Before the rehearsal, the musicians were tense and worried; no one knew what kind of reception Wilhelm Furtwängler would get, even though he had been cleared of all charges of friendship and collaboration with the Nazis. "Politics somehow always get mixed up with these things," said one of the Berlin Philharmonic's violinists. But when their old maestro walked in, with the dignified and austere manner the oldtimers knew so well, the tension disappeared. Every man in the orchestra got to his feet; the violinists tapped their bows on the instrument stands in tribute.
Tall, gaunt Wilhelm Furtwä1;ngler, in his shirtsleeves, rehearsed...
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