Stravinsky in Hollywood (2014)

This Stravinsky film is a remarkable documentary written, directed and edited by Marco Capalbo, telling of the legendary composer's life after he moved to Hollywood in 1939. He did this as he envisioned a new outlet for his music â€" writing for films. Walt Disney already was using The Rite of Spring in his Fantasia, but Stravinsky was not pleased with the cuts and rearrangement of his score, which, coming from Russia, was not then in copyright. Disney paid Stravinsky $6,000 for the rights to the music and the composer's name. Stravinsky was considered to write music for a number of other films including Gone With the Wind, Jane Eyre and The Song of Bernadette. He actually did write some music for the latter too, and it is fascinating to watch the brief episodes from the film with Stravinsky's music! Much of the film is devoted to Robert Craft, whose close association with Stravinsky was major, and Craft is seen often talking about their relationship. The association (or non-association) of Stravinsky and his neighbor Arnold Schoenberg, is clarified, and we hear commentary about Orpheus, Agon and for for-TV The Flood which was premiered on CBS i 1962 with Craft conducting. The script is perfect and clear and presumably narrated by Capalbo. This is among the finest documentaries available.