A magical beginning – The Easter Festival of the Berliner Philharmoniker in Baden-Baden

A film by Hannah Dorn, Jakob von Bernstorff (2013)

Sir Simon Rattle, Robert Carsen, Frank Elstner, Simon Halsey, Thomas Quasthoff, Kate Royal

45 min.

The year 2013 marked a turning point in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker: Four decades after the founding of the Easter Festival, the orchestra transferred its very own spring residence from Salzburg to Baden-Baden. A new beginning with new artistic challenges in a new environment. Our documentary A magical beginning accompanies the Berliner Philharmoniker to the first Baden-Baden Easter Festival.

In interviews, members of the orchestra and chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle talk about their hopes, their expectations, and of course their music. The centre of this Easter Festival was Mozart’s Magic Flute – a work which the Berliner Philharmoniker had never played live before, and for Sir Simon it was also a first. In our film, we see events not only from the perspective of the audience, but also from behind the scenes where, among other things, we learn from the prop master how exactly you vacuum a forest floor.

In addition to this festival highlight, there were of course countless other concerts and stories to experience: chamber music in a variety of venues in the city, a children’s opera (in which the orchestra appeared alternately as bears and chickens) and much more. More than enough reasons for the musicians to come to the conclusion: We can’t wait for next year!

Written by Hannah Dorn
Camera: Fabian Meyer, Stephan Zwickirsch
Sound: Stephan Zwickirsch
Edited by Uli Peschke
Audio mastering: Alexander Feucht
Production: Jakob von Bernstorff
Production manager: Katharina Bruner
Executive producers: Robert Zimmermann, Olaf Maninger