Tunes For Tyrants: Music And Power - 2017 - 6/10
Three part series of music / composers appropriated / exploited by despots.
Specifically, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, circa 1930’s and 40’s.
Living composers = R Strauss, Prokofiev, Shostakovich. RIP = Beethoven, Wagner.
Doc references banned Jazz music, Vichy France, concentration camp bands, British composers.
Hit n miss, with the first two episodes the best. Stalin disappears by E03.
No mention of Mussolini (Respighi), nor Mao Zedong and the spirited sing-alongs relished by happy cohorts.
Fine concept, weakened by lack of follow-through and insufficient material.