I would love to buy the DVD. It appears to be available at screenings. I signed up months ago on the website- has anyone been successful ordering this DVD?

I'm still waiting for it to come from Netflix. Have you seen it? Is it wonderful?

Have not seen it- but would love to! I tried searching for it without luck!

The Netflix website appears to be down right now but I seem to remember its availability was listed as "unknown". Maybe once it becomes available to Netflix, we'll be able to buy it.

Remember, if you get it, you get to see ME.

I'm surprised there's any trouble getting it. I thought they were eager to sell the DVD's. I ordered and received a few copies a long time ago. But, I just looked at their website and now they're just saying the DVD will be available "soon."

I've e-mailed the producer of the film to find out what's the story. I usually hear back from her very promptly, and of course I'll let y'all know whatever I hear. And I'm thrilled that people are so interested in it!

Oh- thanks so much for checking into this! Feel free to pass along my email address to them (or, let me know if I may contact someone different and not go through that website).. I'm in the mood to watch this movie- just the trailer is so inviting!

I, too, emailed someone from the website and managed to get two copies (one of which I gave to AllForBach). Why they haven't updated the website to make it clear it's immediately available, I don't know. I just searched the Cliburn shop and found nothing.

......working on it!
(Stay tuned......)

Wow, I just looked at the trailer and it looks great. I'd love to see it too, especially since I now sort of know someone on it! (Mark_C, how does it feel to be a movie star?)

I saw the trailer, and this looks great! I'd love to get it!

Mixed, because in the two clips where they show me playing, they omit the audio.

I attended a screening of it and also have the DVD. I really enjoyed it. I met the producer and have sent her an e-mail to let her know that folks here are interested in getting the DVD.

Mark_C: were you in it?

(yes -- see above)

They show me talking more than playing.

Oh, sorry. I'm afraid that I don't have time during the day to fully read things-I tend to scan and miss alot. I guess that we both e-mailed Lori!

No problem.......we usually forget what we read anyway.

Hi - I'm the producer of "They Came to Play". We will be wrapping up our theatrical roll-out late this spring, and then I will have permission to sell DVDs! We have been able to sell them at selected screenings. I apologize if you signed up a while ago, and then we began our theatrical screenings. We are booking new dates around the country, and are updating the website as we go along. Please write to me at: theycametoplay@gmail.com and let me know what area you live in!
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Lori Miller

I take it, this is a play or movie? Sorry to be so out of it, but the discussion is mystifying since no one has mentioned what this work actually is, or is about. I can live without knowing, but I'm a little curious.

Here is the link to the trailer/teaser!

They Came to Play

Ms. Lori Miller, I will write to you and thank you so much for posting! Welcome to Piano World!

Ohhh, is Mark Cannon in it? I wanna buy it!

ps: of course Mark appears talking more than anything else, just see how many posts he made since 4 months ago hahahaha

Cheers Mark

It's a movie -- a documentary about the amateur Van Cliburn piano competition of 2007.

I've been to a few screenings, and I don't cease to be amazed how much people love it. It's an incredible feeling to see "the public" loving something that you were part of, especially when it's about something like classical piano which you love so much and which you wouldn't necessarily think everyone would find of interest. But they love it!

Huh.......I thought it was a coincidence.

Just learned that there will be a showing at the Chicago amateur piano competition (June 24-27).

I had not heard of this film before this thread. I just watched the trailer and it gave me chills. They actually screened this film earlier this afternoon around 120 miles from where I'm sitting right now.

Is there any nudity or coarse language-- because I'm very fragile.
Just kidding. Sounds like a great film that many will be proud of.I hope I get a chance to see it.

Only the top of my head.

Ha! Hilarious! You're awesome, Mark.
Enjoy your weekend.

Thanks!
And as a matter of fact, I have the first "laugh line" in the film.

(You wouldn't guffaw, but you'd probably snicker.)

Just bumping this to let anyone in Australia know this will be on ABC TV tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 4.30.

Wow......on regular network TV??????

Australia must be pretty good.

Thanks for letting us know!

ABC is the national non-commercial network. And sometimes it gets it right.

I can't find it on Comcast TV here in Seattle. I just requested it from Netflix for the second time. Perhaps if others contact Netflix, they will listen.

There is a showing of the film in New York this Wednesday evening (Apr. 21), 6:30 at Lincoln Center (Walter Reade Theater).

There will also be a "Q & A" session with some of us who were involved in the film, as well as live performances by Henri Delbeau (who was a finalist in the competition) and me (who wasn't).

Info

BTW......pay no attention to the next event that's listed after that.
No relation to the piano film.

P.S. There will also be three showings in May at the Symphony Space on Broadway & 95th St.
(May 16, 23, 30)
I'll be at the last two of those.

How exciting! What will you be playing?
I would love to go see the film and hear you play in person. If only I didn't have to play the piano for Wednesday and Sunday church services. I'll be missing out on this one

Thanks for being interested!
I'll probably be playing Chopin's Barcarolle. I mean, we've been talking about it enough on here lately, might as well play it.

I don't know why, but I always imagine you playing scherzos

(Probably because I'm 'joking' most of the time.)

Scherzo means "joke."

Yes! Well, I'm looking forward to see the DVD but it seems to be still unavailable...

Change of plans!

Y'know, this is show business and stuff..... .....you never know.

We just learned that the time allotment will be shorter and we can only each play for about 5 minutes.
I tried to play around with 'abridged' versions of the Barcarolle, and they all sukkked.
So I'll plan to do Chopin's C# minor Waltz instead.

If they cut it down more, I might have to switch to the Minute Waltz.

Hi Mark, op 72-1 is such a great nocturne, duration about 5 minutes

That would have been good too.

Mark, sorry I'll miss the movie and your talk/play. I'm in the city this weekend for a show but not until friday. You must have solid nerves to be able to do all this public playing. I get shaky when I play for my wife....

That was such a short notice!
I guess performers gotta have one or two pieces that they are ready to play anytime, in case something like this happens.

Not necessarily. We can also throw a tantrum and say "I will not change a single note!"

haha that works too!

(Yes, but not well.)

Just a reminder that there will be showings in New York on the next 2 Sundays (May 23 & 30) at 2:30 PM, at the Thalia/Symphony Space on Broadway & 96th Street.

In addition to the screening of the film, there will be a Q & A and brief performances by me and Henri Delbeau, who was a finalist in the Cliburn competition that is covered in the film. I will also be helping to host this event.

Link for more info

If any of you do attend, please come by afterwards and say hello!!

Does anyone know how to schedule a screening? I'd love to have this show in my area!

Actually, I'd love to buy the DVD...still not available?

Hey there!
How about I put the producer in touch with you? I think she'll be thrilled to write or talk to you.
You don't need to give me any contact info for yourself......I know how to tell her to be in touch.

About the DVD: It will be made available again very soon. They're doing a 2-week run of the movie (two showings per night) in New York to sort of "celebrate" that.

The flick just got great reviews this week in the NY Times and Village Voice.

And I just got back from the opening of the NY run. We had one of those Q&A/performing gigs after each showing. They're always awesome.

P.S. I'm thrilled that you're so interested!

P.S. Link for the NY Times review

Cool! But, from the article:

"Professional musicians, actors and other performing artists, when they get to talking about their work, can, let’s face it, be kind of boring in a self-absorbed, detached-from-reality way."

Really? Talking to someone about his or her profession always carries the risk of boredom or alienation, just because the professional is so steeped in it, but surely talking with a professional artist should be one of the less boring experiences?

(Also, as long as I'm in critical mode, I expect more from the Times than that "let's face it", with its faux-casual coloring, as if the author is finally going to drop formal pretense and address some uncomfortable truth we've all been thinking but have been too polite to mention. None of which really applies here. Lazy writing. )

-J

I agree. Maybe this bunch talks more interestingly than your average bunch of professional musicians -- maybe -- but I cringed when I read that opening. I wasn't about to complain, especially because when I saw the review I was with some people involved with the film. But that stuff was a turn-off, a cheap shot with no particular meaning, and it arguably damages the credibility and influence of the review. I was thrilled that the reviewer liked the film but I wished he hadn't made his point that way.

Hey Mark! Thanks! I'll look forward to hearing from the producer - lot's of piano interest in my area so this should be great!!

will it be possible to order from abroad (i.e. Europe, Germany)? I'd love to see this, since i saw Kapustin and Alkan performed at this competition and all the other great stuff i was hooked!

Consider it done.
I'll let her know.

Great to see that so many people are interested!
I'm sure it'll be possible to order from anywhere, because the DVD is expected to be available through all the usual internet outlets.

Just found out that the expected release date is Nov. 15.

"Like"

I just received my copy from neoflix yesterday in the mail. Seems that it's selling now at that particular store and not as a preorder for November.

I bought it using this link: http://www.neoflix.com/store/EEF68/

The site has no information on delivery dates and they don't even inform you when they post the DVD, so beware of that if you decide to order from that link.

Haven't watched it yet, as I've been busy, but I plan to watch it sometime this week as i've only seen the trailers about the documentary so far.

I've ordered mine, looking forward to seeing it!

dito! can't wait to see it when i have the time.

Watched it last night - it's great! (And enjoyed Mark C's commentary as well!)

You can download it for $14.99 on the itunes store now! Should be studying...but I don't know if I can resist watching when it finishes downloading.

Cool!
Anyway I think you should get school credit for watching it.

I enjoyed it! It's more of a documentary about the people than the music, and it really shines in that regard. I'm rather disappointed that a lot of the performances got cut, so maybe I should've gotten the physical copy with the dual layer DVD.

I was surprised at the wide variation of difficulty and musical styles in the repertoire performed. It must be insanely hard to judge these things. How do you compare a great rendition of one of the easier Chopin preludes with the Waldstein? One of the competitors remarked something to the effect that you needed to be able to trot out some of the big warhorses to make it. Too bad they didn't make this a series show, survivor style. How cool would that be?

Most of all, I was impressed with how well these people are able to juggle their professional, music and personal lives. Do they just have 24 hours to a day like everyone else? Amazing.

FYI: The movie is coming to Netflix Streaming (in the US) in 3 weeks, so I (so lazy I don't even mail DVD's anymore) will finally watch it. Looking forward to it.

-J

I saw this last year when they were first screening it, and I loved it so much I bought the DVD that night from the producer. I've watched it several times since then.

My copy does not have anything other than the movie on it. I believe you can see/hear complete performances on YouTube or on the Cliburn site.

I have a copy of They Came to Play.
Anybody who is interested please PM me, I watched once, and want to sell.

Ron

I just rec'd it from Netflix and enjoyed it. The over 35 amateur competition.

The finalists played so well that you would think them pros! The winner did a great job all the way through and deserved the win (won't say who to spoil it)

Even got to see Mark C speak. Sorry I missed you at the piano somehow.

I want to watch it one more time before I ship it back.

How they control their nerves is beyond me. There were a couple of finalists who did not place who were fantastic too.

What an achievement to participate.

What was nice to see were the interviews of the participant's every day lives. We can relate although most were far from the everyday workman.

I recommend it.

Lily: Nice post! And BTW it wasn't hard to miss me at the piano; they only show me briefly, twice -- and without the audio.
(They have other stuff playing meanwhile in the background, as was the case with many of us 'also-rans.')

Oh wow. I'm glad Netflix finally has it. It's still listed as arrival date "unknown" on my Netflix.

I saw it, then went to the Chicago Amateur Piano Competition last June. Some of the people in TCTP were competing here! Real screen stars walking (and playing piano) amongst us mortals. It was great.

I just saw the film thanks to Netflix. Well, all but the last 20 min. or so, which I'll get back to. The director's POV is really the human-interest part with the pianists speaking about their musical lives and their work lives away from the piano. That's nice, and it helps give the film more mass-market appeal, but personally I would have liked to hear more than the 20- or 30-second snippets of playing, and without voice-overs obscuring the music.

Very cool, I must watch... I am letting my netflix account expire before May 15, the next billing date. It shows "They" as available for streaming. ("Them"?) I just never watch movies or TV or anything! (although youtube can waste a lot of time in cumulative tiny snippets)

Just watched this from iTunes - so much better than the Eurovision Song Contest!

I was surprised that Slava Levin didn't place among the top three, he played the Schumann Toccata and La Campanella pretty convincingly.

It's a great story of an amateur competition caught on video, delves into the personal lives of the competitors, follows them to the stage and finals. I found it riveting.

I was too. But, you have to realize that you only saw bits of the competition. For all of the film's excellence, the excerpts don't always give a full idea of how well the people really did in each round. If you had heard the entire finals, you might not be that surprised. It's not that he didn't play well, but by the very high standards of the finals, it seemed he had somewhat of an 'off-day,' not that there was anything really wrong but it often seemed a bit routine and uninspired -- maybe he was a bit tired? That's not hard to imagine after a long week of competing. It was still good enough to have won, but he left some room above himself, and people took it. Also his choice of repertoire for the finals may have worked against him: his big piece was Schumann's Faschingsschwank aus Wien, which is wonderful and his playing had stretches of great beauty (and his last movement was used basically as the "theme song" for the movie), but that piece has a hard time competing with the other people's "big pieces." And there was also another possible factor: there may have been a bit of a different standard applied to him since he had been a professional performer in the past.

But screw all that ....in the film, I said I thought the judges would have a hard time avoiding giving 3 first prizes (which the rules do allow) -- actually I thought FOUR were fully and equally worthy -- and Slava was one of the people that I meant. And it's possible that his performance of that last movement of Faschingsschwank aus Wien, since it is featured so prominently in the film, may help elevate the piece's profile. I'd bet that THOUSANDS of people who see the movie have wondered, "What IS that piece?" -- and have gone and found out.

It's available for instant viewing on Netflix right now. I just watched the first 15 minutes. Wonderful!!

It is on netflix instant play, that is how I watched it a few months ago.

I wondered if that was indeed the case after listening to both the winner's and his Toccata on YouTube. His non-legato playing was really incredible. Slava Levin's Campanella was also used for the end credits of the film.

Having said that, I really liked the heterogeneity of the competitors and the repertoire. Many of them displayed a strong personality through their playing and the judges seemed to reward this - and musical expression in general - much more than in professional competitions, which often have a very different (and less encouraging) atmosphere.

How did you find out that different standards were applied to him?

After watching the movie, I went to Slava Levin's wife web-site. It said that Slava had doctorate from Moscow Conservatory majoring in piano performance. Just wonder, why somebody who had doctorate degree in piano performance competed in many amateur competitions. What is the fun?

I didn't "find out," and I didn't say I knew. I was speculating.


Reasonable question, and at least for Slava, I'm quite sure the answers are ones that we all would admire. He jokes in the film that he entered this competition to show his wife (a professional pianist) that he can still play but whatever....from having been around him at two events, he truly seems to be there mostly for the performing opportunity and the camaraderie.

In no way will he lose his musical knowledge, he may be rusty. My teacher went to military service for 2 years while he attended Moscow Conservatory, and he could not practice. He was afraid that he will never gain back his ability. After he is done with military service, he was able to go back to the previous condition within 2 weeks of constant practice. Therefore, Slave can return to say 60 percent of his young age ability, and this will still be 10x better than most normal people since he graduated with Doctorate degree from one of the best conservatories in the world. But it is ok to have him in a competition, kind of fun and make normal people be more inspired....otherwise, competing against normal people , AARP members, is not challenging.

.

I agree somewhat with what you say about professionally-trained pianists, but again I think you put it stronger than it deserves.

Saw this thread yesterday and my husband and I watched this on Netflix last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was especially happy that one of my personal favorites -- Schubert's Wanderer - was played. (One of the many pieces that break my heart because my hands are too small.)

I was curious though - the show did not say anything (or if it did, I missed it) about whether the competitors take lessons. If so, I would have enjoyed seeing something about that.

Some of the players seem to be basically concert pianists who chose not to go pro. And the repertoire requirements are very stiff: 10-12 min. program in prelim. rd., 16-20 min. in semi-finals, and 25-30 min. in finals. Which raises a question in my mind: do all 75 contestants in the prelims actually have the complete repertoire ready to go, or do most of them expect to be eliminated in the prelims and therefore don't actually have even the semi-final repertoire prepared? That is, most of the 75 are just in it for the experience and couldn't participate in the semi-finals if them somehow made the cut.

Also, the VC Youtube competition winner gets into the prelims, but do the Youtube contestants actually have the complete repertoire ready to go if they were to win?

I think the thing to take away from this is that most of these competitors are very successful people in their professions that would have been good in almost anything they tried.

Most people prepare all of the pieces, but they know their ability. If they think that they are going to be a first rounder only, they just practice hard for the first round, and practice enough to not embarrass themselves in case they get into semifinal. People who foresee that they have a big chance to be a contender in the final, they practice all of the pieces very hard.