An open-air film festival dedicated to Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan is presently taking place in front of Sofia's National Theatre Ivan Vazov. The fest features the cycle of Beethoven symphonies that Karajan filmed from 1982 to 1986.

The festival was opened on Wednesday and lasts a week, concluding with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. "This, in a way, is the frame of the festival that relates it to the European idea. The fourth part of the symphony, Ode to Joy, is the hymn of the European Union," said the festival's artistic director Vladimir Vladigerov.

Apart from music manager and violinist, Vladigerov is also the nephew of prominent Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov, whose work Karajan conducted upon his graduation from the Vienna Music Academy. Vladigerov came up with the idea for the festival after enjoying music in front of the municipality building in Vienna several years ago. According to him, this is the first time that such a festival has been organized in Southeastern Europe. It will not copy the Vienna festival, but will be a unique event as it will be dedicated to Karajan's work, said Vladigerov. The Sofia Municipality organized the event.

In addition to the symphonies performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, music fans can also see movies featuring overtures to Beethoven's operas Fidelio, Leonore, and Egmont, as well as a Violin Concerto, and the religious mass Missa Solemnis. Karajan embodied classical music as a brilliant conductor, opera producer, festival director, and a huge media star.

He was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1908 and died there in 1989. Karajan is the city's most famous son after Mozart. He made his conducting debut at the age of 20 and, in 1935 in Aachen he was appointed Germany's youngest general music director. In 1955, he was appointed music director for life of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he turned into one of the best orchestras in the world.

Simultaneously head of the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival and the Berlin Philharmonic for a time, and closely connected to the Vienna Symphony, London's Philharmonic Orchestra (which had been created especially for him) and Milan's La Scala, Karajan became known as the "General Music Director of Europe" from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna, which owns the rights over all the films of the prominent conductor, has provided the titles that are being shown in Sofia for free, Vladigerov said.

Karajan is the executive producer, conductor, and director of all the movies. He began preserving his performances on film in the 1940s, and in 1965 he produced his first opera film, Puccini's La Boheme, with director Franco Zeffirelli.

Initially, he worked with Unitel - the world's leading producer of classical music programs for film, television and video, but in 1982 he founded his own production company, Telemondial. He has nearly 90 hours of music on film, ranging from operas to cycles of symphonies to a variety of orchestral works. Among the soloists of these productions are leading performers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Nikolai Giaurov, and Alexis Weissenberg.

The movies are to be projected on a large screen in front of the National Theatre, where some 500 chairs will be arranged. The café there will also provide an additional 100 chairs, and enough space will be left for people who prefer to stand. The program starts at 9.30pm every night, and will be cancelled if the weather is poor.