Movies |
For the Love of Mahler: The Inspired Life of Henry-Louis de La Grange
directed by Jason Starr
By
Published: Apr 18, 2016
Category:
Documentary
What are the odds that one of the most interesting films I’ve seen recently would be a documentary about a 91-year-old Frenchman who has dedicated his life to learning and sharing every possible bit of information and insight about Gustav Mahler?
Henry-Louis de La Grange turns out to be fascinating. And through his story I learned about Mahler, whose music I kind of knew but whose life eluded me. And I was introduced to a master documentarian of high culture: Jason Starr, who has directed more than 100 films and television programs.
As de La Grange tells it, the transformational event in his life occurred in 1945, when he was 21. He attended a performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Bruno Walter at Carnegie hall. A few weeks later, he attended a performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, also conducted by Bruno Walter. “Something happened in me that made it obvious that I must work for Mahler,” de La Grange says. “His music is endless. Infinite. And we meet the infinite everywhere when we confront Mahler’s music.
How much did de La Grange learn about Mahler in 70 years? Almost everything. His four-volume biography of the composer fills 7,600 pages and is so granular he includes even the particulars of Mahler’s favorite dessert. Good news: The documentary avoids that scholarship. Its subject is passion that borders on obsession. And a human story like that is invariably equal parts astonishing and charming. [To buy the DVD of “For the Love of Mahler” from Amazon, click here.]
Mahler’s range echoes in de La Grange’s life. Here he is in Marrakech with his beloved dog. Doing yoga. Lifting weights. At a reception in Paris. Showing us some of the treasures of the Médiathèque Musical Mahler. There is commentary from Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, and Marina Mahler, among others. And there is such fantastic footage of Mahler’s retreat in the Italian Alps that you’ll want to book a ticket.
The cheat sheet on Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): When he was four, he discovered the family piano. At 10, he gave his first public performance. He was a prodigy again as a conductor in Vienna. But not popular: “It was said that he treated his musicians in the way a lion tamer treated his animals.”
Composing was solitary, productive, all-consuming. “The symphony must be like the world,” he said. “It must embrace everything.” In musical terms, that meant everything from symphonies to bird calls, bugles and songs he’d heard on the street. But when they were assembled, these sounds produced deep feeling punctuated by intervals of familiar absurdity.
Jason Starr most recently won the 2016 Whitehead International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement. This film is surely on several short lists.
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