Karajan conducts Mozart's Requiem

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Herbert von Karajan were both sons of Salzburg; and both found a second musical home in Vienna. This film documents a performance of Mozart's unfinished Requiem, given by Karajan, the Vienna Philharmonic and a cast of soloists that includes Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Paata Burchuladze in the 1986 Wiener Festwochen, and everything about it breathes an awareness of history and a great, living tradition. The myths and mysteries around Mozart's heart-rending final masterpiece are well-known, but a performance of such majesty, grandeur and soul-shaking beauty is something rare in any era – and in this case, unrepeatable.