Icon in B Minor

A camera crew follows New Zealand concert pianist Michael Houstoun to Germany, to the places where composer Franz Liszt spent his latter years.

This journey is part of Michael's preparation for the filming of a performance of Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, one of Liszt's finest works for piano and a pinnacle for classical pianists.

We follow Michael into Liszt's home and around the town where Liszt lived.

He is hoping to assimilate thoughts and feelings of the revered composer.

Icon in B Minor swings between two time periods;  we hear the "voice" of Liszt  (Peter McCauley reading from Liszt's writings) as the camera pans slowly over photographs of the composer taken towards the end of his life. We also feel the peace and quiet of Liszt's country retreat.

Michael speaks about his feelings for music. He compares his spiritual philosophies about musicianship to Liszt's beliefs. For both of these artists, the feeling of transformation through their art is of huge importance.

The film crew spend a week in the various German towns and visit Liszt's home in Weimar, the concert hall where his work was rehearsed and performed, and the Holocaust Memorial and concentration camp of Buchenwald. For Michael, it is essential to experience as much as he can to "absorb the atmosphere to add to my experience". From the beauty and peace of Liszt's haunts, to the horror of man's inhumanity to man.

There are four parts to this documentary. The first three cover the pilgrimage. The fourth section is a multi-camera studio shoot of the complete performance of the 28-minute Sonata in B Minor.

As a composition, Sonata in B Minor is considered one of Liszt's most extraordinary works. It is also considered to be the first example of a piece composed in sonata form, which traditionally is broken down into four musical movements, being constructed as one complete movement.

Icon in B Minor was screened as part of the Work of Art series and it is evocatively lit and shot. It includes excerpts of previous recordings by Michael from a variety of Liszt's other piano works.

This film was written, directed and produced by Tainui Stephens, who is himself an accomplished classical and jazz piano player.