composers biopics & documentaries
by mouchetteblue | created - 11 Jul 2018 | updated - 25 Sep 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 427,947 | Gross: $51.97M
2. Immortal Beloved (1994)
R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to ... See full summary »
Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini, Johanna ter Steege
Votes: 26,209 | Gross: $9.91M
3. Le roi danse (2000)
115 min | Drama, History, Music
Corbiau repeats the Farinelli formula, artistic rivalry and social private drama expressed in dazzling, sometimes excessively lavish baroque scenery, music and costume, but this time in its... See full summary »
Director: Gérard Corbiau | Stars: Benoît Magimel, Boris Terral, Tchéky Karyo, Colette Emmanuelle
Votes: 2,398
4. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
R | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Paris 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The ... See full summary »
Director: Jan Kounen | Stars: Anna Mouglalis, Mads Mikkelsen, Elena Morozova, Natacha Lindinger
Votes: 7,034 | Gross: $1.72M
5. Tous les matins du monde (1991)
Not Rated | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, fierce and somber man, grand master of the viola da gamba and professor of Marin Marais, prestigious musician in the court of Louis XIV.
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Anne Brochet, Guillaume Depardieu
Votes: 7,939 | Gross: $3.09M
6. Impromptu (1991)
PG-13 | 107 min | Biography, Comedy, Music
In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.
Director: James Lapine | Stars: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters
Votes: 5,511 | Gross: $4.08M
7. Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995 TV Movie)
59 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Works, legend and murders of Carlo Gesualdo, a notorious Italian composer and murderer from the 16th century.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Pasquale D'Onofrio, Salvatore Catorano, Angelo Carrabs, Milva
Votes: 777
8. The Music Lovers (1971)
R | 123 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Piano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexuality by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Glenda Jackson, Max Adrian, Christopher Gable
Votes: 3,021 | Gross: $0.20M
9. Lisztomania (1975)
R | 103 min | Biography, Comedy, Music
Composer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicholas, Ringo Starr
Votes: 3,117
10. Wagner (1983)
300 min | Biography, Drama, History
A huge panorama of Richard Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria, to the final ... See full summary »
Stars: Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave, Miguel Herz-Kestranek, László Gálffi
Votes: 616
11. Mahler (1974)
PG | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Composer Gustav Mahler's (Robert Powell) life, told in a series of flashbacks as he and his wife (Georgina Hale) discuss their failing marriage during a train journey.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Robert Powell, Georgina Hale, Lee Montague, Miriam Karlin
Votes: 3,059
12. Io, Don Giovanni (2009)
127 min | Drama, History, Music
A drama based on the life of 18th century Italian lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte, who collaborated with Mozart on his "Don Giovanni" opera.
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Tobias Moretti, Eulàlia Ramon, Sergi Roca, Anna Saura Ramón
Votes: 628
13. The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)
94 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.
Directors: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub | Stars: Gustav Leonhardt, Christiane Lang, Paolo Carlini, Ernst Castelli
Votes: 1,585 | Gross: $0.02M
14. Mahler on the Couch (2010)
98 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Alma Mahler's affair with the young architect Walter Gropius sets in motion a marital drama that forces her husband Gustav Mahler to seek advice from Sigmund Freud.
Directors: Felix O. Adlon, Percy Adlon | Stars: Johannes Silberschneider, Barbara Romaner, Karl Markovics, Eva Mattes
Votes: 495
15. Paganini (1989)
81 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A biography of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini.
Director: Klaus Kinski | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Debora Caprioglio, Nikolai Kinski, Dalila Di Lazzaro
Votes: 1,117
16. A Song to Remember (1945)
Approved | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biography of Frederic Chopin.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, Cornel Wilde, Nina Foch
Votes: 1,619
17. Tchaikovsky (1970)
Not Rated | 157 min | Biography, Drama
The life and work of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky is shown through his relationship with aristocratic art connoisseur Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck.
Director: Igor Talankin | Stars: Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Antonina Shuranova, Kirill Lavrov, Vladislav Strzhelchik
Votes: 487
18. Testimony (1987)
Not Rated | 157 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his life and career during the rule of Stalin.
Director: Tony Palmer | Stars: Ben Kingsley, Sherry Baines, Magdalen Asquith, Mark Asquith
Votes: 287
19. Song Without End (1960)
Not Rated | 141 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The romantic story of Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt (Sir Dirk Bogarde), whose scandalous love affair forced him to abandon his adoring audiences.
Directors: Charles Vidor, George Cukor | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Capucine, Geneviève Page, Patricia Morison
Votes: 951
20. The Harvest of Sorrow (1998 TV Movie)
102 min | Documentary, Biography
Tony Palmer tells the life story of Sergei Rachmaninoff through the use of home movies, concert footage, and interviews. John Gielgud reads from Rachmaninoff's diaries in a voiceover.
Director: Tony Palmer | Stars: Valery Gergiev, John Gielgud, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Valentina Igoshina
Votes: 78
21. Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic (1985 TV Movie)
88 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles | Stars: Vladimir Horowitz, Wanda Toscanini-Horowitz, Franz Mohr, Richard Probst
Votes: 103
22. Mozart's Sister (2010)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A reimagined account of the early life of Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart, five years older than Wolfgang, and a musical prodigy in her own right.
Director: René Féret | Stars: Marie Féret, Marc Barbé, Delphine Chuillot, David Moreau
Votes: 1,614 | Gross: $0.71M
23. Copying Beethoven (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A fictionalized account of the last year of Beethoven's life.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Matthew Goode, Ralph Riach
Votes: 14,119 | Gross: $0.35M
24. Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1992 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 51 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A young boy learns to appreciate the music of his upstairs boarder, Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Director: David Devine | Stars: Neil Munro, Illya Woloshyn, Fiona Reid, Paul Soles
Votes: 483
25. Mit meinen heißen Tränen (1986)
285 min | Biography, Drama
Depicts the final years of the life of 19th century Austrian composer Franz Schubert.
Stars: Udo Samel, Daniel Olbrychski, Wojciech Pszoniak, Traugott Buhre
Votes: 119
26. Spring Symphony (1983)
PG-13 | 103 min | Biography, Music
Chronicles the illustrious 19th-century love affair between composer Robert Schumann and pianist Clara Wieck.
Director: Peter Schamoni | Stars: Nastassja Kinski, Herbert Grönemeyer, Rolf Hoppe, Anja-Christine Preussler
Votes: 368
27. Strauss' Great Waltz (1934)
Approved | 80 min | Biography, Music, Romance
The story of Johann Strauss the elder and younger.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Edmund Gwenn, Esmond Knight, Jessie Matthews, Fay Compton
Votes: 1,711
28. The Great Waltz (1938)
Passed | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Music
In 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II (Fernand Gravey) - 'Jonahi' to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered ... See full summary »
Directors: Julien Duvivier, Victor Fleming, Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Luise Rainer, Fernand Gravey, Miliza Korjus, Hugh Herbert
Votes: 1,306
29. Song of Love (1947)
Approved | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Composer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers her support. Also helping the Schumanns is their lifelong friend, composer Johannes Brahms.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid, Robert Walker, Henry Daniell
Votes: 1,151
30. The Devil's Violinist (2013)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
19th Century violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini incurs the wrath of his diabolical manager while preparing for his debut performance in London, and falling for the daughter of an English impresario.
Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: David Garrett, Jared Harris, Joely Richardson, Christian McKay
Votes: 3,834
31. Eroica (2003 TV Movie)
129 min | Drama, History, Music
On June 9, 1804, Ludwig van Beethoven and his pupil Ries assemble a group of musicians to give the first performance of his Third Symphony, 'Bonaparte', to his patron Prince Lobkowitz and ... See full summary »
Director: Simon Cellan Jones | Stars: Peter Hanson, Jack Davenport, Leo Bill, Ian Hart
Votes: 664
32. Blue Note (1991)
135 min | Drama, Music, Romance
the film covers the last few days of fragile Chopin's professional life.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Marie-France Pisier, Janusz Olejniczak, Sophie Marceau, Noëmi Nadelmann
Votes: 731
33.
Omnibus (1967–2003)
Episode:
Song of Summer
(1968)
Not Rated | 74 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Traces last 5 years of the life of Frederick Delius through the eyes of the young composer Eric Fenby
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Max Adrian, Maureen Pryor, Christopher Gable, David Collings
Votes: 400
34. Verdi (1982– )
Not Rated | 70 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Giuseppe Verdi was born in 1813 and lived until 1901, his life spanning nearly a century of political turmoil and considerable personal turmoil. This 1982 biographical television miniseries... See full summary »
Stars: Ronald Pickup, Carla Fracci, Giampiero Albertini, Omero Antonutti
Votes: 312
35. Beethoven (2005)
60 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
A dramatized documentary on the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Stars: Paul Rhys, Charles Hazlewood, David Bamber, Casper Harvey
Votes: 254
36. Notorious Woman (1974)
350 min | Drama
The incredible life of novelist George Sand is explored, with a particular focus on her romance with famed musician Frédéric Chopin.
Stars: Rosemary Harris, Marina McConnell, Lewis Fiander, Jonathan Newth
Votes: 108
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