Richard Byrd

PBS American Experience - Alone on the Ice: The Story of Admiral Richard Byrd (1998)
DVDRip | 704x536 | .AVI/XviD @ 2098 Kbps | 55mn 52s | Audio: English AC3 256 kbps, 3 channels | Subs: None | 946 MiB
Genre: Documentary

In June 1934, as temperatures dropped 70 degrees below zero, Richard Byrd lay alone in a tiny hut near the South Pole, close to death. No one had ever experienced winter in the interior of Antarctica. Desperately ill, Byrd made a note in his diary: Fully expect to die. In an age of heroes, he was one of the world's greatest. An explorer, aviation pioneer and scientist, Byrd was also an egotist, risk-taker - and, his critcs claim, a self-promoter who took credit for the accomplishments of others. Byrd became an international hero after he claimed to have made the first flight over the North Pole. But some questioned whether he had really made it. Underrated, Byrd set out for Antarctica, where he would be the first to fly over the Soth Pole. Then, with no poles left to conquer, he secretly planned a dramatic feat: enduring the winter alone on the polar ice. Drawing on compelling archival footage, interviews with family members, colleagues and historians, and rich musical score, ALONE ON THE ICE tells the remarkable story of America's most famous, and controversial polar explorer.

In his debut solo recording for Linn, Richard Egarr charts the extraordinary breadth of invention at play in works by William Byrd. Richard Egarr’s impressive career, both as a solo keyboardist and conductor (notably with the Academy of Ancient Music), has cemented his reputation as one of the UK’s most compelling musicians.

The performances on this CD come as a revelation. William Byrd is a great and vivacious composer. Richard Mico is more than a museum novelty. I had some lingering doubts, based on earnest but amateurish performances heard in the past. Phantasm brings all the virtuosity of a major string quartet to these consort fantasies and pavanes: perfect tuning, incisiveness bow work, highly individuated phrasing, judiciously varied tempi and uses of rubato.