'Deo Gratias' ('Thanks be to God'), Dvorák's final comment on his life, is an admirably direct and informative documentary, with plenty of illustrations of people and places, complemented by historic film.
The opening, shots of the 1969 moon landing, are a surprise, though we learn that, aptly, the New World Symphony was playing on Neil Armstrong's headphones as he stepped onto the lunar surface. Other points are less surprising but more revealing: reports from Dvorák's first music school were unflattering, for example, and his New York salary as director of the Conservatoire was 30 times higher than what he was getting at home.
The film contrasts the rapturous reception he received in England, and later in the United States, with the relative indifference and even hostility that greeted him in Germany, and covers the composition of key works, giving us an engaging portrait.
It's a pity that the musical items are single movements rather than complete works, but the selection is fair. The New World finale and the first movement of the Cello Concerto, with soloist Gustav Rivinius, are vintage recordings, but the brilliantly played Piano Concerto finale is recent.