‘Perhaps the dramatic complexity of the 19th century as it draws to a close, with all its roots, veins and warps, evident in the delirium of the collapsing Danube monarchy, is nowhere better expressed in an artist’s life’s work than in that of Gustav Mahler.’ Franz Winter’s spare, thoughtful film explores this proposition, using Uri Caine’s now-familiar deconstructions of Mahler’s music to underscore a narrative of the composer’s fraught life. The documentary technique is similar to that of Ken Burns, with plenty of slow pans across grainy photographs and autograph scores, while there’s fascinating footage of the composer’s retreats at Wörthersee and Toblach. Winter narrates in German but most UK viewers will opt for Caine’s lugubrious New York baritone.

The film is best taken as a mood piece, Winter’s script providing only the bare factual bones. Predictably, much time is spent on Mahler’s anti-Semitic treatment by the Viennese press, and there is a little too much from Alma’s self-serving memoirs. Even so, the narration achieves a stylish summation of the composer’s life. A third programmable option dispenses with the words altogether.

Handsomely produced and packaged, this DVD should appeal to Mahler aficionados and neophytes alike – if (a big if) they enjoy Caine’s avant-garde jazz reworkings, functioning here not as aural wallpaper but as integral to the film’s content. Even sceptics might find them acceptable as a sort of distancing device, the distorted familiarity of Mahler’s melodies making one listen afresh. Others will have greater reservations. If you’ve never experienced Caine’s postmodern provocations, this might just be the place to start.