Products
John Craxton – A Life of Gifts - Feature Length
Painter John Craxton was born into a famous musical family in 1922 and, with his best friend Lucian Freud attained much early success. But his subsequent move to Crete, where he lived for many years removed him from the London art scene and his work became somewhat overlooked. This film, the first to be fully commissioned by The Arts Channel is inspired by the eponymous new book by Ian Collins, published in the centenary year and focusses attention back on to this truly great artist and life-loving character.
Duration 79 minutes
John Craxton – A Life of Gifts - TV Version
Painter John Craxton was born into a famous musical family in 1922 and, with his best friend Lucian Freud attained much early success. But his subsequent move to Crete, where he lived for many years removed him from the London art scene and his work became somewhat overlooked. This film, the first to be fully commissioned by The Arts Channel is inspired by the eponymous new book by Ian Collins, published in the centenary year and focusses attention back on to this truly great artist and life-loving character.
Duration 58 minutes
The Arts Channel – Premium Subscription
The Arts Channel
Films and series about the arts curated for you from around the world as well as new work commissioned from the best British filmmakers. Documentaries and performance encompassing music, dance, art, photography, architecture, literature and theatre are added to every month
Arts curated for the curious
The £60 annual subscription buys you unlimited, advertisement free access to all this plus short director’s descriptions of their work and an optional monthly email update on our latest acquisitions and commissions.
Thirty for Thirty
All the content contained in Premium Subscription but at half the price for those under thirty years of age. We rely on your honesty and hope that when you reach the age of thirty you will update your subscription to the full amount. However, if you are over thirty and experiencing cost of living problems, please feel free to subscribe at the lower rate – and conversely, if you are in your twenties and working for a hedge fund – pay £60!
Draw on Sweet Night
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
John Wilbye is generally considered to be the finest madgrigalist of the Elizabethan era. What we don't know is why he stopped writing in 1609, why Lady Kytson elevated him to the station of wealthy farmer and why he moved in with her daughter Lady Mary after Lady Elizabeth Kytson's death. Tony Britten has written a script and contemporary score, which imagines Wilbye's love life as the fuel of his genius. His music is brilliantly interpreted by leading vocal group; I Fagiolini and the parts of Wilbye, his lovers and friends are played by a cast that includes Ania Sowinski, Doon Mackichan, Sophia di Martino, Milanka Brooks, Christian McKay, with Mark Arends in the title role.
Through Lotte’s Lens
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
The extraordinary story of the ‘Hitler Émigrés’, the refugees – mainly Jewish who escaped the Nazi regime in the 1930s and found refuge in the UK. Despite many of them being interned on the Isle of Man after war broke out, they brought a richness of endeavour and achievement to this country that still applies today. Musicians, actors, artists, architects, scientists, historians shared a belief in the power of democracy and a loyalty to the country that had welcomed them.
Told through the portal of Austrian portrait photographer; Lotte Meitner-Graf, this is a story which is both engaging and thought provoking.
Benjamin Britten - Peace and Conflict
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
This moving and thought provoking feature length drama/documentary tells the story of the pacifism that was at the core of Britten's life and work. The extraordinary young actor Alex Lawther, in his first film role plays the part of the teenage pupil at Gresham's School, Holt, already set on a career as a composer, whilst struggling to equate communism with pacifism. The drama is framed by commentary from friends and historians and performance by artists including James Gilchrist, Iain Burnside and Benyounes String Quartet. Legendary actor John Hurt narrates and appears in this radical film testament.
Peter Warlock - Some Little Joy
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
By the time Peter Warlock, (Philip Heseltine) committed suicide in 1930 at the age of thirty six, his musical criticism had shocked and enthralled a generation and his transcriptions of Elizabethan music pre-empted the recent explosion of interest in early music by some fifty years. As a composer, his songs rank with Purcell, and as this drama illustrates, Warlock - brilliantly brought to life by Mark Dexter elevated hedonism to an art form. Cast also includes Lucy Brown, Gabrielle Drake, Maimie McCoy and Georgina Rich. Songs performed by John Mark Ainsley and Roger Vignoles.
Boheme
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
Four young men live in a 'Withnail'-like celebration of drink, drugs and bad behaviour. Their lives are irrevocably changed when Rodolfo falls in love with the enigmatic Mimi. Blind to her drug problem he is consumed by sexual jealousy, and his obsession brings their relationship to an end. When Mimi returns, terminally ill, the boys are forced to comprehend the painful reality of growing up. Based on Music Theatre London's highly praised stage production.
Falstaff
£6.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
At a golf course in Windsor a ladies four plot the humiliation of "Big John" Falstaff, who props up the bar at the nineteenth hole, dreaming of past glories and future conquests. Tony Britten's hilarious take on Verdi's evergreen comedy was first staged by Music Theatre London at the Drill Hall and was subsequently filmed with the original cast on and around an actual golf course.
Not Quite at the Opera
£3.99 for Unlimited Streaming.
A performance of "The Marriage of Figaro". Julie orders a drink; the barman is Nigel, who once taught her singing. As they reminisce they realize that their relationship is more complicated than they remembered. The performance commences, Catherine is alone at the bar, without a ticket. She is joined by James, who attempts a mild seduction, with rather unforeseen results. At the end of the show Howard, who played Figaro is cornered in his dressing room by Patricia, who desires rather more than an autograph. A suitably operatic finale ensues, the protagonists ending up with well, Mozart would have approved!