Matt Stuart Burns/Thirteen
The conductor Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra.

What you learn from “You Cannot Start Without Me — Valery Gergiev, Maestro”: that Mr. Gergiev is one busy guy.What you don’t learn: what specific skills, knowledge or musical philosophies make him such a busy guy.

The film shows us Mr. Gergiev, artistic and general director of the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, at work on his home turf and in concert halls around the globe. It gives us a brief visit with his family and tosses in interviews with various musicians who have worked under him, all proclaiming his genius.

But it never really conveys what that genius is. Does he inspire musicians to play better than they ever have? Does he uncover nuances in a score that no one else has found? The filmmaker, Allan Miller, doesn’t linger at rehearsals long enough to make that clear and only occasionally gets Mr. Gergiev to talk about his musical vision and approach.

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