Sergiu Celibidache - Anton Bruckner's Grosse Messe No. 3 in F minor

This DVD offers something out of the ordinary: Sergiu Celibidache rehearsing and conducting Anton Bruckner’s Grosse Messe no. 3 in F minor. Taking part are the world-famous soloists Maragaret Price (soprano), Doris Soffel (alto), Peter Straka (tenor), Mathias Hölle and Hans Sotin (basses), the Munich Philharmonic Choir (rehearsed by Josef Schmidhuber), and of course ‘Celi’s’ Munich Philharmonic players.

The sixty-minute film by Jan Schmidt-Garre records the process of rehearsing this magnificent work, from the first choir rehearsal with piano accompaniment onwards. We watch choir, orchestra and soloists gradually forming a harmonious whole, then accommodating the musical structure achieved in Munich to acoustic conditions in the St. Florian collegiate church; and finally there is the performance itself. During the rehearsals, and in conversations, ‘Celi’ describes his special relationship to Bruckner and his F-minor Messe.