No More Wunderkind – Sergei Nakariakov

Facts

Music Documentary, 60 min, 2004

Directed by Jan Schmidt-Garre

Sergei Nakariakov, trumpeter from Nizhny Novgorod living in Paris, is a phenomenon. He plays the trumpet with a unique virtuosity and at the same time leaves this virtuosity behind. He doesn’t play the trumpet, he sings it. He phrases like the great bel canto singers who aimed at the ultimate legato. This film presents the 27-year-old musician at his best, but it also shows the victim of a soviet child prodigy biography. The mature Nakariakov’s breathtaking virtuosity is contrasted with footage of the child whose lips are sore from practicing. Is it true that Sergei was “never a wunderkind”, as he claims in the interview?

Cinematography: Wolfgang Aichholzer
Sound recording: Hartmut Tscharke
Editor: Gaby Kull-Neujahr
Script: Georg-Albrecht Eckle

Co-produced by BR and Arte

Awards

Nominated at Classique en Images

Releases

On DVD with Arthaus Musik including a bonus concert: