Classical
chamber music is not just about playing well. You must play well with others.
According to Robert Mann, he was never a dazzling soloist, but he had a keen
sense for the dynamics of a small chamber group’s interplay. At ninety-three,
Mann’s reputation only continues to grow, further burnished by filmmaker-symphony
conductor Allan Miller’s documentary profile Speak the Music: Robert Mann and the Mysteries of Chamber Music, which opens this
Friday in New York.
Just
so there are no hard feelings, let us be clear Speak the Music is already available on DVD. However, its limited
one-week theatrical run in New York will feature post-screening Q&A with
Miller. Plus, this being the City, you never know who might show up. After all,
Mann’s admirers are quite accomplished in their own right, including Itzhak
Perlman and the late Elliott Carter. In fact, the Centenarian composer (looking
and sounding tremendous) credits Mann’s interpretation of his string quartets
for his two subsequent Pulitzer Prizes.
While
Mann’s family appears throughout the film, Miller is clearly more interested in
documenting Mann’s performances and workshops than intruding into his private
life. The better portion of the film is dedicated to archival footage of Mann’s
Julliard String Quartet and scenes of his incredibly detailed teaching
sessions. Anyone who is interested in pursuing a professional chamber music career
will find it offers much to study and absorb.
For
casual viewers, there is hardly any drama per se, but Mann is remarkably candid
about the tensions simmering within the later incarnations of the Julliard
Quartet that were largely his own fault. In fact, Mann is quite gracious
throughout the film, notably giving a shout out to criminally under-appreciated
jazz pianist Bernie Leighton, with whom he played in a military combo during
World War II.
