Bruno Monsaingeon

Directing

Bruno Monsaingeon

Born 1943-12-05 · Paris, France

Bruno Monsaingeon (born 5 December 1943) is a French filmmaker, writer, and violinist. He has made a number of documentary films about famous twentieth-century musicians, including Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Piotr Anderszewski, Yehudi Menuhin, Francesco Libetta, Grigory Sokolov and David Fray. His interviews with Richter and with Nadia Boulanger have also been published as books. Source: Article "Bruno Monsaingeon" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Acting credits

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould poster
7.0

A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

1993

Glenn Gould: The Alchemist poster
7.0

Filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon visits piano virtuoso Glenn Gould more than ten years after his self-imposed exile from the stage, which results in a mixture of interview and performance.

Glenn Gould: The Alchemist

1974

In Harmony poster
5.9

After a serious accident on a film shoot, Marc, an equestrian, loses all hope to mount back on. His insurance company instructs Florence to handle his case. This film is the story of their meeting.

In Harmony

2015

Glenn Gould: a Portrait poster
9.0

Glenn Gould: A Portrait is a biography of pianist and "explorer of sounds" Glenn Gould. The 105-minute program -- a montage of interviews, photographs, recording sessions, and concerts -- depicts the life and times of this late musician. Highlights of the film include pictures and scenes from Gould's life in Canada, as well as interviews with Geoffrey Payzant, broadcaster Margaret Pacsu, musician John Peter Lee Roberts, and music critic Paul Hume. Gould's personal views on animals (especially his affinity for skunks), his psychiatry, pacifism, and solitude are reflected on by family and friends.

Glenn Gould: a Portrait

1985

The Question of Instrument poster
NR

Part I of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach" is devoted to Bach's "Art of Fugue." Gould's performance is followed by a lively repartee with Monsaingeon, in which the pianist provides dazzling insights illustrated by music examples. He explains, for example, why he plays some pieces extremely slowly, and bemoans the "musicological overkill" of scholars who insist that Bach's keyboard music should only be played on a harpsichord.

The Question of Instrument

1983

An Art of the Fugue poster
NR

In Part II of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach", Gould concentrates on the fugal form in Bach's works, showing us how Bach uses keys like stops on an organ, and how they give him ideas and colours. He performs various fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier and reveals why he feels the "Art of Fugue" is the work that summed up Bach's life.

An Art of the Fugue

1983

Klaus Mäkelä, Towards the Flame poster
NR

Meet conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä through the eyes of Bruno Monsaingeon. The legendary director discovered the young maestro's genius for the first time in 2021 at a concert by the Orchester de Paris, when he was just 25 years old. Through his traveling and musical collaborations, the director reveals himself as a conductor who is to leave his mark on the 21st century

Klaus Mäkelä, Towards the Flame

2024

Grigory Sokolov - Live in Paris poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Grigory Sokolov - Live in Paris

2002

Behind the camera

Glenn Gould - Partita no. 6 in E minor, J.S. Bach poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Glenn Gould - Partita no. 6 in E minor, J.S. Bach

2004

Glenn Gould: The Alchemist poster
7.0

Filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon visits piano virtuoso Glenn Gould more than ten years after his self-imposed exile from the stage, which results in a mixture of interview and performance.

Glenn Gould: The Alchemist

1974

The Arod Quartet: Ménage à 4 poster
8.0

Ten years of hard work have made the young Arod Quartet one of the most brilliant of its generation. For it takes years to blend together 4 individual talents into one. Their repertoire is ranging from Mozart to Bartok, Debussy to Kurtág.

The Arod Quartet: Ménage à 4

2023

The Arod Quartet: Ménage à 4 poster
8.0

Ten years of hard work have made the young Arod Quartet one of the most brilliant of its generation. For it takes years to blend together 4 individual talents into one. Their repertoire is ranging from Mozart to Bartok, Debussy to Kurtág.

The Arod Quartet: Ménage à 4

2023

Richter: The Enigma poster
9.0

This biography of Sviatoslav Richter, the great Russian pianist who dedicated his life to music and had little regard for fame in the West, shines a light on his formative years and places him against the setting of a chaotic USSR culture.

Richter: The Enigma

1998

Richter: The Enigma poster
9.0

This biography of Sviatoslav Richter, the great Russian pianist who dedicated his life to music and had little regard for fame in the West, shines a light on his formative years and places him against the setting of a chaotic USSR culture.

Richter: The Enigma

1998

The Question of Instrument poster
NR

Part I of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach" is devoted to Bach's "Art of Fugue." Gould's performance is followed by a lively repartee with Monsaingeon, in which the pianist provides dazzling insights illustrated by music examples. He explains, for example, why he plays some pieces extremely slowly, and bemoans the "musicological overkill" of scholars who insist that Bach's keyboard music should only be played on a harpsichord.

The Question of Instrument

1983

An Art of the Fugue poster
NR

In Part II of the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach", Gould concentrates on the fugal form in Bach's works, showing us how Bach uses keys like stops on an organ, and how they give him ideas and colours. He performs various fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier and reveals why he feels the "Art of Fugue" is the work that summed up Bach's life.

An Art of the Fugue

1983

Maurizio Pollini: De main de maître poster
NR

A unique film portrait of the famous Italian pianist. Maurizio Pollini felt himself that the time had come to submit to the probing of the camera, an exercise made all the more necessary because of his usual avoidance of the public eye.

Maurizio Pollini: De main de maître

2014

The Goldberg Variations poster
4.2

Part III in the series "Glenn Gould Plays Bach" spotlights Gould recording Bach's "Goldberg Variations" in a sound studio. In a brief introduction, he reminisces about his first recording of the pieces and explains why he wanted to record them again now, a quarter of a century later. It was to be his last recording of the "Goldberg Variations" and perhaps the last time he played the work: Glenn Gould died the year after the recording was made.

The Goldberg Variations

2007

Klaus Mäkelä, Towards the Flame poster
NR

Meet conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä through the eyes of Bruno Monsaingeon. The legendary director discovered the young maestro's genius for the first time in 2021 at a concert by the Orchester de Paris, when he was just 25 years old. Through his traveling and musical collaborations, the director reveals himself as a conductor who is to leave his mark on the 21st century

Klaus Mäkelä, Towards the Flame

2024

La Roque d'Anthéron - The Pianos of the Night: Francesco Libetta poster
NR

"Les Pianos De La Nuit" is a collection of piano recitals performed live in the heart of Provence during the International Piano Festival of La Roque D'Antheron in July and August 2002. Conceived specifically for DVD release, these virtuoso performances by contemporary artists can claim authoritative status as classic 21st-century archival footage. R. Strauss Ständchen, Op. 17 No. 2 Serenade Till Eulenspiegel, Op. 28 Godowsky Studies after Chopin’s Studies No. 47 Badinage No. 28 Study in Octaves No. 22 Study for the Left Hand Debussy L’Isle joyeuse Hummel Rondo in E-flat major, Op. 11 Liszt Totentanz, S 525 Ligeti L’Escalier du diable (No. 13 from: Études pour piano II) Saint-Saëns Study in the Form of a Waltz, Op. 52 No. 6 Tchaikovsky Pas de deux from “The Sleeping Beauty” Adagio Variation I : Désiré Variation II : Aurore Coda Alkan “20 Years” from the Grand Sonata, Op. 33 “The Four Ages” Delibes Pizzicato Polka from “Sylvia”

La Roque d'Anthéron - The Pianos of the Night: Francesco Libetta

2003

David Oistrakh: Artist of the People? poster
7.0

The life and virtuosic work of Russian violinist David Oistrakh, once known as King David in the Soviet Union, is chronicled with depth and detail by filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon in this intriguing portrait of an artist. Highlights include a range of performance footage throughout Oistrakh's legendary career, as well as interviews with his son, Igor, conductor Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

David Oistrakh: Artist of the People?

1996

No artwork available
NR

This documentary introduces the unbelievable talents of Valeriy Sokolov. A short introduction gives way to concert footage guaranteed to amaze. The repertoire includes Beethoven's 7th Violin sonata, Prokofiev's 2nd sonata, Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and Miroslav Skorikh's Spanish Danse.

Valeriy Sokolov: Natural Born Fiddler

2006

Piotr Anderszewski: Unquiet Traveller poster
NR

Famous for having fled the stage of the 1990 Leeds Competition because he felt he didn't deserve to be there, pianist Piotr Anderszewski provides an eccentric subject for an eccentric filmmaker, Bruno Monsaingeon, in this absorbing documentary. Following Anderszewski as he travels from Poland to Hungary by train with his grand piano in tow, the film reveals much about the musical musings of a brilliant performer and artist.

Piotr Anderszewski: Unquiet Traveller

2009

Swing, Sing and Think poster
5.2

Swing, Sing and Think is a chronicle of the young French pianist David Fray's recording sessions of three of Bach's famous clavier concertos. Each chapter features a few minutes of Fray at home in Paris explicating his interpretation of the score at his piano, followed by rehearsal and recording sessions he conducts with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of the finest chamber orchestras in Europe.

Swing, Sing and Think

2008

Swing, Sing and Think poster
5.2

Swing, Sing and Think is a chronicle of the young French pianist David Fray's recording sessions of three of Bach's famous clavier concertos. Each chapter features a few minutes of Fray at home in Paris explicating his interpretation of the score at his piano, followed by rehearsal and recording sessions he conducts with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of the finest chamber orchestras in Europe.

Swing, Sing and Think

2008

Rostropovich: L'archet Indomptable poster
10.0

The Indomitable Bow is a unique portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich, a formidable personality as well as a complex, deeply political musician constantly engaged in a whirlwind of activities. Including unreleased documents, archive films, interviews and concert performances from this key figure of the 20th century, The Indomitable Bow is a remarkable testimony of the life and work of the legendary Slava

Rostropovich: L'archet Indomptable

2019

Rostropovich: L'archet Indomptable poster
10.0

The Indomitable Bow is a unique portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich, a formidable personality as well as a complex, deeply political musician constantly engaged in a whirlwind of activities. Including unreleased documents, archive films, interviews and concert performances from this key figure of the 20th century, The Indomitable Bow is a remarkable testimony of the life and work of the legendary Slava

Rostropovich: L'archet Indomptable

2019

Orgues, Toccatas, et Fantaisies poster
10.0

Director Bruno Monsaingeon stages this live musical journey into the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, featuring virtuoso Marie-Claire Alain playing organs hand-selected to best represent Bach's Baroque style. The tour incorporates venues at which the maestro himself would have performed, such as Haarlem, Rötha, Groningen and Dresden, and includes masterpieces such as Toccata in F Major, Trio Sonata no. 1, Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, and more.

Orgues, Toccatas, et Fantaisies

1990

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Scènes de la Vie musicale en Russie soviétique

2004

No artwork available
NR

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has left his mark on the musical scene since his debuts in 1947, with the recording of Schubert's Schwanengesang and Winterreise for the American Sector Radio in Berlin. He played on every stage, with the greatest performers, under the baton of the greatest directors. Through interviews given in front of Bruno Monsaingeon's camera, the German tenor recounts his career.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Last Words

2013

Yehudi Menuhin: The Violin of the Century poster
6.0

This film is devoted to the artistic heritage of a personality who ranked among the most extraordinary musicians of his time, even as a child. Menuhin was not a mere musician: he was a cosmopolitan, a peacemaker and a true humanist. French filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon, who filmed this great retrospective, describes his work with Menuhin as follows: “He threw himself into it whole-heartedly, with great sense of humour and overwhelming humanity. This film also shows my heartfelt gratitude for a man who gave such decisive sense to my own existence.”

Yehudi Menuhin: The Violin of the Century

1996

Yehudi Menuhin: The Violin of the Century poster
6.0

This film is devoted to the artistic heritage of a personality who ranked among the most extraordinary musicians of his time, even as a child. Menuhin was not a mere musician: he was a cosmopolitan, a peacemaker and a true humanist. French filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon, who filmed this great retrospective, describes his work with Menuhin as follows: “He threw himself into it whole-heartedly, with great sense of humour and overwhelming humanity. This film also shows my heartfelt gratitude for a man who gave such decisive sense to my own existence.”

Yehudi Menuhin: The Violin of the Century

1996