In Search of Mozart film review: a feast for both the eye and ear

AS our own children head out for the start of their school year, it’s mind-boggling to consider that 18th century wunderkind Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart never attended school.

If anything, In Search of Mozart shows that genius follows its own path. In this case it’s a 40,000km journey along every route Mozart followed throughout Europe, with a host of historians, musicians, conductors and singers illuminating the road ahead.

More than 80 works are featured in chronological order, with Mozart’s lively written correspondence, particularly with his father Leopold, used to great effect.

As always with these documentaries on great artists, it’s the vividness of the commentary that really brings the subject to life.

Director Phil Grabsky has a particular knack for capturing the sheer enthusiasm for his subjects that these commentators share.

This is easier said than done; consider trying to ‘compete’ with the sheer beauty of Mozart’s music with the spoken word. Instead, what we get is learned, enjoyable, sometimes humorous explication of the musician’s motivations, in artistic, social and personal contexts.

Moreover, just because we know him now as the equivalent of a musical Shakespeare, his surname enough to conjure all sorts of ideas and a sense of awe, does not mean the world in which he plied his trade revered him in quite the same way.

There were endless trials and tribulations to be compensated for his output, which so often required the composer to have one eye on the marketplace, the other on the music itself. Let’s just say that both eyes seemed to work well enough.

For the viewer, there is a feast for both the eye and ear in this documentary, as well as a wonderful evocation of the history of the time.

In Search of Beethoven kicked off a year of re-released musical documentaries from the In Search Of series in December, with a worldwide special event cinema screening to mark each of the respective birthdays of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Haydn.

This leads up to a special event for Beethoven’s 250th birthday in December 2020: a screening of Concerto – A Beethoven Journey.

In Search of Mozart (E)

Directed by: Phil Grabsky

Narrator: Juliet Stevenson.

Reviewed by: Martin Turner

4.5 stars

In cinemas: February 1,2, 8 and 9