Naked Hands

Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted his orchestras without a baton, with his bare hands.
 

In Giorgos Skevas’ documentary, which was premiered at last year’s Athens Festival, Lefteris Voyiatzis sets off in search of Dimitris Mitropoulos.

 

Taking its cues from the maestro’s letters to his dear friend Katy Katsogianni and from rare archive material, the film begins with the years Mitropoulos spent in the US as chief conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and, later, the New York Philharmonic and follows his career through until his death in La Scala, Milan, during a rehearsal of Mahler’s Third Symphony.