Great Conductors of the Third Reich: Art in the Service of Evil
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Clemens Kraus, Herbert Von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Leo Blech, Wilhelm FurtwänglerBrand: Bel Canto Society
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Unknown); German (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Classical, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 53 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: D052
Studio: Bel Canto Society
Movie Reviews of Great Conductors of the Third Reich: Art in the Service of Evil
Movie Review: Breaks my heart; beauty does not equal truth or goodness.
Summary: 5 Stars
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,--that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'
This DVD will prove that Keats was mistaken.
Some of the selections on this DVD are among the most beautiful and exciting performances of some of the greatest music ever written. Yet this beauty did not produce truth nor did it generate goodness.
That the Nazis treasured Beethoven and used the Ninth Symphony, with its history of celebrating freedom of the spirit, as one of their signature pieces, created such anguish in me that it was hard to watch and listen. And to see one of the most gifted and imaginative conductors of all time, Wilhelm Furtwangler, shaking hands with Josef Goebbels at a concert in honor of Hitler's birthday, made me want to cry.
Yet it is important that music lovers watch this DVD. It is of the greatest importance that we never confuse beauty with truth, or beauty with goodness, or talent with morality, or intelligence with wisdom. These performances, especially the Beethoven, show that beauty can be used in the service of evil, talent can be hijacked by the most vile murderers, intelligence and culture perverted by the wicked.
All my life I have had a problem with Wagner. He was the single most horrible person to produce sublime beauty whom I know. What does one do with this?
One friend of mine refused to buy Karajan recordings until after he died. I spent decades immersed in opera before I was willing to see my first performance of The Ring (which actually swept me away, to my great ambivalent dismay).
Some of these conductors were active and enthusiastic participants in the Nazi regime. Others convinced themselves that they were serving "art" and not the regime, but saw themselves contributing to the propaganda of the Nazis nevertheless.
The question of the relationship between beauty and goodness is hard to resolve. I guess I'm going to have to struggle with it for the rest of my life. Perhaps others will start a thread on this that will shed some light on the perplexing problem this DVD generates.
Summary of Great Conductors of the Third Reich: Art in the Service of Evil
GREAT CONDUCTORS OF THE THIRD REICH includes stunning newsreel footage showing that Böhm, Furtwängler, Karajan, Knappertsbusch and Krauss, among others, turned themselves and their art into Nazi propaganda. The Nazis wanted to be perceived as men of culture, so they crowned many of their victories with concerts, which they sometimes filmed. "We are bringing the world the greatest art," was their message.
On this DVD a newsreel presents panzers parading down the Champs-Elysées juxtaposed with Karajan conducting the Prussian Staatskapelle in occupied Paris. Other footage includes Furtwängler conducting in celebration of Hitler's birthday, also Hitler at Bayreuth. When women see Hitler they weep with joy. The performances are glorious, spiritual even--the greatest art in the service of the greatest evil.--Stefan Zucker
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