Magic Moments of Music: Sergiu Celibidache and the Berliner Philharmoniker

It's March 1992 and the applause goes on and on: we're celebrating the glorious return of Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache to the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic! As a young conductor, Celibidache had served as the orchestra's Chief Conductor during the tumultuous postwar period from 1945-52, championing contemporary works and and leading the legendary ensemble in over 400 concerts — but when the post, on the death of Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1954, went to Herbert von Karajan instead of him, this marked a break between Celibidache and the Berlin Phil. More than four decades later, he returned to conduct Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, one of the great works that they had performed together in that postwar era. The result was majestic, and critics and audiences were unanimous: this was one of those moments that classical music fans would always remember.

Directors Holger Preusse and Philipp Quiring revisit Celibidache's Berlin return in this episode of the Magic Moments of Music series. Alongside guests like French horn player Sarah Willis, conductor Cristian Măcelaru, and the maestro's son Serge Ioan Celebidachi, this feature goes behind the scenes of one of the performances that etched Celibidache's towering legacy in stone.