Beyond what you think Herbert von Karajan conducts, these 2 films were also directed by Karajan.
Commanding the podium with his slender figure, theatrical shock of hair and penetrating blue eyes, Herbert von Karajan projected the hieratic image of the conductor as officiant of some quasi-mystic rite. And anyone who ever saw him conduct live or on his many audiovisual recordings will agree that in his performances, music did indeed become a religion and Karajan its high-priest. Karajan (1908-1989) is the first conductor who seriously record live concerts, including the Beethoven Symphonies Cycle, even inviting famous movie directors to film them in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
Karajan embodied classical music in the general consciousness as an epoch-making conductor, media star, opera producer, festival director and festival founder. But in spite of his Promethean and widely varied activities, he remained a superb conductor, with a grasp of the standard orchestral and operatic repertory from Mozart to Schoenberg that was unsurpassed among his peers. These Symphonies No. 2 & 3 were recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonie in 1973.