Herbert von Karajan leads the Wiener Philharmoniker in Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony at Vienna’s Musikverein in this exceptional archival video footage. Premiered in 1888 with the conductor himself at the baton, the Symphony No. 5 proved popular with audiences while being heavily criticized by the press, hurting the composer emotionally. The work develops a single theme over the course of four movements in a similar fashion to the “Manfred” Symphony, written a few years previously. Beyond the work’s obvious beauty, the demanding and nuanced interpretation of Karajan allows us to appreciate its particular structural details as well.
Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky 6 “Pathetique”
Premiered in 1893 in St. Petersburg with Tchaikovsky on the podium, the Sixth Symphony—later nicknamed “Pathetique”—was met with lukewarm reception before achieving success a few months later under the baton of Napravnik, barely 9 days before the death of the composer! Dedicated to his nephew, Tchaikovsky explained that he had “put my whole soul into this work”, and a tragic aura has remained associated with his ultimate symphonic composition. Discover this powerful work in an exceptional performance with maestro Karajan at the head of the Wiener Philharmoniker.
New Year‘s Eve Concert 1984
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the few baroque composers whose works Herbert von Karajan recorded, with the conductor specializing primarily in Classical and Romantic repertoire. This rare footage of the 1984 New Year’s concert features the Berliner Philharmoniker and Karajan in a two-part program. First they perform Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major with the brilliant Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist. Then they present Bach’s Magnificat in D Major for soloists, choir, and orchestra, a true audience favorite.
Karajan in Japan
Join the maestro Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker for this eclectic and striking program featuring three masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire! The concert begins with Mozart’s Divertimento No. 17 in B-flat Major. Composed in 1777, the work incarnates Classicist ideals of with its apparent simplicity disguising great sophistication. Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem Don Juan follows: premiered in 1888, the work narrates the story of the famed libertine with a highly virtuosic score. The concert draws to a close with Ottorio Respighi’s Pines of Rome (1924), for which Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker prove to be the ideal interpreters of its complex and brilliant orchestration.
Beethoven Violin Concerto
Premiered in 1806, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major paved the way for three great violin concertos of the 19th and 20th centuries: Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius. Extremely expressive and astonishing in it emotional scope, the work nonetheless received an ambivalent response at its premiere. Renowned for his knowledge of Beethoven’s oeuvre, the conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker are joined by the virtuoso violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter for a masterful performance.
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 8
Premiered in Vienna in 1814, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 is colored by a remarkably joyful atmosphere. Could it have been related to the composer’s recent cure in Teplice (near Prague), where he had become friends with a certain German singer? Composed during the summer just after his Seventh Symphony, the Eighth’s first performance was met with a lukewarm reception. Maestro Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker come together here for a masterful performance.
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”
The great Beethoven specialist Herbert von Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a once-in-a-lifetime interpretation of Beethoven’s beloved Symphony No. 3. A great admirer of the young French Republic’s ideal of liberty at the turn of the 19th century, the composer initially dedicated what was called the “Bonaparte” Symphony to the diminutive French general. Unfortunately, Beethoven’s anger and disappointment at learning that the liberator had turned into an authoritarian emperor—as Victor Hugo would put it, “the Napoleon was starting to show behind the Bonaparte” (i.e. the tyrant was beginning to show through the hero)—led him to re-baptize the symphony as the “Eroica” and dedicate it to his patron, the Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz. The energy of Beethoven’s heroic gesture is incarnated in a work that intrepidly breaks with its symphonic predecessors.
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 2
Experience the captivating musical partnership of the Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan in this exceptional performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. Relatively obscure because of the incredible legacy of the symphonies that followed it, the Second was composed around the time when Beethoven learned that the deafness beginning to envelope him could never be cured… a dark moment captured in his Heiligenstadt Testament, an emotional letter written to his brothers in which he confided his desperation and suicidal thoughts. Dedicated to his patron, the former Mozart student Karl Lichnowsky, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 is shaped by the symphonic tradition founded by Mozart, whose works the younger composer greatly admired. The Second marks the end of a musical age and the dawning of a new epoque for the symphonic genre, with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” coming just around the corner…
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 1
The Berliner Philharmoniker and the exceptional maestro Herbert von Karajan present a beautiful performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony. Premiered in 1800 at Vienna’s Burgtheater, the work is dedicated to one of the composer’s first protectors, the Baron van Swieten. Just 30 years old at the time of the symphony’s composition, the young Beethoven’s work shows the influence of both his admiration for Mozart and his studies with Haydn.