South African-born filmmaker Christopher Nupen has died at the age of 88. After moving to Britain he became famous for his sensitive music documentaries. He won an ICMA prize in the Documentary category in 2011 and 2016.
In 2011 it was his film Piotr I. Tchaikovsky: Two films (Tchaikovsky’s Women, Fate), and the Jury said: « Christopher Nupen – with the superb musical support of Vladimir Ashkenazy – rightly presents Tchaikovsky as an outsider in the Russian society. One simply must see this film to understand the sources of inspiration for the composer’s music. »
In 2016 he was awarded a prize for ‘Daniil Trifonov, the Magics of Music’. And here is why: « In his sober and intelligent manner, Christopher Nupen delivers a gripping portrait of one of the most talented and powerful young musicians of our time, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. With a significant, sensitively led conversation and some ravishing music from a concert in Castelfranco Veneto, both films on this videodisc bring us unusually close to the artist and help to fully sense the power as well as the charm of Daniil Trifonov’s creative personality. »
