Commanding the podium with his slender figure, theatrical shock of hair and penetrating blue eyes, Herbert von Karajan projected the hieratic image of the conductor as officiant of some quasi-mystic rite. And anyone who ever saw him conduct live or on his many audiovisual recordings will agree that in his performances, music did indeed become a religion and Karajan its high-priest. Karajan (1908-1989) embodied classical music in the general consciousness as an epoch-making conductor, media star, opera producer, festival director and festival founder. But in spite of his Promethean and widely varied activities, he remained a superb conductor, with a grasp of the standard orchestral and operatic repertory from Mozart to Schoenberg that was unsurpassed among his peers.
Impressions of Herbert Von Karajan – A Documentary on the Maestro at 70.
Bruckner, Te Deum
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) completed his Te Deum in 1883. It is perhaps his most “modern” work, with its ostinato technique, sharply delineated sound groups and primeval rhythmic power pointing ahead to the 20th century. In this 1978 production with the Vienna Philharmonic and chorus of the Wiener Singverein under Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989), the work unfolds its full majesty particularly thanks to the great soloists Anna Tomowa- Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, David Rendall and José van Dam. And, of course, to Herbert von Karajan, one of Bruckner’s most congenial interpreters. Karajan embodied classical music in the general consciousness as an epoch- making conductor, media star, opera producer, festival director and festival founder. But in spite of his Promethean and widely varied activities, he remained a superb conductor, with a grasp of the standard orchestral and operatic repertory from Mozart to Schoenberg that was unsurpassed among his peers.
Wagner, Overture to “Tristan und Isolde”
Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. His remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony began in 1954; he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday. This recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was made in 1976 at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago.
Wagner, Overture to “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”
Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. His remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony began in 1954; he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday. This recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was made in 1976 at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago.
Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Overture, Scherzo, Wedding March, Intermezzo, Finale)
“The last of the great international orchestral and operatic maestri” (The Times), Sir Georg Solti is a living testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Solti’s remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1954, when he first led the orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. After returning to conduct the ensemble several times during the following years, he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. His recordings of Mendelssohn’s works with the Chicago Symphony date from the late 1970s and represent a mellower, more lyrically accented phase in the partnership between Solti and his orchestra.
Mendelssohn, Symphony No.4 in A major, op.90 “Italian”
“The last of the great international orchestral and operatic maestri” (The Times), Sir Georg Solti is a living testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Solti’s remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1954, when he first led the orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. After returning to conduct the ensemble several times during the following years, he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. His recordings of Mendelssohn’s works with the Chicago Symphony date from the late 1970s and represent a mellower, more lyrically accented phase in the partnership between Solti and his orchestra.
Beethoven, Leonore Overture No.3 in C major, op.72a
Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, was composed about 1803. As do so many of the composer’s works, it glorifies the struggle against tyranny and celebrates heroism and humanitarianism. The first performance, which took place in Vienna in 1805, was ill-received; and the opera required 10 years of revision before it was accepted by the public in 1814. Beethoven wrote four overtures to his opera: three are known as the “Leonore Overtures” (named after the heroine of the opera); the fourth, the Overture to Fidelio, is the version now used as a prelude to the opera .The music of Leonore No. 3 refers to the climax of the story in the last act of Fidelio. Today, it is usually played as an interlude between the second and third acts of the opera. This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein’s Beethoven cycle, recorded primarily with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s. Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O’Connor stated: “As Mr. Bernstein says, there is ‘no single body of work in the universe of orchestral music that is in any way comparable to this one.’ Conducted with intense dedication and soaring spirits by Mr. Bernstein, these recordings are superb, both visually and aurally.” Leonard Bernstein recorded this work in an all-Beethoven concert with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio at Munich’s Deutsches Museum in 1976.
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.19 in F major, K. 459
The soloist in this concerto conducted by Karl Böhm and played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is Maurizio Pollini, one of the most enigmatic figures in today’s musical world. Although he approaches the repertoire in a profoundly spiritual manner, Pollini does not ban brilliance and dazzling virtuosity from his playing. His lyrical and intense art makes him predestined for Mozart, whose works he has been interpreting in a completely new light for many years now. Mozart wrote his concerto K. 459 in 1784 as one of the six concertos written in that year for a series of subscription concerts in which he regularly played a new work of his own creation. Its first movement begins with a jaunty rhythm reminiscent of that used in the Symphonies K. 550 and 551. The orchestra claims equal partnership right away, the masterful interplay of the winds, strings and solo instrument revealing the full extent of Mozart’s innovative treatment of the concerto form. Maurizio Pollini first drew widespread attention when he won the first prize at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960 and was expressly praised by Arthur Rubinstein, the president of the jury. Surprisingly, he turned down the many offers of performances he then received in order to “listen” and meditate. It was only after working with Michelangeli that he launched his international career. A socially committed artist, he rejected all forms of elitism. He has played for workers in factories and given concerts to support political causes. In addition to the romantic repertoire, which he masters superbly, he has always shown a predilection for contemporary works, especially those of Stockhausen and Nono. He recorded this concerto at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal in April 1976. Karl Böhm conducts the Vienna Philharmonic.
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K. 488
The soloist in this concerto conducted by Karl Böhm and played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is Maurizio Pollini, one of the most enigmatic figures in today’s musical world. Although he approaches the repertoire in a profoundly spiritual manner, Pollini does not ban brilliance and dazzling virtuosity from his playing. His lyrical and intense art makes him predestined for Mozart, whose works he has been interpreting in a completely new light for many years now. Mozart composed this work during a particularly fruitful period in Vienna in 1786, while he was working on “Figaro,” the Masonic Funeral Music and the concertos K. 482 and 491. The A major concerto is one of Mozart’s most beloved, perhaps because of its highly contrasting moods, which nevertheless produce an overal impression of Classical unity: the elegant and polished first movement, the poignantly beautiful “siciliano” slow movement and the exuberant Allegro assai finale. The Mozart interpretations of Karl Böhm (1894-1981) perfectly echo the naturalness and clarity of the maestro’s conducting. Although Wagner was one of his first loves, Böhm soon discovered Mozart’s operas thanks to Bruno Walter, who let him conduct “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” in Munich in the early 1920s. Later, Böhm’s friendship with Richard Strauss led to a still deeper knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this – in my opinion – greatest musical genius.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets turned his Mozart interpretations, such as this one with the celebrated pianist Maurizio Pollini, into unforgettable events.