation, he told me he couldn't really remember. And that was not modesty; he just had no idea. In fact, there are hundreds, in a sense culminating in his much underestimated opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, which is how we met. This film was made during the preparations, rehearsals and first performances of that opera in San Francisco.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Two anecdotes illustrate for me the extraordinary musician I had the honour to work with. I knew of course that he was a jazz pianist whom even Oscar Peterson held in awe so I was determined to film him playing jazz. He refused. 'I really haven't played jazz in public for years,' he told me. Then by chance I discovered that he had been invited to play at bass player Ray Brown's 70th birthday celebrations at the Blue Note Club in New York. I pleaded with Previn to allow me to film this. He refused. So, of course, I hid away in the Blue Note Club and thanks to the wonders of digital cameras, no extra lights were required so I was more-or-less invisible. After the first of the two shows, I went backstage to say hello. As always, he greeted me with the utmost courtesy and said: 'not bad, eh, for an out-of-practice old timer?' (His playing and improvisation had, of course, been breath-taking). 'Pity you didn't film it....'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'So, here is the newly re-mastered original film by way of a small tribute. It was, and is, a privilege to know him and to acknowledge his greatness as a musician and his very special qualities as man.' Tony Palmer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chalkys.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54421373878657,"sku":"2041508","price":11.98,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0056\/8043\/1219\/files\/5056083210893.jpg?v=1750649943","url":"https:\/\/chalkys.com\/products\/2041508","provider":"Chalkys.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}