The Reich's Orchestra: The Berlin Philharmonic 1933-1945
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A revelatory new book that chronicles the horribly close relationship between the most famous orchestra on the planet and the most evil regime the world has ever known. --Richard Morrison, 'The Times'
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra s dark connection with Nazi Germany has always been a mystery but a new book uncovers a hidden history where the orchestra was used by the state as a propaganda tool. --'Sunday Express'
Reveal(s) the extent to which the orchestra sold out to Hitler s Nazi party, paraded itself before giant swastika backdrops at official Nazi rallies, and allowed itself to become the symbolic flagship of Joseph Goebbel s cultural propaganda... Lays out astonishing truths that had somehow remained suppressed. --'The Scotsman'
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra s dark connection with Nazi Germany has always been a mystery but a new book uncovers a hidden history where the orchestra was used by the state as a propaganda tool. --'Sunday Express'
Reveal(s) the extent to which the orchestra sold out to Hitler s Nazi party, paraded itself before giant swastika backdrops at official Nazi rallies, and allowed itself to become the symbolic flagship of Joseph Goebbel s cultural propaganda... Lays out astonishing truths that had somehow remained suppressed. --'The Scotsman'
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For decades the relationship between the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and National Socialist regime has been shrouded in mystery. In 1933, the world-renowned orchestra came under the control of Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels; the musicians became civil servants of the Reich and until the end of World War Two, the orchestra served as Germany's flagship cultural ambassador, touring internationally, and performing at the Nuremberg Rallies, the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games and each year on Hitler s birthday. While benefiting from this patronage, the orchestra musicians were ambivalent about their position - some colleagues joined the Nazi Party while others were of Jewish ancestry - and attempted to balance their political status with artistic independence. At the heart of this story is the iconic conductor, Wilhelm Furtwängler, a figure who continues to arouse fierce debate, not the least due to his close relationship with Goebbels. Furtwängler promised that the name Wilhelm Furtwängler should always remain inseparable from that of the Philharmonic and the consequences of this pact are explored comprehensively. For decades, Furtwängler's successor as Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, a former Party member whose meteoric rise was intimately tied to the intrigues of the Third Reich, discouraged investigation of this disturbing history. Now bringing together documents culled from the orchestra and State archives, as well as private letters and testimony from the orchestra's musicians, Misha Aster tells this remarkable story for the first time. He portrays how German society first came to be seduced and then morally compromised by Nazism. Though the Berlin Philharmonic enjoyed exceptional privilege during the years 1933-45, The Reich s Orchestra vividly captures how ordinary Germans experienced the Nazi regime, and how their normal lives were stretched between desperation, fear, reticence and opportunism. The Reich s Orchestra is a remarkable depiction of the moral ambiguities of living under the Nazis told through the story of one of the world s great orchestras.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After hearing the author on Start the Week on Radio 4 I desparately wanted to buy this book and was pleasantly suprised to find it on sale at half price at a well known London Bookstore. Once again Amazon beaten to the punch on publication dates, more I suspect due to said bookstore;s opportunism than any fault of Amazon, although I understand this volume has been available abroad for some years which might also explain its availability, but no matter what about the book?
you'd be forgiven for thinking that there is surely little else that can be said or written about the Third reich, but Misha Aster has done so with a masterful depiction of how the Berlin Philharmonic managed to "survive" Hitler and Co's tyranny.
Nowadays the BP is one of, if not THE, pre-eminent orchestras in the world but in the Thirties and Forties things were much more murky. They were the cultural standard bearers of the Nazi party, performed with giant swastika flags as backdrops and made recordings at the behest of arch propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
Aster's account, which can be tad wordy on occasion, although never patronising or assuming an in depth knowledge of classical music, offers a sympathetic balance between the moral ambiguities of a group of musicians that was to all extent and purposes financially bankrupt trying to make a living,and making ethical compromises to survive.
There is lots to digest in this book. The music that was allowed or not allowed to be played, the political persuasions of its conductors, most notoriously Herbert Von Karajan, and how it survived and indeed flourished after the war.
I know nothing about classical music (the old cliche "I know what I like" applies) but that did not detract from my enjoyment in reading about this orchestra although I would imagine experts in the field will find more nuances in here than I did.
Well worth a look I'd say for anyone interested in the period looking for something different to read.
you'd be forgiven for thinking that there is surely little else that can be said or written about the Third reich, but Misha Aster has done so with a masterful depiction of how the Berlin Philharmonic managed to "survive" Hitler and Co's tyranny.
Nowadays the BP is one of, if not THE, pre-eminent orchestras in the world but in the Thirties and Forties things were much more murky. They were the cultural standard bearers of the Nazi party, performed with giant swastika flags as backdrops and made recordings at the behest of arch propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
Aster's account, which can be tad wordy on occasion, although never patronising or assuming an in depth knowledge of classical music, offers a sympathetic balance between the moral ambiguities of a group of musicians that was to all extent and purposes financially bankrupt trying to make a living,and making ethical compromises to survive.
There is lots to digest in this book. The music that was allowed or not allowed to be played, the political persuasions of its conductors, most notoriously Herbert Von Karajan, and how it survived and indeed flourished after the war.
I know nothing about classical music (the old cliche "I know what I like" applies) but that did not detract from my enjoyment in reading about this orchestra although I would imagine experts in the field will find more nuances in here than I did.
Well worth a look I'd say for anyone interested in the period looking for something different to read.
Format:Hardcover
An excellent pieces of scholarship that explores the day-to-day mechanics of the relationship bwteen the Berlin Phil and the various organs of the Third Reich, in a nuanced study that moves scholarship beyond the initial debate about the extent of Furtwangler's association with Nazism and anti-semitism. Aster's nitty-gritty examination, based on a wealth of primary materials from Goebbel's ministry and other official sources, as well as the BPO archives reveals a complex relationship, with the orchestra (and indeed Furtwangler) extracting maximum advantage from their Faustian pact, including their members' exemption from military call-up that endured to the fall of Berlin. He provides fascinating information on practical issues such as conductors' fees, rehearsal timetable, repertoire, and travel arrangements, crwating a picture of an orchestra with a punishing wartime schedule of concerts, yet nevertheless maintaining quality throughout - as the famous Furtwangler wartime recording of the 'Ninth' still demonstrates.
However, the text is dense (as the previous reviewer has noted), and is marred by some modernistic jargon and, worse still, some very poor copy editing (several incomplete sentences) and proof reading (lots of typos; and to give one specific, out of many, examples: on one page, a spelling of 'Nuremberg' in the English and German style, both in the text, not in quotations).
However, the text is dense (as the previous reviewer has noted), and is marred by some modernistic jargon and, worse still, some very poor copy editing (several incomplete sentences) and proof reading (lots of typos; and to give one specific, out of many, examples: on one page, a spelling of 'Nuremberg' in the English and German style, both in the text, not in quotations).
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing book.
11 Nov 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Anyone other than a specialist interested in this subject should not his waste his money buying this book. The title promises interest, but there is not much more than a dry compendium of the Berlin Philharmonic's practical arrangements for putting on concerts during the Third Reich period, its budgets, touring arrangements, programs, and organization. There is no in depth information or portrayal of Furtwangler, no biographical sketch, no even attempted insights regarding his character. Furtwangler's relationship with the regime is perfunctorily sketched, his personality uncommented on. He's just a name who happened to hold a baton before that orchestra at that time. There are long lists of players no one has heard of or should. No explanations of events: "After Furtwangler fled to Switzerland..." There is no mention of why he did, or how he spent his time while he was there. "After he passed his de-Nazification..." No description of what the de-Nazification program was, or Furtwangler's experience going through it. This book reads like a PhD dissertation.
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