Christian Thielemann Talks About Working With Karajan

In recent years the 52-year-old German conductor Christian Thielemann has emerged as one of the foremost conductors of his generation. He is "music advisor" of the Bayreuth Festival - in effect, the festival's music director - and next year he will begin his appointment as chief conductor of the illustrious Dresden Staatskapelle. He can be heard conducting the Ring cycle in a set of DVDs from Bayreuth and more recently he has recorded all the Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic (See my companion video this week for an excerpt).

But he is controversial. He has left most of his previous posts after arguments with management and he has the reputation of being what might be called an "Old School" dictator on the podium. But this video reveals a much more likeable Thielemann. It helps that he speaks very good English, and seems almost self-deprecating as he tells stories about his days as an assistant to Karajan.

Paul E. Robinson