When a woman steps onto the conductor's podium, she is always one of "the first": the first to lead a world-class orchestra, the first to conduct the closing night of London's "Proms," the first to win the German Conductor Prize. It seems as though the world of orchestral conducting might finally be ready to change it's attitudes toward female conductors for good.
How can we explain the small number of female conductors on the international scene? To answer this question, the film Maestras follows several conductors at the 2016 Lucerne Festival, whose theme "Prima Donna" directly explored this issue. In rehearsals, concerts, and interviews with participants, Maestras attempts to give an overall perspective on this prickly subject.
The film also follows the evolution of Sylvia Caduff, the brilliant Swiss conductor who is now retired. She was Leonard Bernstein's first assistant and conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1978, standing in for Herbert von Karajan. In retrospect, the story Sylvia Caduff represents a true leap forward for more than just the world of classical music.
