Uproar, disruption, violent dispute – this was the response to the much-anticipated centenary of the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, which presented a new production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. But before Pierre Boulez could step up to the conductor’s podium and the curtain could rise on Bayreuth’s Green Hill for Patrice Chéreau’s bold new production, the festival was rocked by artistic and political upheaval. The film tells how one of the greatest scandals in opera went on to become one of the greatest musical moments in history.
Magic Moments of Music – Berlin Wall Concert
This series is dedicated to stellar musical events that gripped the whole world and remained unforgettable until today – with touching interviews of today’s artists, celebrities and eyewitnesses. The Berlin Philharmonic’s legendary Berlin Wall Concert under the baton of Daniel Barenboim in November 1989. To get in, East German citizens just had to show their identity cards. Queuing started outside the Philharmonie at five in the morning, many spent the night on the parking lot in their Trabi cars. Interviews e.g. with Daniel Barenboim, Walter Momper
Magic Moments of Music – Anne-Sophie Mutter and Herbert von Karajan
This series is dedicated to stellar musical events that gripped the whole world and remained unforgettable until today – with touching interviews of today’s artists, celebrities and eyewitnesses. Anne-Sophie Mutter’s and Herbert von Karajan’s version of the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Interviews with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lisa Batiashvili, Robin Ticciati, Wilfried Strehle
ONE, TWO, THREE! – The “Waltz Factory” Strauss & Sons
Johann Strauss’ waltz “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” is considered Austria’s secret national anthem. First performed 150 years ago in Vienna, the composition from the Strauss “waltz factory” became an instant worldwide hit. The film by Eric Schulz looks behind the scenes of the “waltz factory” of the Strauss family. Historic film footage is combined with waltz impressions from Vienna’s Musikverein and an unusual collection of mobile phone selfie-videos: for the first time, every musician in the orchestra filmed themselves during the performance. The “Donauwalzer” as the world’s first “orchestra selfie” – like the entire documentary itself – creates astonishing new perspectives on one of the world’s most popular musical traditions.
Magic Moments of Music – Der Rosenkavalier by Herbert von Karajan
The Salzburg Festival is celebrating its 100th anniversary in the summer of 2020. Among the co-founders of the festival were the composer Richard Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Their most popular work was without doubt the comic opera Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose). In 1960, the newly constructed Great Festival Hall in Salzburg opened its doors to the public with a performance of this very same opera. On the conductor’s podium was Herbert von Karajan. The production was such a success that it was decided that it should be captured for posterity on 35mm film. The performers included Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who is still considered by many as unmatched in the role of the Marschallin, and Anneliese Rothenberger. Among the artists returning to this 1960 opera for Great Moments in Music are Ioan Holender, conductor Franz Welser-Möst, singers Anna Prohaska and Günther Groissböck. Lastly, the episode accompanies André Heller as he fulfils a long-cherished dream: he is directing the new production of Der Rosenkavalier at the Berlin State Opera.