Vladimir Ashkenazy: The Vital Juices Are Russian

Directed by Christopher Nupen

This film is a portrait film of Vladimir Ashkenazy directed by Christopher Nupen. It includes sequences with Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim, Edo de Waart and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. There is music by Beethoven, Chopin, César Franck and Stravinsky. It is also a closely observed account of one of the most demanding and rewarding of all professions. In 1972, after seeing it, Ingmar Bergman said it was the best documentary he had seen about a living musician.