Speaking in Strings

Speaking in Strings
by Paola di Florio

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DVD details

Actor: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Director: Paola di Florio
Cinematographer: Peter Rader
Producer: Paola di Florio
Editor: Ellen Goldwasser
Producer: Cindy Rosenberg
Producer: Elizabeth Rodgers
Producer: Julie Du Brow
Producer: Lilibet Foster
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 73 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Video Group

DVD Reviews of Speaking in Strings

DVD Review: Passionate and Poetic
Summary: 5 Stars

As in any fine work of art, Paola di Florio combines substance and allusion to touch the strings of the viewer's own emotions and experience. Nadja's purported "bad girl" persona seems less important than the "person" who emerges brassy but sincere, intimate but not maudlin---and whose natural capacity for "feeling" fuels a full range of expression, musical and otherwise. Despite the battery and/or cigarette butt analogy, the film seems largely about love and rediscovered love: grandparent/grandchild, mother/daughter, friends, lovers, life, art---the many layers of which are drawn together by the words of an Italian Christmas carol: "Ah, how much it cost you to have loved me so..." I've read some reviews---and will admit that the film is probably not for the kindergarten class in evolutionary personhood; one needs to be part of the same spiritual "kumpania" to fully appreciate it.

DVD Review: A gorgeous tribute to a phenomenal woman
Summary: 5 Stars

I saw this documentary when it was aired on PBS and it made me want to run out in the New York winter and buy every recording Salerno-Sonnenberg ever made. There is footage of her playing winning a competition with the Shostakovich concerto. She seems demonically possessed. She gives you the feeling music is something worth dying for (and living for).

Every musician, nay-- every aspiring artist, nay anyone aspiring in any field of discipline, nay -- every one living, should watch this video for a massive dose of inspiration and enthusiasm for life and art.

DVD Review: wow!
Summary: 5 Stars

I think I had heard of SPEAKING IN STRINGS, in passing, when it first came out in 1998. However, I only knew that it was about Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, a phenomenally talented violinst. This woman has been called "possessed," "frightening" and "brilliant" with good reason. I can honestly say that I have never heard (or seen) such an incomparable artist perform great classical pieces with such fire and spirit. Nadja has been criticized as much as she has been proclaimed. The intensity of her connection to the music is so strong that she has the tendency to contort her face and physicalize the mood of the pieces she interprets. This, of course, has generated criticism from the press. For me, Nadja really is feeling the essence of the music she expresses through her instrument.

Not only do we hear great excerpts from some of Nadja's finest performances (including her Carnegie Hall debut, at the age of seventeen in 1982, and an interview with Johnny Carson), as well as a really engrossing look at her formative years (complete with clips from home movies and family photos). We also see a very intimate side of Solerno-Sonnenberg and we really see the personal setbacks that almost put a permanent end to her career. Director Paola di Fiorio was granted a well-earned Academy Award nomination for Best Documementary, and you don't have to look too closely to see why.

DVD Review: Excellent Biography With One Disappointment
Summary: 4 Stars

This documentary provides us with a glimpse into the life of a most unusual violinist. Certainly Ms Salerno-Sonnenberg has rightful status as a proficient performer, but beyond that she is well known for her unusual stage presence. She almost literally throws herself into her performance providing the audience with a physical rendition of the music in addition to playing her instrument.

I said above that we get a glimpse of her life, and that is all one can hope for in a 75 minute movie. What we learn here once again is that we can't idealize the lives of talented performers. Nadja's life is a hectic one consisting of up to 200 performances a year. The stress of this routine is manifested in bouts of depression which on one occasion becomes suicidal.

While watching the movie I couldn't help thinking of Jaqueline du Pre, the demonstrative cellist who led a tragic life. Ms Salerno-Sonnenberg tells us that she really feels free only when she is actually performing.

Now to the disappointment. Listening to her recorded performances is very rewarding, but it can be like listening to a Shakespeare play on the radio. The visual part of her playing is an important part of the listening experience. Many of us may never be able to watch her play so I had hoped that the documentary would give us a good sampling of her on stage efforts, but unfortunately the clips of her playing the violin are few, and never more than 60 seconds in length. I wish they had extended the movie another 15 minutes and treated us to the performance of at least one composition. It is for the reason that I gave a rating of four stars instead of five.

DVD Review: Availability
Summary: 5 Stars

Although I haven't watched this DVD yet, I am pleased that it was available on Amazon.

Description of Speaking in Strings

Described as "possessed, "frightening," and "brilliant," Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has either enraged or enraptured critics while earning herself the nickname "the bad girl of the violin." Academy Award? nominee Speaking In Strings explores the controversial and fascinating life of this funny, fearless, irreverent, and world-renowned musician. A deeply private look at the woman behind all the accolades and controversy.

DVD Features: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Biography; Docurama Previews; Interactive Menu; Scene Selection

Emotional, raw, and revealing--those adjectives apply to the documentary Speaking in Strings and the person profiled, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, one of the world's most acclaimed violinists. The intense musician's professional journey, which began at Carnegie Hall when she was a teenager, was sidetracked when she accidentally cut off the tip of a finger and almost ended when she tried to commit suicide. Filmmaker Paola di Florio was a childhood friend, and this intimacy is reflected in frank oncamera interviews. ("Feeling more than anyone I know" can be phenomenal and "a damn curse," she says.) The concert footage is electrifying: Two weeks after the suicide attempt, a possessed Salerno-Sonnenberg once again plays Carnegie Hall. Her mother, friends, fellow musicians, and critics--who say she lets her emotions overpower the music--are heard from. The loudest voice, though, is the honest one of Salerno-Sonnenberg, consumed yet empowered by her talent. "It's amazing what you endure," she says, "when you must." --Valerie Nelson

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