A rehearsal under Karl Böhm! This was a prospect that prompted distinctly mixed feelings among orchestral musicians in Vienna, Berlin, Bayreuth and New York! The Austrian conductor was respected and feared by his musicians as an uncompromising but expert orchestral trainer and an unassailable authority of the first order.

Home viewers now have the opportunity to watch the unforgotten Maestro in rehearsal and concert of Don Juan, the popular tone poem by Richard Strauss.

When Karl Böhm was appointed general manager of the Dresden State Opera in 1933, he began an intensive and fruitful collaboration with Richard Strauss, which led to his conducting the world premieres of Die schweigsame Frau and Daphne.

Böhm set standards with his interpretations of the works of Strauss. The unofficial curator of his musical legacy, Böhm knew his friend's music inside and out - and he knew just how Strauss wanted his works to sound.

“When writing down an opera Strauss naturally had a precise idea of how certain passages were to sound, and if, at rehearsal, one passage or another did not completely correspond to what he had imagined, he ceaselessly criticized it and made corrections, but nothing satisfied him. On such occasions he really did not show his best side, but I willingly accepted it from such a personality because I learned such an enormous amount from him” - Karl Böhm

Recorded live at the Grosser Musikvereinssaal, Vienna, 17-18 September 1970.

Picture format Blu-Ray: 4:3 (Polybox)
Sound format Blu-Ray: PCM Stereo
Region code: All (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Language: German
Running time: 18 mins concert + 48 mins documentary + 8 mins bonus
FSK: 0
Available worldwide excluding Japan