The documentary “A Theater for a Symphony” has successfully emerged the judging and secured a nomination and a and win at this year’s prestigious Golden Prague International Television Festival.

VIENNA/PRAGUE – The Golden Prague Festival annually honors outstanding films focusing on music, dance, and theater. This year, the ORF/WDR co-production “A Theater for a Symphony” not only secured a nomination but went on to win the Czech Television Award. 

The international jury recognized the film for its compelling content and its innovative use of cutting-edge digital technologies to virtually reconstruct Vienna’s long-lost “Kärntnertortheater” – the stage of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony world premiere in 1824. The documentary offers today’s viewers an authentic and captivating glimpse into what that historic first performance may have sounded and looked like.

“A Theater for a Symphony” takes viewers back over 200 years to Vienna’s historical “Kärntnertortheater”, where Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered. Through stunning 3D technology, the documentary brings the theater, that was demolished in 1870, back to life and explores the captivating creation of Beethoven’s masterpiece. The film takes on the chaotic premiere, interviews musicologists and offers insights from Beethoven’s so-called “Conversation Books”, containing invaluable records of his life and thoughts. The film concludes with the Wiener Akademie Orchestra performing the “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on a digitally recreated stage of the historic Kärntnertortheater.

 “A Theater for a Symphony” is a co-production by ORF and WDR, directed by Barbara Weissenbeck and distributed worldwide by ORF-Enterprise.

Content Sales International (CSI) is the international content sales unit of ORF-Enterprise, the marketing subsidiary of the Austrian public service broadcasting corporation ORF. The team markets both ORF productions and works produced by independent production companies. The portfolio spans from documentaries, movies, series to kids programming and music. 

The award-winning ORF Universum documentaries and various popular original ORF Original drama series form the foundation of the colorful content catalog. 

Content Sales International also acts as facilitator between the Austrian creative industry and international coproduction partners, hosts a Semi-Final round of Judging for the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (iEmmys®) and participates in a wide range of content markets including MIPCOM, Avant Première, Sunny Side of the Doc and Jackson Wild Summit. A music publishing service with its own label, along with the ORF-Musiclibrary, complement ORF-Enterprise’s activities in this segment.

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