Product: Glory of Spain [VHS]
Rating: 3.0
Excellently photographed and recorded, but not enough music
After being unable to obtain this from an online store during the Christmas season, I finally found this exceptional video yesterday at an offline store. It is another program in the brilliant "Bell Telephone Hour" series which ran on NBC-TV for nine years during the 1950's and '60's, after being a radio program for many more years.For a filmed television program that was made thirty-four years ago, this long unseen documentary is in remarkably good condition. It is a beautifully photographed (in color) documentary-concert which combines a tour of the Prado Museum in Spain with musical performances by such great Spanish classical artists as guitarist Andres Segovia, pianist Alicia de Larrocha, and operatic soprano Victoria de los Angeles, as well as a flamenco dance troupe. Although Mr. Segovia's narration is stiff, self-conscious (we notice that he looks off to the side at the teleprompter), conductor Donald Voorhees's share of the narration is eloquently spoken.However, although the narration is informative, nobody really watches a program like this just for information-- although presented like this, it never becomes boring. We are treated to breathtaking closeups of the paintings of Velasquez, El Greco, and Goya, and part of the excellence of this program is that unlike other museum tours on video, this one manages to avoid sounding like a dry lecture.There is another dimension to this video, perhaps the most important, and this, unfortunately, is where it falls short. Apparently, the producers were so eager to inform us about the paintings that they decided to give the music rather short shrift. Almost without exception, every time Segovia or Larrocha launch into a classical piece (and their performances are, naturally, brilliant), more narration intrudes into the program, and the music is reduced to mere background accompaniment. And Segovia's performance of Albeniz's unforgettable "Leyenda", one of the most famous pieces ever written for classical guitar, is abridged! Only at the end of the program do the makers of this film seem to come to their senses, when Segovia formally announces that Victoria de los Angeles is about to sing, and she is allowed to perform her aria with no interruption or commentary.This offhand carelessness about musical content is NOT typical of the "Bell Telephone Hour". In such past programs as "First Ladies of the Opera", "A Trip to Christmas" (yes, that is the correct title) and others, the music always came first. We could have been just as well served if the filmmakers had concentrated on showing us the paintings and displaying their titles onscreen while letting us hear the performances. Perhaps that would have made it less of a documentary, but who cares when you can hear music like this, performed by these musicians?