The Harvest of Sorrow

Sergei Rachmaninov is a composer who has been been quickly growing on me over the years. The more works I heard of his, and after watching the incredibly moving Brief Encounter, the more I grew to appreciate his talent. Not that I didn't before, just more so now. So what a treat it was indeed to watch Harvest of Sorrow, which was like a nostalgic, moving and meaningful trip down memory lane.

Harvest of Sorrow is beautifully filmed, loved some of the shots and the locations are gorgeous. It is also very informative, Valery Gergeiev, among others, seem to have a passion about what they're talking about and it comes through loud and clear. For me the real stars are the music, which is just brilliant and very sensitively performed too, and the reading of Rachmaninov's diary entries, the entries themselves are incredibly thought-provoking and take you to another world when you listen with your eyes closed while John Gielgud reads beautifully with just the right amount of ironic distance.

Overall, a wonderfully constructed programme and very informative and interesting. 10/10 Bethany Cox