AllMovie

Globally acclaimed German actor Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) hosts Hearing the Silence: Sketches for a Portrait, a documentary profile of the noted Italian conductor Claudio Abbado. Founder of the Orchestra della Scala and musical director of La Scala from 1968 through 1986, Abbado doubled as conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra during this period, and in 1989 became the primary conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In Hearing the Silence, director Paul Smaczny explores Abbado's accomplishments and legacy, and includes interviews with Ganz, Daniel Harding, Albrecht Mayer, Wolfram Christ, and Kolja Blacher, as well as extensive footage of Abbado conducting.