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Best movie of this year hands down!

the audience applauded

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I thought In Search of Mozart was an outstanding documentary, not only did it feature some great musicians it also took the viewer on a journey through Mozart's life which I found insightful and comprehensive. I would loved to have seen more performances from the contributors maybe as an bonus on the DVD yet saying that the DVD is just over two hours long so its deffiently worth the money. I noticed on Director Phil Grabsky's IMDb profile that In Search of Beethoven is currently in production which i'm really looking forward to. Does anyone have any idea when it is going to be released? It would be great to see it on the big screen.

Phil Grabsky's In Search of Mozart is a straightforward documentary about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that follows a linear chronology in looking at his life and music. If you are looking for a film with a unique style or impressionistic flair, you will not find it here. What you will find, however, is gorgeous color, valuable commentary, visits to ten European capitals, and Mozart's glorious and inspired music. Reduced to a foul-mouthed clown by Peter Shaffer's fictional Amadeus, the true genius and stature of Mozart emerges in Grabsky's two-hour documentary. Narrated by British actress Juliet Stevenson, the film includes interviews with musicologists and artists, the revelation of Mozart's personal letters, and performances of eighty of his works, played with rare passion by some of the world's greatest orchestras and singers. Although I have been known to cry at movies before, rarely have there been this many tears of unadulterated joy tinged with sadness for his short life.In Search of Mozart traces Mozart's life from his childhood in Salzburg to his death in Vienna in 1791 at the age of thirty five from rheumatic fever and kidney failure. Mozart was already a gifted pianist and composer at age five, a boy who could play the piano with amazing dexterity for one so young. By age eighteen, he had already composed twenty eight symphonies, many of which are still performed. Sensing that his son was a genius, his father Leopold, a prominent composer in his own right, took him on the road, visiting courts in Germany, Paris, Austria, and Italy hoping for a court appointment but it was not to come. The film takes us on the 25,000 mile journey along every route Mozart that followed and the cinematography is stunning, though scenes of busy contemporary European life intermixed with drawings of the eighteenth century seem jarring and out of place.Though he had some prosperous years, Mozart struggled financially for most of his life and had considerable debts at the end. When he finally did obtain a position as a court composer in Vienna with Emperor Joseph, he earned only a middle class salary, not the wages of a nobleman. His happiest years were in Vienna from 1780-82 after his marriage to Constanze Weber, but when his first born died, followed soon after by the death of his parents, his music became more introspective, especially in the reflective slow movements of his later piano concertos and the melancholic G-minor string quintet. The high point of his music to many of course are his magnificent operas including Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute, which are shown in live operatic performances with English subtitles.Grabsky makes it a point to state that Mozart was not poisoned, did not die a pauper, and had a faithful and loving relationship with Constanze his entire life. The film discusses Wolfgang's strained relationship with his father and his scatological letters but points out that they were written when he was very young and that the rest of his family used the same kind of base humor. Marking the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, In Search of Mozart, the first major feature-length documentary of Mozart's life, is worth going the extra step to see whether you are a fan of classical music or hip-hop. It is a stunning celebration filled with the unyielding mystery of genius. Picking up the pieces from the wreck left by Amadeus, In Search of Mozart does justice to the man and his music.

On 14 August, Phil Grabsky's "In Search of Mozart" premiered to a New York audience with triumphant flair at the Mostly Mozart Festival, an annual occasion that hosts the world's most renowned Mozart scholars and musicians. It was well received by the Lincoln Center audience, comments echoing in the foyer with excitement and astonishment. It gave me tremendous pleasure to be in attendance at the premiere, having the opportunity to meet the director/producer who has given us the greatest representation of Mozart in film, Phil Grabsky. Read the New York Sun review at www.nysun.com/article/37972The roster of featured artists, scholars and compositions is nothing short of amazing. The greatest caliber of musicianship in combination with Mr. Grabsky's ability to unconventionally capture the music and narrative is an unforgettable experience. I honestly cannot say enough about the film, and I plan to endorse it to the fullest deserving capacity!With Highest Recommendations, Sherry L. Davis (Ohio, USA)

Long and flabby, with few originalities into Mozart's life, work, genius. Some primary sources -- ie the letters (all voices are good) -- illuminate the unextraordinary, loving man under the extraordinary artist, but I did not leave knowing him better than before I went in, which anyway is not well.BAD photography.No dramatic momentum. Most interviewees are well-meaning but dull. Sound is lush and clear but the film feels like an amateur filmmaker's labour of love. OK, For $15 and at over three hours, and given the APPALLING low-resolution photography (shot on 1990s Handicam?), I can't recommend this film. Even on daytime TV it will be tedious.