Classical spoken here

Read reviews, listen to the music, and purchase the DVD REICHSORCHESTER (The) - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC)

Customer Service Toll Free 866.489.4152

Back to the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra site

Narrow your search
with our Music Browser

Classical Music

        Ballet
        Chamber Music
        Choral
        Concertos
        Film Music
        Folk Legends
        Instrumental
        Musicals
        Opera / Operetta
        Orchestral
        Vocal

Recent Releases

September New Releases

Clearance

NaxosDirect Podcasts

Other Genres:

Audio Books

        Anthologies / Collections
        Arts
        Biographies
        Children's Classics
        Classic Fiction
        Great Epics and Tales
        History
        Junior Classic Fiction
        Junior History
        Literature
        Music Biographies
        Music Education
        Non-Fiction
        Philosophy
        Plays - Others
        Plays - Shakespeare
        Poetry
        Religion
        Samplers
        Sports
        Wine Guide

DVD

        Ballet DVD
        Classical Concert
        Classical Documentary
        Dance Documentary
        Opera DVD
        Pop/Rock Concert

Jazz

Jazz Contemporary
Jazz Icons

New Age

World

        Ballad
        Bhuddist
        Chinese Music
        Classical (World)
        Early Music (World)
        Folk
        Gamelan
        Gypsy
        Hindustani
        Jazz (World)
        Klezmer
        Sufi
        Vocal (World)
        World

Labels
Composers
Conductors
Ensembles
Orchestras
Choirs
Artists
Instruments
Producers

REICHSORCHESTER (The) - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC)

Home

DVD

Classical Concert

REICHSORCHESTER (The) - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC)

View large image

$24.99 (DVD)

In Stock - Usually ships within 24 hours.

Email this title to a friend

Add to del.icio.us del.icio.us Icon

digg this

StumbleUpon StumbleUpon Icon

Link to this DVD Link to this page

Disc 1

The Reichsorchester - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC)

(more info)

Performed by: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by: Wilhelm Furtwangler

The Reichsorchester - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC) - 1:30:00

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act I: Prelude (NTSC)

(more info)

Performed by: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Composed by: Richard Wagner
Conducted by: Wilhelm Furtwangler

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act I: Prelude (NTSC) - 10:00

Reviews

Write a review

The Art of Moral Compromise (Apr 6, 2008)
Reviewer:Emma Choi
This documentary by Enrique Sanchez Lansch focuses on a fascinating and under-examined historical subject-how the Berlin Philharmonic, Germany’s preeminent orchestra, adapted itself to the political and cultural realities under the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. The orchestra, known for its brilliant musicianship under the legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, had to toe the party line... This documentary by Enrique Sanchez Lansch focuses on a fascinating and under-examined historical subject-how the Berlin Philharmonic, Germany’s preeminent orchestra, adapted itself to the political and cultural realities under the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. The orchestra, known for its brilliant musicianship under the legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, had to toe the party line under Hitler's rule, purging its Jewish members (four of the musicians were forced to leave) and allowing itself to be used for propaganda purposes in Germany and on foreign tours. Archival footage shows the orchestra playing at Nazi party conferences, before and after speeches by Hitler and Goebbels, and during the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin under the grim, watchful eyes of the military and political elite. In return for its cooperation, the Philharmonic was granted a number of special privileges. Its members were exempt from military service and enjoyed a higher standard of living than the general population, even during the last, desperate days of World War II. The musicians knew the political score, but didn’t protest for fear of losing their special status - not to mention their freedom. Running throughout the film is the question of individual and collective moral responsibility, but Lansch wisely lets the viewer decide to what degree the Philharmonic musicians compromised themselves. Lansch was able to interview two surviving members from the orchestra’s pre-1945 period, and both address this issue in guarded fashion. According to Hans Bastiaan, the musicians were like "children" when it came to their political thinking, while Erich Hartmann says, "We were only doing our jobs." That last statement is particularly chilling, given the common postwar excuse by German military personnel to explain the Holocaust: "We were only following orders." In addition to such firsthand accounts, Lansch includes interviews with relatives of Philharmonic musicians as well as period newsreel footage to create a brilliant and unmissable look at the uneasy relationship between art and politics during the 20th century’s darkest period.

(read more)

Playing for Germany (Feb 26, 2008)
Reviewer:Jim Shine
"Then all of a sudden the portrait of Mendelssohn vanished". Thus begins the Berlin Philharmonic's 12-year period under Nazi control. The Philharmonic had been owned by the musicians, but in early 1934 Josef Goebbels' propaganda ministry took over and the orchestra became part of the effort to promote the superiority of German culture. But as this fine documentary makes clear, it was never a... "Then all of a sudden the portrait of Mendelssohn vanished". Thus begins the Berlin Philharmonic's 12-year period under Nazi control. The Philharmonic had been owned by the musicians, but in early 1934 Josef Goebbels' propaganda ministry took over and the orchestra became part of the effort to promote the superiority of German culture. But as this fine documentary makes clear, it was never a "Nazi orchestra". There were a handful of committed Nazis who intimidated their colleagues, and the 4 Jewish members soon emigrated. As to the rest, some eventually joined the Nazi party, whether out of careerism or self-preservation, while the rest made sure not to rock the boat. And there were good reasons not to, aside from the political threat - they were, after all, the elite Berlin Philharmonic, with Furtwangler as their conductor; who would want to give that up? When war broke out, the musicians were deemed essential in their propaganda role, and none was obliged to enter military service, even up to the very end.
The story is told through the testimony of the last 2 surviving musicians, violinist Hans Bastiaan and double-bassist Erich Hartmann, and the sons and daughters of various others. Aside from the interviews there is footage of the orchestra in action, which can at times make very uncomfortable viewing - it's hard to enjoy Beethoven's 9th when the concert hall is decorated with swastikas and people such as Himmler are in the audience. What makes the film so good is the clearly focused and essentially dispassionate tone taken by director Enrique Sanchez Lansch. This is solely about the orchestra - the horrors of the war are seen only in the context of what the musicians experienced. The Holocaust is only glimpsed - for example, Bastiaan says that his violin came from the orchestra's collection but he never thought about who its previous owner may have been, or the son of another musician recalls how as a child he was baffled by hearing his father say that such-and-such was in a "concert camp". So there is no judgment, and the viewer is left to make up his or her own mind on what the musicians should or should not have done. In fact as the story progresses into the last days of the war it takes on something of a redemptive quality: with the closure of all Berlin's concert halls in September 1944, only the Philharmonic kept going, and the orchestra's role changed from mere propaganda tool to, as it were, comforter of a doomed city. "You wanted to live on through this imperishable music", as Bastiaan puts it; there's a moving scene where he revisits the ruins of the Olympic Village, site of one of the last concerts when it was now filled with wounded soldiers - and we hear Beethoven again, the slow movement of the 5th symphony, and this time there's no bad taste in the mouth, just beauty. The Berliners played almost to the end - their last concert was April 14th, just 2 days before the Red Army began the final assault on the city. The end of the war isn't quite the end of the story - there is the process of recovery and denazification - and the first concert after the war, of course, began with Mendelssohn.
This is an important documentary, not just for people interested in the orchestra or classical music in general (the bonus feature is a full performance of the Meistersinger prelude from 1942, Furtwangler conducting) but for anyone who wishes to understand something of how ordinary Germans could have let the Nazi madness last as long as it did. (read more)

Sign up for our newsletter!

Free shipping on orders
of 5 items or more!
Ship 2 items for the same price as 1.

Subscribe to our newsletter and unlock Naxos Rewards by creating an account. Create your account here.

See all of our great site features here.

Composer(s):
Wagner, Richard

Conductor(s):
Furtwangler, Wilhelm

Orchestra(s):
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Label: Arthaus Dvd
UPC: 807280145397
Item Number: 101453
Release Date: Feb 26, 2008

REICHSORCHESTER (The) - The Berlin Philharmonic and the Third Reich (NTSC)

Your name:
Your email:
Friend's Name:
Friend's Email:
Write a personalized message:

Your name:
Rating:
Title:
Review: