In 1987, Herbert von Karajan was chosen to conduct Vienna’s prestigious New Year’s concert, an iconic annual event that became particularly patriotic that evening when an Austrian conductor led the Wiener Philharmoniker in an all-Viennese concert program! Waltzes, polkas, and Strauss’s unforgettable Radetzky March shared a program with a scintillating vocal waltz called Springtime Voices sung by the masterful Kathleen Battle—the only vocal soloist ever invited in the history of the New Year’s Concert!
Don Carlos
Considered one of Verdi’s most challenging works, Don Carlos gets the royal treatment in this production at the Salzburg Festival directed by Herbert von Karajan. Verdi’s opera demands soloists of incredible technical ability who are also capable of communicating their character’s struggles with exceptional expressiveness. Inspired by Schiller’s eponymous historical tragedy, Don Carlos explores the conflicts between 16th-century European society and the heavy-handed political influence of the Catholic Church, as well as the roles of liberty and religion in the life of modern man.
Don Giovanni
In 1987, Herbert von Karajan conducted a historic production of Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival featuring an artistic team considered to this day to be one of best to have ever brought the opera to life: Samuel Ramey, Benny Goodman, Gösta Winbergh, Paata Burchuladze, Julia Varady, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Alexander Malta, and Kathleen Battle. The virtuosic soloists are supported by one of the greatest artistic partnerships of the 20th century: maestro Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker!