DIABELLI WINS AWARD

Picture Left to right : Eric Saldinger (Idéale Audience International), Bruno Monsaingeon, Piotr Anderszewski.

The « Piotr Anderszewski plays the Diabelli Variations » DVD, released by Idéale Audience International in partnership with Virgin Classics, has received the Choc de l’Année Award from French magazine Le Monde de la Musique in Paris on December 13. Director Bruno Monsaingeon and Piotr Anderszewski received the award four years after the audio recording of the same film received a « Choc » as well. They were joined on stage by Eric Saldinger, head of DVD Publishing at Idéale Audience International and Alain Lanceron, Virgin Classics’ Label Manager.

Described by Pablo Galonce as « a film which, more than a mere complement to the recording, is a true ausiovisual work, the model of what pictures can bring to the understanding of a musical piece », « Piotr Anderszewski plays the Diabelli Variations » is one of the most original classical music documentary ever produced by Idéale Audience. Conceived since its inception by Bruno Monsaingeon as a multimedia exeperience that could be declined for television, CD and home video, this costly film has now found its way onto a DVD produced by Idéale Audience International.

Recorded and filmed in 2000 at the Stelio Molo Auditorium in Lugano - a lakeside city located in Switzerland- for a budget of more than Euro 300,000, « Piotr Anderszewski plays the Diabelli Variations » is an exploration into one of the most peculiar musical partitions ever written by Beethoven, which is also one the most difficult pieces to perform for a pianist in the classical repertoire. In the film, totalling 86 minutes, the performance is preceded by a conversation/explanation with Piotr Anderszewski, where the Artist gives his own passionate analysis of the partition to the viewer.

This title includes two 5.1 audio tracks in Dolby Digital and DTS formats, mixed from the original separate recording tracks especially for DVD. A booklet where Bruno Monsaingeon details the filming and editing techniques he used to produce the film is also included. The DVD is distributed worldwide by EMI Records since October 2004.