Teldec Classics – The Art of Conducting: Great Conductors of the Past (1994)

Teldec Classics International presents THE ART OF CONDUCTING – GREAT CONDUCTORS OF THE PAST – a unique program featuring sixteen of the great conductors of 20th century in rehearsal and performance. When the first instalment of ‘The Art of Conducting’, based on a BBC television series, originally appeared it was rightly acclaimed as a revelation. Not surprisingly, it won many prizes, including the 1995 Gramophone Award for Video. A critically acclaimed compilation of orchestral performances, Art of Conducting celebrates excellence in orchestra conducting over the course of the 20th century. Revealing archive footage is complemented by first-hand recollections of these legendary conductor by some of today’s most eminent musicians.
Sixteen of the twentieth century’s greatest conductors are featured in rehearsal and performance: Sir Thomas Beecham with the Royal Philharmonic; Arthur Nikisch with the Berlin Philharmonic; Richard Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic; Felix Weingartner with the Paris Symphony; Fritz Busch with the Dresden Staatskapelle; Bruno Walter with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vancouver Festival Orchestra; Otto Klemperer with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the New Philharmonia Orchestra; Wilhelm Furtwangler with the Berlin Philharmonic; Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony; Leopold Stokowski with the BBC Symphony and the New York Philharmonic; Serge Koussevitzky with the Boston Symphony; Fritz Reiner with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; George Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra; Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein with the London Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra; and Sir John Barbirolli.
Bonus material includes 45 minutes of previously unseen interviews with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hugh Bean, Isaac Stern and Suvi Raj Grubb.
With commentary by John Eliot Gardiner, Isaac Stern, Jack Brymer, Sir Thomas Beecham, Yehudi Menuhin, Oliver Knussen, Suvi Raj Grubb, George Szell, Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Hugh Bean, Werner Tharichen, Richard Mohr, Leopold Stokowski, Julius Baker, Herbert von Karajan.