The idea of uniting young musicians from Israel, Palestine and various Arab countries into a musical ensemble still seems incredible today. Yet such an orchestra has been flourishing since 1999, when Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. At the 2007 Salzburg Festival, during the orchestras residency, Daniel Barenboim led a musical workshop called ‘School for the Ear.’ In the first part, Barenboim explores the phenomenon of sound and the importance of the human ear. The second part features the fiery 24-year-old conductor Robin Ticciati in a rehearsal of Beethoven’s third Leonore Overture punctuated by the Maestro’s insightful comments and heated discussions with the young conductor. In the third part the great composer and conductor Pierre Boulez rehearses Béla Bartók’s rarely played ‘Four Orchestral Pieces,’ answering questions from the audience and the musicians.
The World of the Wiener Philharmoniker
For the first time we have received the unique and wonderful opportunity to give a close-up and detailed account on the insides of this institution. For one whole season, we received the permission to be part of every decision-making process, all the way to the actual performance. You have the chance to dive into the working world of this world famous and renowned orchestra. What does it take to become a Vienna Philharmonic? What are the motivations to become a Vienna Philharmonic? What are the emotions an individual philharmonic feels when he looks back at over 40 years of music? What is the Vienna Philharmonic secret to success? Interviews with all the musicians, conductors and the people in the background will give us answers to these questions and much more.
Le Nozze di Figaro Documentary
Anton Bruckner – The Enigmatic Genius
The cliché of Bruckner as a “musician of God”, writing symphonies “for the higher honour of the Lord”, doesn’t match his complex and troubled personality, which is as intricate as his music. The film explores Bruckner’s enigmatic relationship with his craft: was he truly a “weirdo” (as Brahms called him), detached from symphonic norms, or a bold musical innovator? Actor Michael Dangl and music journalist Marie König lead this exploration to try to uncover the essence of Bruckner’s character on a journey to the ‘Bruckner sites’ in Upper Austria and Vienna. The film also gathers insights from authentic eyewitness accounts and contemporary reports, as well as interviews with renowned figures like Franz Welser-Möst, Markus Poschner, organist Hansjörg Albrecht, and former Wiener Philharmoniker chairman Clemens Hellsberg.
100 Years Salzburg Festival – From Austria to the World
The world’s largest classical music festival attracts thousands of music and theater lovers from all over the world to the city of Mozart every year. Since Max Reinhardt, Hugo von
Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss founded the Salzburg Festival in 1920, the Salzburg Festival has established itself as the world’s most important festival of the performing
arts. The film portrays the festival and traces its incredible rise: From its beginnings as a peace project after the First World War, through the myth of the Jedermann (Everyman)
to the present day. What makes the Salzburg Festival so special and unique? Answers are provided by the festival organizers and some of the most internationally renowned
festival artists – including Tobias Moretti, Daniel Barenboim, Teodor Currentzis, Anne-Sophie Mutter or Peter Sellars.
Salzburg and its Festival
A cinematic journey through time with the Austrian film and theater actor Florian Teichtmeister as the servant of a special dinner party at Max Reinhardt’s Schloss Leopoldskron. “A jewel! Historical accuracy with simultaneous emotionality. The film gives a sense of the atmosphere in which the festival was created” Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival
Silent Night – A song for the world
Silent Night – A Song for the World is a documentary about the creation and success of the world’s most famous Christmas Carol – a song composed in 1818 in Salzburg, which has been translated into 140 languages, which stopped World War I at Christmas, which should become the third best selling single by Bing Crosby. In short: A song for the world! The film tells the story of the creation of the Christmas Carol and features world stars like Rolando Villazón, Kelly Clarkson, Joss Stone and David Foster, who share their personal Christmas experiences in their home towns and perform Silent Night in various languages.
Richard Strauss – At The End of the Rainbow
Richard Strauss – who regarded himself as the last great composer ‘at the end of the rainbow’ – for sure is one of the most interesting artists of his time. This documentary by Eric Schulz (also known for the film “Karajan – The Second Life”) on the occasion of the composer’s 150th birthday gives insight into the personality and the works of Richard Strauss with never-released archive material and high-class interview partners such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Klaus König, Raymond Holden, Christian Strauss, Walter Werbeck, Emma Moore.
Karajan The Second Life
The film ‘Karajan – The Second Life’ offers a fascinating glimpse of the reality of Karajan’s work in the recording studio, painting a nuanced portrait of the conductor and his musical ideas. The main focus is on the question of what will remain of Karajan, who recorded more albums than any other musician, and of his incomparably ambitious artistic legacy. The film includes a wealth of archival footage never shown before (about 90% of the music excerpts shown have never been released before), depicting Karajan during rehearsals and recording sessions, including works that have not been shown under his baton previously on film or TV (e.g. Le Sacre du printemps and Siegfried). Renowned colleagues and contemporaries of Karajan are interviewed: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Peter Alward, David Bell, Brigitte Fassbaender, Eberhard Finke, Wolfgang Gülich, Hans Hirsch, Klaus König, Krzysztof Polonek, Ernst Pöppel, Godehard Pruin, Klaus Stoll, Peter Uehling, Hans Weber and Andrew Wedman. Excerpts from privately recorded phone conversations between Karajan and his recording producer Günter Hermanns were evaluated exclusively for this film, conveying an authentic insight into the way Karajan worked with his team.
Maestro or Mephisto – the Real Sir Georg Solti
This film tells the story of one of the greatest and most controversial conductors of the 20th century. The Hungarian born Georg Solti had huge drive, energy and ambition. A combination of willpower and extraordinary talent took him to the peak of musical power and prestige. It shows how Solti took music making in opera houses and orchestras to new levels, how he harnessed recording, and later television, to reach out to new audiences and how he nurtured remarkable new talent through a winning, if not always endearing, combination of ambition, technique, charm, sheer-bloody mindedness and genius.The film includes remarkably candid interviews which Solti gave just before his death, in which he talked with great honesty about his life, his challenges and achievements. It also includes new interviews with artists and musicians who worked closely with him. It also looks at his remarkable legacy which is still shaping classical music today – the World Orchestra for Peace, born of his personal experience of a Europe fractured by war, the Solti Academy for Singers and the Solti conducting prize.