Nikolaus Harnoncourt is considered one of the last great masters in the music scene of our time and can polarize audiences and critics like no other. With his artistic ambitions and idealistic beliefs, he has given significant new impulses to traditional events such as the Salzburg Festival and the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. In her multifaceted biography, Monika Mertl not only traces Harnoncourt's development from cellist and specialist in early music to groundbreaking interpreter of great masterpieces, but also illuminates the ideological background that made his work distinctive.