Press kit - Catbird Productions

Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard
Written, Produced and Directed by
David Eng & Katarina Soukup
PRESS KIT
Contact: Katarina Soukup
3625, ave. Hôtel-de-Ville, Suite C | Montréal QC | Canada H2X 3B9
T 514.841.9038
E [email protected]
F 514.841.0823
W http://catbirdproductions.ca
Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard
SYNOPSIS
Legendary Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti 'performs' a piece by Beethoven on an
antique Underwood. This quirky and slightly surreal short film plays on the visual
correspondence between the typewriter and a grand piano, and features the
Scherzo from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3.
Anton Kuerti sits down in front of an antique
Underwood typewriter. As he inserts a sheet of paper,
we see that in place of the letters “QWERTY” on the
keyboard are the letters “KUERTI.”
As he starts typing, we hear the notes of Beethoven’s
Piano Sonata No. 18, Scherzo (second movement) instead
of the sound of the typewriter. While he types we see
the words appear on the page. They are program notes
(written by Kuerti himself for his 1992 Analekta CD set
of Beethoven Sonatas) and aptly describe the music that
we hear, as we hear it.
Scherzo (n. Italian "joke")... mock seriousness… Beethoven
is fooling... a bubbling intermezzo....
piquant harmonies… a playful kick in the buttocks…
© Anice Wong/Catbird Productions Inc
© Anice Wong/Catbird Productions, Inc
Suddenly, Kuerti’s typewriter is magically transformed
into a concert grand piano. It is as if he is imagining the
music and himself performing the piece on stage as he
describes it on the page. The piece becomes an exciting
duet between typewriter and piano, exposing the
beautiful details and inner workings of each object.
Through motion graphics Kuerti's exuberant text
overlays the images of him playing. As the piece draws
to a close, he types “A. Kuerti,” finishing the program
notes with his attribution.
Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard is a music video with a decidedly playful approach. The title
reflects this by encompassing a multitude of meanings that result from various interpretations of the
main words. Notes can refer to the tones we hear, the written score, or the text explanation of a work,
i.e. program notes. Kuerti is the name of the performer Anton Kuerti, but also a pun on the name
“QWERTY” which describes the typewriter from its first six letters. Keyboard can mean both
typewriter keyboard and piano keyboard. The film makes use of all of these possible meanings.
Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard is also a groundbreaking classical music video. While other films
use camera work that is still and remote (to minimize camera noise), this one makes full use of a wide
range of filmmaking techniques to reflect the interest and excitement of the music, such as rapid-fire
editing, camera movement, varied frame rates, macro photography, fish-eye lenses, and “ramping”
(multiple speeds within a single shot, ie. normal motion to fast motion to slow motion). It is a classical
music video for everyone, including the MTV generation.
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Eng and Soukup meticulously prepared the shoot, knowing that the flexible tempo and precision of the
music would not allow for easy substitutions as with rock music videos. They conceived many of the
shots to reflect Sonata form, so that the first third of the piece (exposition) is mirrored somewhat by the
last third (recapitulation), while the middle section (development) is very free. With certain sections and
the piece as a whole, there is a sense of acceleration and zooming closer, similar to Beethoven’s own
compositional technique of “foreshortening.” The early 20th century setting allowed the filmmakers to
draw parallels between the iconic Underwood and Steinway keyboards as well as between the maestros
Beethoven and Kuerti. They highlighted the time period by de-saturating the colour and playing with the
frame rates so that certain moments feel Charlie Chaplin-esque. But by using quick, flashy editing, and
ramping, the piece borrows from the language of action films to create excitement.
Directors’ Statement
The origin of Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard stems from David Eng and Katarina Soukup’s desire
to collaborate. One day Eng told her that he knew the pianist Anton Kuerti. Instead, Katarina heard
“Qwerty”. The two had a good laugh over that and it got the creative juices flowing. Soukup had just
completed the documentary Tusarnituuq! Nagano in the Land of the Inuit about the Montreal Symphony’s
unique collaboration with Inuit artists on a tour of the Canadian Arctic and was keen to make another
film featuring an unusual approach to music. “I’m primarily a producer of documentaries,” Soukup says,
“but I thought it would be an interesting challenge to expand my repertoire into the non-doc world, as
well as try my hand at directing.”
As a classically trained musician, Eng, for his part, was frustrated with the stodgy reputation classical
music seems to have acquired in popular culture. He had long wanted to do a film that would highlight
the rich depth of this music through a playful cinematic style, and appeal to a broad audience. He was
also eager to bring some innovative filmmaking techniques to the classical music video genre. “My films
tend towards a Charlie Kaufman-esque self-reflexive quality and often explore the world of film and the
arts,” says Eng, “so this fit perfectly with that sensibility.”
Eng and Soukup contacted Anton, who was game for the adventure, and a cinematic collaboration was
born.
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About Anton Kuerti
Pianist ANTON KUERTI was born in
Austria, grew up in the U.S., and has
lived in Canada for the last 35 years. His
teachers included Arthur Loesser,
Mieczyslaw Horszowski, and Rudolf
Serkin. Through Horszowski, Kuerti’s
musical lineage can actually be traced
directly to Beethoven (Beethoven –>
Carl Czerny –> Theodor Leschetizky –>
Horszowski –> Kuerti). He performed
the Grieg Concerto at the age of 11
with Arthur Fiedler, and he was still a
student when he won the famous
Leventritt Award.
Still from Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard © Anice Wong/Catbird Productions
Anton Kuerti has toured 31 countries,
including Japan, Russia, and most of Europe. He has performed with most major North American
orchestras and conductors, such as the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony (Menuhin),
Cleveland Orchestra (Szell), Philadelphia Orchestra (Ormandy), and the orchestras of Atlanta, Denver,
Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco. His vast repertoire includes some 50 concertos,
including one he composed himself.
In Canada, Kuerti has appeared in some 140 communities from coast to coast, and has played with every
professional orchestra, including over 30 concerts with the Toronto Symphony. As a chamber musician,
he has performed the major repertoire with such artists as Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, János Starker,
Barry Tuckwell, and performances with the Cleveland, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets.
Kuerti is one of today’s most prolific recording artists. Compact discs of his performances include: all
the Beethoven concertos and sonatas, the Schubert sonatas, the Brahms concertos, and works by many
other composers. These recordings air almost daily on the CBC. Kuerti is an Officer of the Order of
Canada and has received several honorary doctorates.
About the Music
Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard features the second movement Scherzo of Ludwig van
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 (the fourth movement is used in the end
credits). Composed in 1802, this sonata was recorded by Anton Kuerti for his album Complete Piano
Sonatas of Beethoven (Analekta FL 2 4010, November 12, 1992, www.analekta.com). The scherzo is a
very bouncy movement in a generally lively, humorous sonata. Here are Kuerti’s own program notes
regarding this piece included with the recording:
One's reaction to a work of art can be enormously coloured by one's expectations, and
Op. 31, No. 3 remains an enigma until one realizes that there is hardly a serious
moment in it. Once we know Beethoven is fooling – sometimes with mock seriousness,
often with tongue-in-cheek – then we can really enjoy the fun and not waste our time
looking for profound beauty.
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Tipping us off to the non-serious nature of the work is the fact that, amongst its four
movements, the slowest is a menuetto. In fact, it is unique in having both a menuetto
and a scherzo, but no slow movement.
And regarding this particular movement, he writes the following:
Where we expected a slow movement, we are offered a scherzo; accepting the offer,
we are further astonished to find in it no resemblance to any other classical scherzo, for
its meter is two, rather than three beats per measure, and its for is not ABA, as would
be reasonable for a short, whimsical interlude, but sonata form. Probably it would not
have been possible to achieve such a scampering, non-stop continuity with a less openended form.
This scherzo is a bubbling intermezzo, whose ostinato, pattering accompaniment only
stops a few times, pretending to cower in fear of some awesome event; which turns out
to be a mighty – but playful – kick in the buttocks that sets the music back into its
original tizzy. It is an eminently good-natured movement, full of fun, teasing pauses and
sudden fortissimo chords; some of the piquant harmonies and a certain home-made
quality could make one think of Berlioz.
About the Typewriter
The rare Underwood Model No. 1 used in Notes from the Kuerti
Keyboard comes from the Martin Howard Collection, the largest
public or private antique typewriter collection in Canada. Comprised
of typewriters from the very beginning of the typewriter industry
(1880s and 1890s), the collection contains many rare and historically
important typewriters, showing the remarkable diversity and beauty
of the world's first typing machines. The Underwood was the first
widely successful, modern typewriter. It pulled together the two main
design elements that would be found on all later machines: a four-row
keyboard; front strike type-bars, giving visible typing. The Underwood
was not the first to offer these essential features, but it was by far the
best engineered machine to have done so by 1896.
Underwood Model No. 5 remained in production from 1900 to the early 1930s, making it the "Singer
Sewing Machine” of typewriters with many machines surviving. The Underwood No. 1, though, is a
scarce find today and is what is featured in our film.
The “Q-W-E-R-T-Y” keyboard was transformed into a “K-U-E-R-T-I” keyboard for the film by Martin
Howard himself.
The other beauties in the Martin Howard Collection can be perused at www.antiquetypewriters.com
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The Filmmakers
DAVID ENG
DAVID ENG is filmmaker, actor, musician and writer originally hailing from Toronto but now based in
Montreal. He has directed over a dozen short films, including Perfect Pitch and The Audience
(Golden Remi Award, WorldFest-Houston) for Bravo!FACT. His films have screened at many Canadian
film festivals including The Worldwide Short Film Festival, ReelWorld Film Festival, The Reel Asian
International Film Festival and NSI Film Festival. He wrote the short film Shaolin Delivery Boy,
produced for ZeD/CBC Television. He writes reviews and articles on cinema and the arts for
Ricepaper Magazine and his own film site Chino Kino (http://chinokino.blogspot.com). He is
currently developing two feature film projects in association with Catbird Productions including Music
Lessons, a story set in the music world.
KATARINA SOUKUP
Primarily a documentary producer and director, this is KATARINA SOUKUP’s first non-documentary
film. She founded Catbird Productions, one of Montreal’s newest and most dynamic production houses,
in 2006, bringing with her almost ten years of experience as a documentary and multimedia producer
with Igloolik Isuma Productions, the award-winning creative team behind the Canadian cinema classic
Atanarjuat The Fast Runner (2000), winner of the Caméra d'Or at Cannes 2001.
Under Catbird she has already produced Umiaq Skin Boat (World Premiere, Hot Docs 2008),
Kakalakkuvik (Where the Children Dwell) (World Premiere, RIDM 2009) by Jobie Weetaluktuk
and Tusarnituuq! Nagano in the Land of the Inuit (2009), a documentary by Félix Lajeunesse
about the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kent Nagano’s first ever tour of the Canadian
Arctic. Tusarnituuq! had its World Premiere at the 2009 Montreal World Film Festival and airs on
Radio-Canada, ARTV, APTN and SVT Sweden.
Before focusing on filmmaking Soukup’s sound art projects, such as Radio Bicyclette, Live from the
Tundra and Arctic Phonographies were presented at art venues in Austria, Germany, Japan, the
Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the USA, and in Canada at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Keen
attention to sound remains an essential aspect of all her films.
Soukup was selected to participate in the Talent Lab at the 2009 edition of the Toronto
International Film Festival. She is currently developing a number of different documentary, short,
fiction and interactive projects for Catbird, including a documentary she herself will direct on the life of
pioneering Inuit photographer, artist and historian Peter Pitseolak. She holds an MA in Media Studies
from Concordia University, Montreal.
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The Creative Team
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY – John Minh Tran
With an extensive background in still photography, John brings a true film aesthetic to all the work he
does. Recent feature documentary credits include: Astra Taylor’s Examined Life (Sphinx) and Kevin
McMahon’s Waterlife (Primitive), for which he received a Canadian Society of Cinematographers
(CSC) Award in 2010. He also received a CSC and Yorkton Golden Sheaf nomination for Larry
Weinstein’s Mozartballs (Rhombus) and a Gemini nomination for Eric Geringas’ Cheating Death
(NFB). Other feature documentaries include Kevin McMahon's Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii
(Primitive), An Idea of Canada (Primitive/Rhombus) and McLuhan's Wake (Primitive), and Bruno
Monsaingeon's Glenn Gould Hereafter (Idéale Audience/Rhombus). John is also well-versed in
drama, lensing Trisha Fish's feature, Dragonwheel (IMX) and the Gemini award winning puppet series
Nanalan’ (Grogs/Lenz Entertainment). His award winning short films include Paul Quarrington’s A
Man’s Life and Adam Reid’s The Best Girl. John recently finished a puppet series for BBC Kids Big
& Small (Grogs/Lenz Entertainment).
PRODUCTION DESIGNER – Rosanna Lagacé
ROSANNA LAGACÉ is an independent production designer and art director who worked on
numerous independent feature films, short films, music videos and television projects. Rosanna grew up
in Welland, Ontario and flourished in the fine arts at a young age. After graduating from Niagara College
she decided to pursue her filmmaking dreams and subsequently moved to Toronto. Some of her credits
include the feature film At Home By Myself... With You (Pocket Change Film) starring Kristin
Booth and Aaron Abrams, the feature science fiction thriller Mystic, and the HBO TV Series Body
Language. After premiering at Cannes in 2009, the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival and the Los Angeles
Movie Awards awarded her work Best Production Design for the short film Patient. Lagacé also
designed the short film Champagne, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
EDITOR – J. Joseph Weadick
J. JOSEPH WEADICK’s dramatic feature credits include Silent but Deadly (MJC Entertainment), King
of Sorrow (Noble House Entertainment), Due Process (Otherwise Reasonable People) and Ulysses
(Ulysses Productions). He is currently editing Sacrifice (Voltage Pictures), a thriller directed by Damian
Lee starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Christian Slater.
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Production Details
English Title
NOTES FROM THE KUERTI KEYBOARD
Duration
5 minutes 30 seconds
Production Company
Catbird Productions, Inc
Language
No dialogue, some printed English
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Shooting Format
Red One (4K)
Screening Format
HDCAM, HDCAM-SR or DigiBETA
Sound
LtRt Stereo or 5.1 Surround
Notes from The Kuerti Keyboard
FULL CREDITS
written, produced and directed by
DAVID ENG & KATARINA SOUKUP
typist/pianist
ANTON KUERTI
director of photography
JOHN M. TRAN
production designer
ROSANNA LAGACÉ
editor/animator
J. JOSEPH WEADICK
first assistant director
LOUIS TAYLOR
first assistant camera
second assistant camera
gaffer
grip/swing
PIERRE BRANCONNIER
ANDREW HILLS
NABIL MILNE
ZACH ZOHR
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studio technician
continuity
DENNIS PATTERSON
KEVIN EDWARDS
wardrobe
hair and make-up
art intern
JACQUES CHARETTE
ROXANNE DeNOBREGA
ALLISON HICKEY
still photographer
ANICE WONG
PAs/drivers
CLAIRE HODGSON
KATE McEDWARDS
ANICE WONG
assistant editor
sound editor
assistant sound editor
foley artist
foley recordist
re-recording mixer
JOHN HUREJ
MARTIN GWYNN JONES
AVALON MacLEAN
STEFAN FRATICELLI
RON MELLEGERS
KIRK LYNDS
artists
WENDY BOYD
SANDRA HENDERSON
ANDY SOOKRAH
catering
PETITE THUET
insurance
FRONT ROW INSURANCE
accounting
BENOIT GAUTHIER
Underwood Model No. 1
THE MARTIN HOWARD COLLECTION
www.antiquetypewriters.com
thank you
JUDY GLADSTONE, JANE TATTERSALL, JOHN HOSKINS,
ALAN THATCHER, ALEXINA LOUIE, SARA MORLEY, ESTHER
PFLUG, CRAIG WRIGHT, ANJALI CHOKSI, JONATHAN BALDOCK,
MIKE CARROLL (CBC Glenn Gould Studio), FIONA McKEOWN (Arts
& Letters Club of Toronto), CITY OF TORONTO (Film and Television
Office), HART HOUSE FILM BOARD, THE ENG FAMILY
music
“Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3”
(Movement 2, Movement 4 excerpt)
Ludwig van Beethoven
performed by Anton Kuerti
from the album
Complete Piano Sonatas of Beethoven (Analekta FL 2 4010)
courtesy of Anton Kuerti
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sheet music
Dover Publications, Inc
produced with the support of
THE LLOYD CARR-HARRIS FOUNDATION
produced with a grant awarded by CTV’s
Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent)
www.bravofact.com
www.catbirdproductions.ca
© 2010 all rights reserved
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