Robert Mann was a founder of the Julliard Quartet and helped them grow from a chamber music group with 12 concerts a year to world famous status where they played 150 concerts a year. This violin virtuoso was with them for 51 years, retiring in 1997. In this sprightly documentary directed by Allan Miller, we learn that as a boy, he never practiced very much and had more passion for fishing than anything else.
Quite a number of luminaries sing his praises here including Seiji Ozawa, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who calls him a "giant in music" who not only performed well but taught master classes to many students over the years. We see him excel as a teacher explaining to young musicians that they must be swept away by the emotional expressiveness of Beethoven in order to do him justice.
We get brief glimpses of Mann's personal life with a humorous anecdote that saved him from going overseas in World War II, his unsuccessful efforts to share his fervor for nature and mountain-climbing with his wife, and his pride in seeing his son follow his footsteps as a musician. Now in his 90s, Mann still savors playing with a chamber group. Itzhak Perlman best sums up the career of this extraordinary musician, teacher, and composer:
"His musical commitment and energy has been inspirational and he continues to inspire us ; his influence on the musical community is a gift that cannot be measured. When I think about the Beethoven quartets, I think about Robert Mann."
