Mariss Jansons left behind a distinguished legacy of musical activity. It’s no coincidence that the filmmakers chose to include numerous interviews with those who were guided by the Latvian-born conductor’s baton: the musicians who appreciated and admired him. A musician in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra—one of the four orchestras he led—says the orchestra and Jansons created something meaningful together. Others recount how he knew every musician in the four orchestras by name, and how an orchestra “sounded different” when he conducted it.

Jansons conducted four orchestras simultaneously: the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. When he became ill at the end of 2019, Jansons insisted on moving ahead with a planned tour with the Bavarian orchestra; after a concert at Carnegie Hall, he was rushed to the hospital and then flown home to St. Petersburg, where he died soon after. Thousands attended his funeral, and musicians from all the orchestras performed as a tribute to him.

In the film, archival footage shows Jansons in rehearsals, concerts and interviews from over the years. This portrait manages to convey why so many musicians around the world appreciate him so profoundly. As conductor Simon Rattle says in the film: “Simply put, he is the best among us.”