Don Giovanni by Mozart, Van (1954/1954), Geregisseerd door Herbert Graf, Dirigent Wilhelm Furtwängler, Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, Oostenrijk

The restored and technically improved version of the "Don Giovanni" film from the 1954 Salzburg Festival documents a great performance of this well-known Mozart opera with an excellent cast, led by the legendary Cesare Siepi, Elisabeth Grümmer and Lisa della Casa. On the other hand, it is also the last pictorial document of the art of Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954), the legacy of a great conductor, so to speak. Furtwangler, a giant among 20th-century conductors, conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for many years. Furtwängler was also one of the first "traveling conductors" in music history, working as chief conductor at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, in close collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic and on numerous concert tours. Caught between the political fronts, he discovered a new, extraordinarily fruitful sphere of activity for his work at the Salzburg Festival after the Second World War. His 1948 "Fidelio" ushered in a golden age of memorable performances in Salzburg. Furtwängler's performances set standards that are still valid today. This film offers a rare opportunity to experience his fascinating artistic work, which has been repeatedly described as "inimitable" or "unrepeatable". "A more audible or more obvious memorial for the great conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, whose last greeting was for Mozart, cannot be erected" (Süddeutsche Zeitung).