Tony Palmer's Films for The South Bank Show [2009]

Melvyn Bragg has run The South Bank Show for over 30 years, producing in all over 250 films. Sadly, ITV has now decided to axe the show, so to celebrate the final season of The South Bank Show, a brilliant collection of Tony Palmer's films made for The South Bank Show is being released in a special commemorative boxset. The eleven films include the Italia Prize-winning definitive portraits of Benjamin Britten, William Walton and Maria Callas; the New York Film & TV Festival Gold medal winners about Stravinsky, Margot Fonteyn and Malcolm Arnold; and the controversial films about Gorecki, John Adams and Berlioz. Films about the great American soprano Renée Fleming and the original 'Phantom of the Opera' Michael Crawford complete the package. As Bragg says: "Palmer's films for me have been one of the highlights of every season since we began." DVD1: Maria Callas - Callas DVD2: William Walton - At The Haunted End of the Day DVD3: Margot Fonteyn - Margot DVD4: Stravinsky - Once At A Border DVD5: Benjamin Britten - A Time There Was... DVD6: John Adams - Hail Bop! A Portrait of John Adams DVD7: Renee Fleming - Miss Renee Fleming DVD8: Malcolm Arnold - Toward The Unknown Region DVD9: Henryck Gorecki - The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs DVD10: Berlioz - I, Berlioz DVD11: Michael Crawford - The Fantastic World of Michael Crawford Review The film-making is attentive, imaginative and beautifully crafted...music, archive film, stills and documentary footage tell the story...crafting them into rich montages. --The Guardian, (Andrew Dickson), December 17, 2009