Humphrey Burton

Directing

21-03-1931
He/Him
Author, broadcaster, director and producer. First Head of Music and Arts for BBC Television 1965-1967. Resumed the position again from 1975-1981 after an eight year absence in commercial television as a founder-member of London Weekend Television. For his work as a director, he has won four Emmy Awards, two British Academy Awards and as a presenter received the Royal Television Society Silver medal and Sony Gold Award.

Popular Movies/Shows

BBC Young Musician

Creator
TV Show
Reality
1978
10.0 / 10
BBC Young Musician (Young Musician of the Year) first appeared on our TV screens in 1978. The brainchild of BBC producers Humphrey Burton, Walter Todds and Roy Tipping, the biennial competition has developed an enviable reputation for finding superstar musicians including Nicola Benedetti, Mark Simpson and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

The Unanswered Question - Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein

Consulting Producer
TV Show
1976
The 1973 Norton Lectures by Leonard Bernstein, presented at his alma mater Harvard University, explores all types of music, including: folk music, pop songs, symphonies, tonal and atonal works; all taught by legendary master composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein.

The Unanswered Question IV : The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity

Director
Movie
Documentary
Music
1976
9.0 / 10
This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Bernstein provides...

Haydn: The Creation (Bernstein)

Director
Movie
2009
Haydn’s Creation, the culmination of his life’s work, in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacular performance also includes Bernstein’s spoken introduction to the performance —always an invaluable addition to any concert. This work, consid...

Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein

Producer
Director
Writer
Movie
Documentary
Music
1970
In this documentary portrait prepared for the anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday, Leonard Bernstein illustrates his analysis with excerpts from his performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major and the Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony.

Vincent in Brixton

Director
Movie
2003
6.0 / 10
Based on Nicholas Wright's 2002 play exploring the life of the young Vincent Van Gogh during a stay in Brixton, London in 1873. In the play, which is largely fictional, he falls in love with an English widow.

Top Rated Movies/Shows

Movies (Production)

Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 & 7 - Leonard Bernstein & Wiener Philharmoniker
2010
Director
Haydn: The Creation (Bernstein)
2009
Director
Schumann: The Symphonies - Leonard Bernstein
2008
Director
Brahms Academic Festival, Tragic Overtures/ Variations on a Theme by Haydn/Serenade No. 2
2007
Director
Bach The Cello Suites
2007
Director
Rostropovich Life & Art
2007
Director
Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 & 5
2007
Director
Schubert Final Three Piano Sonatas D958, D959, D960 - Alfred Brendel
2006
Director
Mozart Great Mass in C Minor; Ave Verum Corpus; Exsultate Jubilate
2006
Director
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 9 & 10 / Das Lied von der Erde
2005
Director
Vincent in Brixton
2003
Director
The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland
2002
Director
Falstaff
2000
Director
A Gala Christmas in Vienna
1998
Director
Rodelinda
1998
Director
Manon Lescaut
1997
Director
Merry Christmas from Vienna
1996
Director
Lulu
1996
Director
Ermione
1995
Director
Eugene Onegin
1994
Director
The Very Strange Story of the Legendary Joe Meek
1991
Producer
War and Peace
1991
Director
Mozart Requiem
1991
Director
Boris Godunov
1990
Director
Prince Igor
1990
Director
Ode to Freedom
1989
Director
Leonard Bernstein - Bernstein - Candide
1989
Director
Candide
1988
Director
Director
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
1987
Director
Krystian Zimerman: Chopin/Schubert
1987
Director
Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker 1987
1987
Director
Herbert Von Karajan - New Year's Concert Vienna 1987
1987
Director
Ivo Pogorelich: Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven
1987
Director
Liszt Annees de Pelerinage
1986
Director
The Little Drummer Boy: An Essay on Mahler by Leonard Bernstein
1985
Director
Bach: St. John Passion
1985
Director
The Making Of West Side Story
1985
Producer
Andrea Chénier
1985
Director
Brahms The Piano Concertos
1984
Director
Die Fledermaus
1984
Director
Joseph Haydn Mass: In Tempore belli
1984
Director
Bernstein Brahms Symphonies
1984
Director
Carlos Kleiber: Beethoven - Symphonies 4 & 7
1983
Director
Verdi: Requiem
1982
Director
Bernstein Beethoven Overtures
1978
Director
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
1977
Director
Leonard Bernstein conducts Stravinsky & Bach
1977
Director
Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms Symphony No's 1 & 2
1977
Director
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6
1976
Director
Bernstein Mahler Rehearsal
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question V : The Twentieth Century Crisis
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question VI : The Poetry of Earth
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question I : Musical Phonology
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question II : Musical Syntax
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question IV : The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity
1976
Director
The Unanswered Question III : Musical Semantics
1976
Director
Bernstein Gerhswin & Ives
1976
Director
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
1975
Director
Bernstein: Tchaikovsky: Symphonies No. 4 & 5
1975
Director
The Marriage of Figaro
1974
Producer
Trouble in Tahiti
1973
Executive Producer
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3
1973
Director
Das Lied von der Erde: A Personal Introduction
1972
Director
Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein
1970
Director
Producer
Writer
Bernstein in Vienna: Beethoven, The Ninth Symphony
1970
Director
Benjamin Britten and His Festival
1967
Executive Producer
The Golden Ring
1965
Producer
Director
Elgar: Portrait of a Composer
1962
Producer
Antonio Gaudí
1961
Producer

TV Shows (Production)

BBC Young Musician
1978
Creator
The Unanswered Question - Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein
1976
Consulting Producer

Movies (Acting)

Self - BBC Arts Reporter
The Opera House
2017
Self
Karajan's Magic and Myth
2014
Self (archival footage)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
2009
Self
Herbert von Karajan: Maestro for the Screen
2008
Self
Glenn Gould: Hereafter
2006
Self
La Stupenda
1991
Himself
Marevna and Marika
1978
Self
The Story of Pantomime
1976
Presenter
New York, New York - Saturday in SoHo/Watching My Name Go By
1976
Self - Host
Signs of Vigorous Life: The New German Cinema
1976
Self
Elton John: Mr. Superfunk
1971
Himself - Narrator
The Golden Ring
1965
Commentator
Gordon Jacob
1959

TV Shows (Acting)

Self
How the BBC Began
2022
Self - Host
BBC Young Musician
1978
Self - Presenter
Omnibus
1967
Interviewer
Conversations with Glenn Gould
1966