New interest in Furtwangler: Szabo film prompts slew of complementary releases.(Classical)

Istvan Szabo's film Taking Sides has brought the name and music making of legendary German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler to a new audience, underpinned by powerful performances from Harvey Keitel as the musician's post-war American interrogator and Stellan Skarsgard as Furtwangler.

The movie, which was released last week, deals with the nature of the conductor's complicity with the Nazis and his naive belief that he could preserve the true greatness of German art from corruption by Hitler's brown-shirted gangsters.

Deutsche Grammophon has issued the OST for Taking Sides, including extracts from Furtwangler's famous 1943 account of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which was recorded in Berlin's old Philharmonie shortly before it was destroyed in a bombing raid. The disc opens with a "re-creation" of the first movement of Beethoven Five in the image of Furtwangler's interpretation, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with the Berlin Staatskapelle, and also offers other classics from the DG Furtwangler catalogue.

Interest in Furtwangler has been spurred in recent months by the release of several titles. Non-specialist retailers hoping to gain from Taking Sides ...