John's award-winning film, The Full Monteverdi,
which is based on his wildly succesful collaboration with I Fagiolini,
has been recieved with wide-spread critical acclaim. This film has been
transmitted by NRK (Norway), Ceskatelevize (Czech Republic), SVT (Sweden), The Arts Channel (New Zealand), ARTV (Canada), YLE (Finland), RTVE (Spain) and SBS (Australia); future broadcasts include S4C (Wales). SKYARTS broadcast the UK TV premiere on Christmas Day 2008 at 8pm.
The DVD has been released world-wide by Naxos. Available from major retailers, the DVD can also purchased directly from Polyphonic Films or (for visitors from the USA only ) watched online at Amazon.com.
It has been awarded a Choc du Monde de la musique.
Following screenings of The Full Monteverdi
in London, York, Lincoln, Berlin, Downpatrick (N.I), Corsham,
Cheltenham, Dartington, Worcester, Ambleside, Chichester, Copenhagen, Birmingham, Havant, Leeds, Stockholm, Vienna and Vilnius; future
showings include Maine, Mainz, Oxford, Paris.
For occasional updates, sign up for the newsletter here, visit the dedicated Full Monteverdi film site or scroll down for reviews, images and the trailer.
"La
Bouchardière's concept finds its ideal realisation in film. Brilliant."
Gerhard Persché, Fono Forum ***** (pick of the month)
"The tour de force of the film is... to have given a coherence and dramatic tension to twenty a capella madrigals - the least cinematographic material possible... The recurrent theme of separation is suitable for a contemporary reading but you need John La Bouchardière's talent, a typically British standard of acting and I Fagiolini's musical ensemble to convince and captivate. Fascinating."
Philippe Venturini, Le Monde de la musique (choc du mois)
"totally faithful to the composer’s music… a brilliant conceit and it works spectacularly well…"
Opera Today
"A stroke of genius that defies a genre... that sets a standard of what can be done... a way to open the treasures of this great music to our literal-minded and lazy age. This film helps me to understand how the dreams of Wagner... for a unified experience could finally come to pass... If you love Monteverdi, get this. If you think you might like his
music, get it. If you’ve tried to listen to Monteverdi, but haven’t
quite managed to get into it, get it. If you’ve never heard Monteverdi,
get it."
American Record Guide
"This
astonishing film... is based
on John La Bouchardière’s collaboration with I Fagiolini, and charts
the emotional progress of six failing couples through the deeply moving
music of Monteverdi’s Fourth Book of Madrigals. This remarkable,
intricately constructed film is aesthetically beautiful in every
aspect: masterfully shot, sensitively arranged images, utterly glorious
singing, impressive operatic acting, and a terrifyingly involving
narrative flow. This encounter between yesterday’s music and today’s
medium can’t help but deliver Monteverdi’s masterpieces to a new and
deeply appreciative audience in a thoroughly spectacular fashion."
"La
Bouchardiere's verite-style direction, reminiscent of Kieslowski in its
bold opening silence and unrelenting in its emotional delivery, has the
makings of an award winner."
Early Music Today
"...a fascinating and well-produced lesson in cross genre art."
Muso
"This film... demands to be seen."
Classic FM Magazine *****
"a remarkably original conception carried out with astonishing success."
Fanfare
"Genius... I watched it tears running down my cheeks."
Klassisk (Norway) ******
"Outstanding directing"
Klassisk (Germany) "...truly redefines what is and could be considered cinema."
"Harrowing and haunting, the images uncover the naked truths of the madrigal poets"
Choir & Organ (UK)
"La Bouchardiere not only brings the action into the 21st century, he
also takes the art of Monteverdi and injects it with a dose of reality
which allows us into the
plots very easily and with irreversible fascination... This union of great art and real life is the key to the immense
empathy of The Full Monteverdi with any sort of public... The high
musical quality is of the same level as the exceptional direction... A cinematic and musical masterpiece."
