Tony Palmer

Sergei Rachmaninoff is now widely regarded as one of the greatest 20th-century composers and pianists. He was born on April 1, 1873, on a large estate near the ancient city of Novgorod, Russia. His father was an army officer and his mother was a wealthy heiress. His father gambled, drank, and squandered his wife's money. He deserted his family when Sergei was nine years old.

The Salzburg Festival has hosted every great star of the opera and concert hall, from Toscanini to Anne-Sophie Mutter, from Fischer-Dieskau to Barenboim, from Pollini to Mitsuko Uchida. In this film, the first to tell the story of this remarkable Festival, set in the birthplace of Mozart, director Tony Palmer has been granted unprecedented access to Austria's film archives.

As superstition and fear sweep the Middle Ages, an educated rogue named Hopkins (Price) wanders from town to town proclaiming to be an official witchfinder. Town leaders pay him to accuse and then execute – usually innocent – suspects. But when a brave solider returns home to find his sweetheart on the rack, ready to burn, Hopkins realizes he may have whacked his last witch.