Istvan Szabo

A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era.

Everything is set for the rehearsal. Nothing can go wrong. Then, in the grandest of entrances, she walks in. She is international star Karin Anderson (Glenn Close). Her arrival adds to conductor Zoltan Szanto's daily damage control within Opera Europa ("where you can be misunderstood in six different languages"). She and the married maestro soon begin a passionate affair. Life may imitate art. But love and the lunacy it inspires have no rehearsals. Karin and frazzled Zoltan (Niels Arestrup) must figure things out as they go. David Puttnam (Chariots of Fire) produces, Istva´n Szabo´ (Mephisto) directs and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's singing voice adorns this comedy of life, love, art and happiness - pursued not in that order but all at once. Romantic comedy at its finest, Meeting Venus is destined for curtain calls!

A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era.

A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era.