The Reichsorchester: The Berlin Philharmonic

One of the topics I find most fascinating is the role of art during the Nazi era. In this light, I've very much wanted to see the new documentary entitled "The Reichsorchester: The Berlin Philharmonic" by Enrique Sanchez Lansch (Arthaus Musik DVD). I decided today to treat myself to the DVD.

Lansch's documentary, from a book by author Misha Aster called "The Reich's Orchestra", chronicles the Berlin Philharmonic during WWII. In addition to remarkable historical footage of great conductors leading the BPO during the period (e.g. Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, Hans Knappertsbusch and others), there are compelling interviews with living members of the orchestra who played throughout the war and the children of other members. The interviewees, with a complex perspective, "true" or not, describe their connection to the time as artists, musicians, citizens, observers... The view of these players and their descendents of the Nazis and their willingness (or requirement for survival) to perform in an orchestra that celebrated both great art but also the "mission" of the Nazis during this atrocious period in history should be seen, IMHO, by all. Every viewer of Lansch's documentary will come away with different conclusions, but you will have heard first-hand accounts of the period and experience something never really seen, collectively, before.

The 2007 documentary was released on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic (1882). This is a bold and interesting statement--to point-blank face the issue of the Nazi period as a representation of the anniversary of the orchestra's origination.

An excerpt of the documentary can be found here: