Nearly a century after its premiere in Vienna in 1892, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 receives a brilliant interpretation by the great conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker—the direct orchestral descendant of the ensemble that gave the masterpiece’s very first performance! Encouraged by the triumph of his Seventh Symphony, Bruckner produced his Eighth after three years of intense work, pushed by the implacable conductor Hermann Levi to make so many revisions that it became a “suicidal obsession”. Even with Levi’s demands, the Eighth would prove to be one of the longest symphonies in the history of music!
Karajan conducts Dvorak 8
“You advise me to write small pieces but I find this difficult… how can I do this when no theme for a melody or work for piano comes to me? At the moment, my mind is full of great ideas — I will follow the will of God”. These words from Dvorak to his publisher Simrock (who wanted the composer to produce shorter, easier-to-sell works) show his determination regarding the writing of his symphonies. Premiered February 2, 1890 in Prague, the Eighth Symphony, optimistic and inspired by traditional music, was very well received by its audience. The maestro Herbert von Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker present a masterful interpretation in this 1985 concert in the Austrian capital.
Karajan conducts Dvorak 9
Invited by the progressive American arts patron Jeannette Thurber to become director of the naissant National Conservatory of Music of America in New York in October of 1892, Dvorak was initially hesitant to cross the ocean to accept her offer. Attached to his native country and boosted by his growing success on the European continent, his financial struggle to support his family of six children led him to say yes. His subsequent voyage would become the point of departure for one of the world’s most beloved symphonic works: his Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, which combines traditional slavic folk music with the new American musical horizons he encountered. Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker honor the Czech composer’s magnificent chef-d’œuvre with this captivating performance.
Ein deutsches Requiem
“Rather than a German Requiem, I should have called it a ‘human requiem’.” Brahms’s words reveal much about the universal character of his celebrated work. The Wiener Philharmoniker under the baton of the great Herbert von Karajan presents a performance of appropriate subtlety and timelessness. Brahms’s Requiem is different from the traditional mass for the dead in numerous ways: the words are in German and not in Latin, and the texts—drawn from Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible—emphasize life’s peaceful conclusion rather than making entreaties on behalf of deceased souls facing the Final Judgement. An incredibly hopeful Requiem whose all-inclusive message resonates through to the present day.