Magic Moments of Music – Sergiu Celibidache and the Berliner Philharmoniker

Synopsis

It was only through the request of the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker that the concert came about in 1992. The legendary Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache and the Berlin Philharmonic were to be reconciled. Celibidache had shaped the orchestra in over 400 concerts between 1945 and 1954 after the end of the Second World War. When, after the death of Wilhelm Furtwängler the orchestra chose Herbert von Karajan as his successor instead of Sergiu Celibidache, a dispute arose, and the two eventually parted ways. Celibidache withdrew, deeply offended, and refused any offer of further collaboration. It took 38 years for Sergiu Celibidache to return to the podium of the Berlin Philharmonic. It went down in music history as the so-called ‘reconciliation concert’. Celibidache made it a condition that he would receive twice as many rehearsals as usual. The program included Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony. In addition to rehearsal and concert excerpts, the film features Celibidache’s son, Serge Ioan Celebidachi, contemporary witnesses from the Berlin Philharmonic, the orchestra’s horn player Sarah Willis, the young French conductor Marie Jacquot, his last conducting student Rémy Ballot, and the Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru. They provide insight into Sergiu Celibidache’s personality, working methods, and understanding of music.

Additional Info

• No: 8889
• Artists: Serge Ioan Celebidachi, Sarah Willis, Marie Jacquot, Götz Teutsch, Rémy Ballot, Cristian Măcelaru
• Production year: 2024
• Run time: 00:52:00
• Director: A film by Holger Preusse and Philipp Quiring
• Producers: ZDF/ARTE, sounding images
• Format: HDTV 16:9