Stars: Valentina Igoshina, Paul Rhys, Penelope Wilton

Director: Tony Palmer

Summary: Drama which probes the mystery of some pornographic and anti-Semitic letters supposedly sent by Chopin to a lady which came to the surface when the lady's great granddaughter took them to the Polish Authorities in 1945. Also included is an hour-long recital of Chopin's music by Valentina Igoshina who also talks about his work.

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Tony Palmer's The Mystery of Chopincombines two short films about the composer. In the late 1940s, a newly Communist Poland needs its national heroes to be squeaky clean: The Strange Case of Delphina Potockadocuments the persecution and mysterious death of Paulina who claimed to own letters showing Chopin to be a viciously anti-Semitic egomaniac; Penelope Wilton is stunning as the dogged, and possibly deranged, Paulina and John Shrapnel, Corin Redgrave, John Bird and John Fortuneare memorable as the men who persecute her to protect Chopin's good name. These scenes are shot in a gritty black and white; colour is reserved for the dreamy and passionate scenes in which a brooding Paul Rhys moves through pastoral and revolutionary landscapes as Chopin and the inserted moments of Valentina Igoshina playing the music which is Chopin's true legacy. In the other film, Igoshina plays a selection of the standard works featured in excerpts in the film; she is a technically adroit performer, keen on the poetry of the work--but Palmer's camera is at times a little too in love with her luminous good looks.

On the DVD: The DVD has subtitles in German, French and Spanish; the sound quality is excellent--the piano recital has a particularly fine acoustic. --Roz Kaveney

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Subtitles:	French, German, Spanish
Release Date:	April 2, 2001
Runtime:	167 minutes
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	100 176
Keywords:	Music, Case, General, Mystery, Wide, Screen, Strange, Drama, Classical, Chopin, Solo, Performing, Arts, Instruments, Delphina, Potocka
Genre:	Drama