Film Synopsis
When Mao’s Cultural Revolution ended, China’s door cracked open. Four young, classical musicians seized the opportunity to flee to the West as classical music was banned. The Quartet began a lifetime adventure – studying with great masters, attending Juilliard, and performing at major music festivals and best classical music venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center.
When the Quartet’s cellist decided to leave, they invited a young American grad student from New York City’s Spanish Harlem. He was a highly praised cellist but also had a New York City “attitude” that the three Chinese musicians had never encountered.
In addition to full-time teaching positions, the Quartet now performs throughout the world with a stressful 180-day travel schedule. That schedule, however, has impacted home life. Two of the Quartet’s wives are classically trained performance musicians who have had to put their professional careers on the “back burner” to care for the kids and keep the home fires going.
Behind the Strings showcases their lives, how they got to the top and the price they pay. And, why China keeps inviting them back to perform their once forbidden music.
Director’s Statement
One of the attractions of documentary filmmaking is the opportunity to learn something about which one knows very little. When Producer Michael Peroff approached me to partner with him on a documentary that would profile a string quartet, my exposure to classical music – not to mention chamber music – was nonexistent. I had worked for Sony Music for a period but that involved rock, jazz, R & B, and pop artists. But I said yes, nonetheless, and a new learning challenge began.
Five years later, I can now say I know a bit about chamber music and why Mao’s Cultural Revolution banned it. And about the heart of the documentary: what it takes to become a world-renowned quartet, four guys fiddling together, managing to not kill each other over artistic differences.
I served as both Director and Cinematographer, which I found a fascinating challenge. Happy to say that alongside editor Tracy Cring, we pulled off a remarkable film.
– Hal Rifken,
Director, Cinematographer & Co-Writer
Production Story
Behind the Strings required five years to complete. The production took place in France, Mexico, China and fifteen locations in the U.S. Our goal was to capture a 360-degree view of this very successful chamber music quartet, on stage and off. We became a “fly on the wall” filming their performances, rehearsals, in their homes, as well the pursuit of their pastime passions.
When you see four well-dressed musicians performing extraordinary music, it is unlikely that one can visualize what these performers do when they are not performing.
Behind the Strings captures those passions — the cellist building a chicken coop for his twenty-three chickens, the violist renovating an 1803 tavern and adjacent church, the 1st violin happily helping his wife and daughter prepare a meal, and the 2nd violin shooting eye-catching photos when traveling all over the world, 180 days a year with his colleagues.
We also captured a very important aspect of their professional lives – how they make their stunning music. Our camera trained on them during rehearsals when they inevitably start “negotiating” how a piece of music should be played.
We discovered these four artists typically spend three or more hours practicing a piece before they meet to rehearse. Each one arrives with a different point of view they believe is the “right” way to play.
While they share the same goal of performing that piece better than previously performed, they typically see the path differently and negotiation often turns into strong arguments. They eventually arrive at resolution after heated debate, only to repeat that process at the next rehearsal.
This is what they have been doing for over thirty-six years and that is why they remain in the top tier of classical chamber music.
– Michael Peroff,
Executive Producer, Producer & Co-Writer