After his studies of viola and piano at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Christian Thielemann was appointed répétiteur at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the aged of 19 only. Assistant of Heinrich Hollreiser and Herbert von Karajan in Berlin, later on assistant of Daniel Barenboim at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Christian Thielemann has had an outstanding training with the greatest maestros passing on to him their remarkable art of conducting. In 1991 Christian Thielemann made his début in the United States with a new production of Strauss' "Elektra" at the San Francisco Opera, before joining the Metropolitan Opera of New York. Back to Germany in 1997, he took the direction of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He is now chief conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and musical advisor of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. The movie director Felix Schmidt draws the portrait of this outstanding conductor with a documentary combining musical excerpts and interviews.