Maestros in Democracy

The Berliner Philharmoniker are the world’s oldest self-governing orchestra of international standing. But what does this mean in practice? The answer is revealed by this film, which follows Sir Simon Rattle’s election as Claudio Abbado’s successor and accompanies the orchestra from the time of Abbado’s announcement that he was stepping down in February 1998 to the decision in favour of Rattle in June 1999.

A film by Isabel Iturriagagoitia and Paul Smaczny (2002)

Berliner Philharmoniker

Claudio Abbado

Daniel Barenboim

Bernard Haitink

Lorin Maazel

Zubin Mehta

Sir Simon Rattle

Esa-Pekka Salonen

© 2002 EuroArts Music International