Sinopoli was naturally aware of Busch’s outstanding international rank as a conductor and of his importance for the opera and orchestra in Dresden. He of course also knew how euphorically Busch had once been received in the city and of the barbaric events of March 1933 that had driven him from the rostrum of the Semperoper and from Dresden.

And so we took our seats in the darkened auditorium of the opera house one day in March 1998;
I observed that Sinopoli, who had just come from a strenuous morning rehearsal, showed interest in the forthcoming experiment, but also looked somewhat sceptical. But after only a few bars he was all at once not only wide awake but quite electrified by the sounds and images. As the film progressed, he seemed more and more overwhelmed by Busch’s powerful authority and suggestive charisma, by the vigour and sensibility with which he led and inspired the orchestra, and no less by the total devotion, the spirited musicianship, the discipline and the rich sound of what was now “his orchestra”.

I have never again seen him listening and watching in such a spellbound manner. And although he was perfectly familiar with the exceptional Dresden tradition stretching from Schütz through Weber and Wagner up to Schuch and Strauss and although he greatly esteemed the recordings conductors like Böhm and Kempe made with the Staatskapelle, I seemed to perceive that he had suddenly become aware in those minutes how truly unique was the heritage entrusted to him – and of the ignominious injustice that had been done to his great predecessor.

Visibly moved after the showing, Sinopoli said only that he would devote a few words to Fritz Busch at the ceremony. Shortly afterwards he asked me for more detailed information, particularly relating to Busch’s time in Dresden. Sinopoli had for some time been sending me his letters and other writings concerning Dresden, with the request that I correct his not always quite perfect German, but I neither heard nor saw anything of his Busch speech. He obviously saw it as an intensely personal matter that he had to ex- press in his own words and did not want anyone from Dresden to see it first.

When Sinopoli finally held the speech at the ceremony, his deep emotions affected the whole auditorium. In conjunction with the film, those urgent, heartfelt words formed the intellectual and emotional focus of the celebrations. Although the Staatsoper had posthumously conferred honorary membership on Fritz Busch in 1990 to mark what would have been his 100th birthday, we felt that he had truly been called back during that unforgettable hour on September 22, 1998.