Herbert von Karajan (German:[ˈhɛʁbɛʁtfɔnˈka(ː)ʁajan]ⓘ; bornHeribert Adolf Ernst Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of theBerlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During theNazi era, he debuted at theSalzburg Festival, with theVienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and duringWorld War II he conducted at theBerlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death.[1] Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he sold 200 million records.[2]
Georg and his brother participated in the establishment of Saxony's cloth industry, and both were ennobled for their services byFrederick Augustus III on 1 June 1792, thus adding the prefix "von" to the family name. This usage disappeared with the abolition of Austrian nobility after World War I. The surname Karajánnis becameKarajan.[9] Although traditional biographers ascribed aSlovak andSerbian or simply aSlavic origin to his mother,[10] Karajan's family from the maternal side, through his grandfather who was born in the village ofMojstrana,Duchy of Carniola (today inSlovenia), wasSlovene.[9][10][11]Aromanian heritage has also been claimed.[12] Through the Slovene line, Karajan was related to the Slovenian-Austrian composerHugo Wolf.[13] He also seems to have known someSlovene.[9][10]
Coat of arms of the Karajan family, granted in 1869Herbert von Karajan's parents, Ernst von Karajan and his wife, Marta von Karajan (née Kosmač)
Herbert Ritter von Karajan was born inSalzburg,Austria-Hungary, the second son of physician (surgeon) and senior consultant Ernst von Karajan (1868–1951) and Marta (née Martha Kosmač; 1881–1954) (married 1905).[14][15] He was a child prodigy at the piano.[16] From 1916 to 1926, he studied at theMozarteum in Salzburg withFranz Ledwinka [de] (piano),Franz Sauer (harmony), andBernhard Paumgartner (composition and chamber music).[17]
He was encouraged to concentrate on conducting by Paumgartner, who detected his exceptional promise in that regard. In 1926, Karajan graduated from the conservatory and continued his studies at theVienna Academy, studying piano with Josef Hofmann (a teacher with the same name asthe pianist) and conducting withAlexander Wunderer andFranz Schalk.[18]
Karajan made his debut as a conductor in Salzburg on 22 January 1929. The performance got the attention of the general manager of the Stadttheater inUlm and led to Karajan's first appointment as assistantKapellmeister of the theater.[14][15] His senior colleague in Ulm wasOtto Schulmann. After Schulmann was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with theNazi Party takeover, Karajan was promoted to firstKapellmeister.
In the postwar era, Karajan maintained silence about his Nazi Party membership, which gave rise to a number of conflicting stories about it. One version is that because of the changing political climate and the destabilization of his position, Karajan attempted to join the Nazi Party in Salzburg in April 1933, but his membership was later declared invalid because he somehow failed to follow up on the application[15] and that Karajan formally joined the Nazi Party inAachen in 1935, implying that he was not eager to pursue membership. More recent scholarship clears up this confusion:
...the truth is that Karajan actually joined the Nazi Party twice. The first time this happened was on 8 April 1933 in Salzburg. He paid the admission fee, received the membership number 1607525 and moved to Ulm. It is said that this accession was never formally carried out. It is also certain that Karajan rejoined the Nazi Party in Aachen in March 1935, this time receiving the membership number 3430914. After the annexation of Austria, the responsible Reich Treasurer of the Nazi Party discovered Karajan's double membership in Munich and declared the first accession invalid. The second was made retroactive to 1 May 1933.[19]
During the entire Nazi era he "never hesitated to open his concerts with the Nazi favorite 'Horst-Wessel-Lied',[20]: 27 but "always maintained he joined strictly for career reasons."[21] His enemies called him "SS Colonel von Karajan".[20]: 13–14
In 1933, Karajan made his conducting debut at theSalzburg Festival with theWalpurgisnacht Scene inMax Reinhardt's production ofFaust. In Salzburg in 1934, Karajan led theVienna Philharmonic for the first time, and from 1934 to 1941, he was engaged to conduct operatic and orchestra concerts at theTheater Aachen.
Karajan's career received a significant boost in 1935 when he became Germany's youngestGeneralmusikdirektor, at Aachen, and performed as a guest conductor in Bucharest, Brussels, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Paris.[22] In 1938, Karajan made his debut with theBerlin Philharmonic. That same year, he made his debut with theBerlin State Opera conductingFidelio, and then had a major success at the State Opera withTristan und Isolde. His performance was hailed by a Berlin critic asDas Wunder Karajan (Karajan the miracle). The critic wrote that Karajan's "success with Wagner's demanding workTristan und Isolde sets himself alongsideWilhelm Furtwängler andVictor de Sabata, the greatest opera conductors in Germany at the present time".[17] Receiving a contract withDeutsche Grammophon that same year, Karajan made the first of numerous recordings, conducting theStaatskapelle Berlin in the overture toThe Magic Flute.
Karajan's career continued to thrive at the beginning of the war. In 1939, the Berlin State Opera appointed him State Kapellmeister and conductor of concerts by the Prussian State Orchestra.[14] He then became music director of the Staatskapelle Berlin, with which he toured Rome with extraordinary success.[15] The next year, his contract in Aachen was discontinued. His marriage to Anita Gütermann (with one Jewish grandparent) and the prosecution of his agent Rudolf Vedder also contributed to his temporary professional decline, leaving him few engagements beyond a limited season of concerts with the Staatskapelle. However, the subscription concerts he conducted with the Staatskapelle during the war were critically acclaimed and generated great media interest.[23]
By 1944, Karajan was, by his account, losing favour with the Nazi leadership, but he conducted concerts in Berlin as late as 18 February 1945. A short time later, in the closing stages of the war, he and his wife fled Germany for Milan, relocating with the assistance of Victor de Sabata.[15][24]
Karajan's increased prominence from 1933 to 1945 has led to speculation that he joined the Nazi Party solely to advance his career. Critics such asJim Svejda[25] have pointed out that other prominent conductors, such asArturo Toscanini,Otto Klemperer,Erich Kleiber, andFritz Busch, fled Germany or Italy at the time. Richard Osborne noted that among the many significant conductors who continued to work in Germany during the war years—Wilhelm Furtwängler,Carl Schuricht,Karl Böhm,Hans Knappertsbusch,Clemens Krauss andKarl Elmendorff—Karajan was one of the youngest and thus one of the least advanced in his career.[26] He was allowed to conduct various orchestras and was free to travel, even to the Netherlands to conduct theConcertgebouw Orchestra and make recordings there in 1943.[27] He conducted for an audience of 300 Nazi armaments officials at a conference convened byAlbert Speer in Linz, Austria, on 24–25 June 1944.[28] In September 1944, he was listed on theGottbegnadeten list (God-gifted list of artists exempt frommobilisation).[29]
Karajan'sdenazification tribunal, held in Vienna on 15 March 1946, cleared him of illegal activity during the Nazi period.[30] The Austrian denazification examining board discharged Karajan on 18 March 1946, and he resumed conducting shortly thereafter.[31] Years later, former West German ChancellorHelmut Schmidt said of Karajan's Nazi party membership card, "Karajan was obviously not a Nazi. He was aMitläufer."[19]
In 1946, Karajan gave his first postwar concert in Vienna with theVienna Philharmonic, but was banned from further conducting by the Soviet occupation authorities because of his Nazi party membership. That summer he participated anonymously in the Salzburg Festival.
In 1949, Karajan became artistic director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna. He also conducted atLa Scala in Milan. His most prominent activity at this time was recording with the newly formedPhilharmonia Orchestra in London, helping to build them into one of the world's finest. Starting from this year, Karajan began his lifelong attendance at theLucerne Festival.[33]
During its 1955 tour of the United States, Karajan's past membership in the Nazi Party led to the Berlin Philharmonic's concerts being banned in Detroit, andPhiladelphia Orchestra music directorEugene Ormandy refused to shake Karajan's hand. Upon arriving in New York City for a concert atCarnegie Hall, Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic were confronted by protests and picketers.[34]
In 1956, Karajan was appointed principal conductor for life of the Berlin Philharmonic as Furtwängler's successor.[35]
From 1957 to 1964, Karajan was artistic director of theVienna State Opera. He was closely involved with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival, where he initiated the Easter Festival, which remained tied to the Berlin Philharmonic's music director after his tenure.
Karajan's grave in the churchyard of Anif parish church, just outside Salzburg
In his later years, Karajan suffered from heart and back problems, needing surgery on the latter. He resigned as principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic on 24 April 1989.[36] His last concert was Bruckner's7th Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic. He died of a heart attack at his home inAnif on 16 July 1989 at the age of 81.[1]
Karajan believed in reincarnation and said he would like to be reborn as an eagle so he could soar over his beloved Alps.[1] Even so, on 29 June 1985, he conducted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'sCoronation Mass during a Mass celebrated byPope John Paul II inSt. Peter's Basilica, on theFeast of Saints Peter and Paul, and with his wife and daughters receivedHoly Communion from the hand of the Pope.[37] By the end of his life he had reconciled with the Catholic Church, and requested a Catholic burial.[38]
Karajan was married three times. He married his first wife, Elmy Holgerloef, an operetta singer, on 26 July 1938. He first worked with her on a 1935 New Year's Eve gala production of Strauss'sDie Fledermaus. They divorced in 1942. Elmy died of heart failure in 1983.[39] A statement from his Salzburg office stated that Karajan was "very shocked, affected, and deeply upset by the news. He had never forgotten her; she had been a part of his life."[40] Karajan did not attend her funeral in Aachen.
On 22 October 1942, at the height ofthe Second World War, Karajan married his second wife, Anna Maria "Anita" Sauest, bornGütermann [de], the daughter of a well-known manufacturer of yarn for sewing machines. Having had a Jewish grandfather, she was considered aVierteljüdin (one-quarter Jewish woman). They divorced in 1958.
On 6 October 1958, Karajan married his third wife,Eliette Mouret, a French model born inMollans-sur-Ouvèze. She had enjoyed a carefree childhood growing up in Provence before being discovered byChristian Dior when she was 18. This laid the foundation for an international modelling career. Karajan first met Mouret in 1957 and was deeply taken with her. Their first daughter,Isabel, was born on 25 June 1960. In 1964, their second daughter, Arabel, was born.
After Karajan's death, Eliette continued his musical legacy by founding of the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna, now in Salzburg and known as theEliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute. Her numerous projects focus particularly on the development of young people, and she is a patron of theSalzburg Easter Festival.[41]
Karajan had been a passionate sportsman since he was a teenager. He was a keen skier and swimmer and followed a daily yoga ritual. He won several regattas aboard his racing yacht, christenedHelisara. He piloted his Learjet and was a great sailing and car enthusiast, particularly fond ofPorsches.[42] He ordered a specially configuredPorsche 911 Turbo (type 930) withMartini & Rossi livery and his name on the back.[43]
One of Karajan's signature skills as a conductor was his ability to extract exquisite sounds from orchestras. His biographer Roger Vaughan observed this phenomenon while listening to theBerlin Philharmonic play in 1986, after nearly 30 years under Karajan's direction, noting that "what rivets one's attention is the beauty and perfection of the sounds. The softest of pianissimos commands rapt attention. The smooth crescendos peak exactly when they should. The breaks are sliced clean, without the slightest ragged edge."[44]
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Karajan's conducting style was his propensity to conduct with his eyes closed. This is highly unusual for a conductor, as eye contact is generally regarded as of paramount importance to the conductor's communication with the orchestra. Yet, as Vaughan remarked: "[h]ere is one of the fascinating aspects of conducting: there are no rules, only guidelines. The most eccentric approach is tolerated if the results are successful."[45] Indeed,James Galway, who served as principal flutist of theBerlin Philharmonic from 1969 to 1975, recalled that "he [Karajan] achieved most of what he wanted through charm".[46]
But there were reasons for many of Karajan's eccentricities. Conducting with his eyes closed, for instance, was a consequence of memorizing scores; keeping his eyes closed helped him keep focus.[45] Karajan's method of score study, too, was somewhat unusual, as noted by his friendWalter Legge, who remarked:
He is one of the few conductors I have known who has never made a mark in a score. He will absorb a score quietly sitting on the floor, like a relaxed Siamese cat. Over the years he has learned how completely to relax the body so the mind is absolutely free to do what it wants.[47]
Karajan was also known for his preternaturally keen sense of tempo, even going so far as to have himself tested against a computer to prove it. He insisted that this skill was learned, not inherited, and considered it the bedrock of musical interpretations.
He cited inconsistencies in rhythmic accuracy and control as "one thing that might make me lose my temper. I can accept a wrong note from an orchestra but when everything is getting faster or slower, that I cannot accept."[48]
He once explained to a German journalist why he preferred the Berlin to the Vienna Philharmonic: "If I tell the Berliners to step forward, they do it. If I tell the Viennese to step forward, they do it, but then they ask why."[49]
Karajan was a noted interpreter of virtually every standard of the classical repertoire, from the Baroque era to the 20th century. He was an admirer ofGlenn Gould's interpretations ofBach, performing theD minor Keyboard Concerto with him on one occasion. The eminentHaydn scholarH. C. Robbins Landon considered Karajan's recordings of the12 London Symphonies as some of the finest he knew, and his multipleBeethoven cycles are still staples.[50]
Yet Karajan's real interests seem to have lain in the period from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Principal among these were his fascinations with the composersAnton Bruckner andJean Sibelius. In a 1981 interview withGramophone's Robert Layton, Karajan remarked that he felt "a much deeper influence, affinity, kinship—call it what you like—[in Sibelius's music] with Bruckner. There is this sense of theUrwald, the primaeval forest, the feeling of elemental power, that one is dealing with something profound."[51] When pressed about this connection toward the end of his life by his biographer Osborne, Karajan echoed some of these sentiments, saying:
There is in both [Bruckner and Sibelius] a sense of the elemental. But I have often asked myself what it is that drew me to Sibelius's music and I think it is that he is a composer who cannot really be compared to anyone else. ... And younever come to an end with him. I think it is perhaps also to do with my love of remote places, my love of mountains rather than cities.[52]
Layton demystifies this relationship somewhat by observing that:
[s]tringtremolandi and pedal points are, of course, among [the similarities between Bruckner and Sibelius], and we hear Brucknerian echoes in the development section of the first movement ofKullervo, written only a year or so after Sibelius first heardBruckner's Third Symphony in Vienna.[51]
Yet the most potent assessment of Karajan's interpretation of Sibelius's music came from Sibelius himself, who, according to Legge, said, "Karajan is the only conductor who plays what I meant."[53]
Karajan was also a prolific opera conductor, championing the works ofWagner,Verdi,Richard Strauss andPuccini. Verdi's last opera,Falstaff, was something of a mainstay throughout Karajan's career. In his conversations with Osborne, Karajan recalled that, in the 1930s, when Italian opera was still something of a rarity in Austria and Germany:
[M]y training in Verdi'sFalstaff came from Toscanini. There wasn't a rehearsal in either Vienna or Salzburg at which I wasn't present. I think I heard about thirty. From Toscanini I learnt the phrasing and the words—always withItalian singers, which was unheard of in Germany then. I don't think I ever opened the score. It was so in my ears, I just knew it.[54]
Karajan went on to make two recordings ofFalstaff—one forHis Master's Voice in 1956 and another forPhilips in 1980—and his colleagueOtto Klemperer hailed the Vienna State Opera production as "really excellent".[55] Strauss was likewise a continual force in Karajan's life, not just as a composer, but as a conductor. Karajan recounted their only "proper" meeting, in 1939, to Osborne:
[A]t the end [of a performance ofElektra in Berlin] he came and said to me it was the best performance of the opera he had ever heard. I said, "I don't really want to hear this; tell me what was wrong with it." I think he was surprised by my reaction, so he asked me to lunch the next day. He said, "You have made the music very clear, thefp here, the accent there; but these are not at all important. Just wave your stick around a bit!" He made a gesture like stirring a pudding. But what he meant was, let the music flow more naturally.[56]
Karajan conducted and recorded prolifically, mainly with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. He conducted other orchestras (including theNHK Symphony Orchestra, theNew York Philharmonic, theConcertgebouw Orchestra, theOrchestre de Paris, the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Milan and theStaatskapelle Dresden), but the vast majority of his recordings were made with the Berlin and Vienna orchestras. He also left a considerable legacy of recordings with thePhilharmonia Orchestra, his last performance being in 1960.[57]
Although he made recordings with several labels, notablyEMI, it isDeutsche Grammophon with which he became most associated, making 330 recordings with it.[58] Karajan's 1981 Deutsche Grammophon recording ofAn Alpine Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic became the first work ever to be pressed on the compact disc format. Even though his repertoire had been extensively covered in analog (LP record), he spent the rest of the 1980s makingdigital recordings, notably rerecording Beethoven's symphonies (Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic's 1977 analog recording of Beethoven'sSymphony No. 3 won theGrand Prix du Disque, while their 1984 digital recording of it was not particularly critically acclaimed yet sold considerably more). In the mid-1990s, Deutsche Grammophon released theKarajan Gold series, remixes of Karajan's 1980s digital recordings enhanced by 24-bit processing.
Karajan filmed performances of his work for bothUnitel and his own company, Telemondial.[59]
The so-called Karajan sound remains something of a litmus test for critics, dividing them into two competing camps. Two reviews from thePenguin Guide to Compact Discs illustrate this point:
Of a 1971–72 studio recording ofTristan und Isolde, the Penguin authors wrote, "Karajan's is a sensual performance of Wagner's masterpiece, caressingly beautiful and with superbly refined playing from the Berlin Philharmonic".[60]
Of Karajan's recording ofHaydn's"Paris" symphonies, the same authors wrote, "big-band Haydn with a vengeance ... It goes without saying that the quality of the orchestral playing is superb. However, these are heavy-handed accounts, closer to Imperial Berlin than to Paris ... the Minuets are very slow indeed ... These performances are too charmless and wanting in grace to be whole-heartedly recommended."[61]
The New York Times writerJohn Rockwell wrote in 1989: "He had a particular gift for Wagner and above all forBruckner, whose music he conducted with sovereign command and elevated feeling."[1]
Karajan's concerts came to be considered major cultural events. In a 1982 tour of the United States, musical stars fromZubin Mehta andSeiji Ozawa toFrank Sinatra attended his Carnegie Hall concerts.[62] Karajan was less interested in publicity or legacy than in building the cultural institution of music. "When I am on the podium, I forget all about the public", he said. "I am not interested in publicity. I can only hope there is an advantage to my being known in the world, that through the interest people take in me, they will then move on to an interest in music."[63]
Much of Karajan's legacy is inextricable from his pioneering attitude toward recording technology. He made over 800 recordings, far surpassing the output of other contemporary conductors.Deutsche Grammophon said his albums sold "probably hundreds of millions" of copies.[This quote needs a citation] TheWest German news weeklyDer Spiegel reported that he earned more than $6 million annually from record sales and conducting fees in 1989. Karajan amassed a fortune valued at 250 million euros as of 2008, remaining one of top-selling classical music artists two decades after his death.[1][42]
Despite Karajan's significant prowess as a conductor, he was more often seen behind the camera than in the teaching studio, preferring to record rehearsals rather than give masterclasses. He maintained a long friendship with Ozawa, whose success makes him Karajan's most outstanding student.[64] Indeed, Ozawa was reportedly a strong contender to succeed Karajan at the Berlin Philharmonic; Karajan called him the "conductor with the best character" for the position.[65][62]
Karajan and American conductor/composerLeonard Bernstein respected each other and held no animosity, but sometimes practiced a little mutualone-upmanship such that they were described as fierce rivals.[66][67] Bernstein collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic only once, in 1979 when he conducted two concerts as part of the Berliner Festspiele in which he conducted Mahler's Ninth Symphony. It was often suggested that Bernstein could not conduct in Berlin while Karajan was alive (the Berlin Philharmonic was regarded as Karajan's own), the truth was that Berlin Philharmonic’s managing director Wolfgang Stresemann actually invited Bernstein but as part of a subscription concert series, which Bernstein disliked.[68][69][70]
During the Berlin Philharmonic's 1955 tour of the United States,Philadelphia Orchestra music directorEugene Ormandy refused to shake Karajan's hand, due to Karajan's past membership in the Nazi Party.[34] Ormandy's Philadelphia Orchestra was regarded as the only real rival to Karajan's Berlin Philharmonic for sonic beauty in the 50s–70s, though Ormandy's was also a tighter and more versatile band.[71]
Karajan's multipleGrammy Awards make him a particularly prominent conductor historically; he received 40 Grammy nominations across nearly 30 years. He was a three-time Grammy Award recipient, winning Best Opera Recording award for Bizet'sCarmen in 1964 and Wagner'sSiegfried in 1969 and Best Classical Orchestral Performance for a Beethoven symphony cycle in 1978.[83] Karajan's Beethoven cycles remain some of the most popular and enduring worldwide, as well as the most critically acclaimed recordings of the past century.[84][85]
Statue of Herbert von Karajan at his birthplace, Salzburg
Karajan has remained a visible part of everyday life in the cities he once called home, thanks in part to monuments erected in his honour. In Salzburg, for instance, the Karajan Foundation of Vienna commissioned the Czech artistAnna Chromý to create a life-sized statue of him, which now stands outside his birthplace.[86]
In 1983, a bronze bust of Karajan was unveiled in the foyer ofWest Berlin's new State Theatre.
During Karajan's lifetime, the public associated him with the works of Beethoven. Karajan recorded four completeBeethoven symphony cycles,[90] first with the Philharmonia Orchestra for Angel in 1951 to 1955,[91] and then three times with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon in 1961–62,[92] 1975–76,[93] and 1982–84.[94]
In 2023 theTheater Aachen removed a bust of Karajan from the foyer of the house due to his significant involvement in the Nazi era, planning to replace it with a bust of Mozart.[97]
^Although Karajan's version ofZarathustra is the one which is actually used in the film, the original soundtrack release instead used a different version not conducted by Karajan; later re-issues of the soundtrack restored Karajan's version.
^Cramer, Alfred W. (2009).Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century. Vol. 3. Salem Press. p. 758.ISBN978-1-58765-515-9.Herbert Ritter von Karajan (fahn KAHR-eh-yahn) was born to Ernst and Martha von Karajan, an upper-class family of Greek-Macedonian origin.
^Robinson, Paul; Surtees, Bruce (1976).Karajan. Macdonald and Janes. p. 6.Herbert von Karajan was born in Salzburg 5 April 1908. Though an Austrian by birth, the Karajan family was actually Greek, the original surname being Karajanis or "Black John". The family had migrated from Greece to Chemnitz, Germany, and from there to Austria about four generations before Herbert.
^Brunskill, Ian (2010).The Times Great Lives: A Century In Obituaries. HarperCollins UK.ISBN978-0-00-736373-5.Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Karajan was the younger son of a distinguished surgeon and his Slovenian wife. Originally called Karajannis, the Karajan family were Macedonian Greeks who had moved first to Saxony and later to Vienna, where they held important academic, medical, and administrative posts.
^Lapajne, Branka (2006)."Hugo Wolf in Herbert von Karajan: potomca družine Lavtižar" [Hugo Wolf and Herbert von Karajan: The Descendants of the Lavtižar Family](PDF).Bilten [Bulletin] (in Slovenian).24. Slovensko muzikološko društvo [Slovenian Musicological Society]:31–34. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 6 December 2013.
^abTranslated fromKammholz, Karsten (26 January 2008)."Der Mann, der zweimal in die NSDAP eintrat" [The Man Who Joined the NSDAP Twice].Die Welt (in German).Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved27 March 2020.Zu Lebzeiten wollte sich der Stardirigent nie der Tatsache stellen, Mitglied der NSDAP gewesen zu sein. Bis heute gilt er vielen als bloßer Mitläufer. Dabei zeigen historische Dokumente: Gleich zwei Mal trat er in die Partei ein und nutzte sie bewusst für seine Karriere. [During his lifetime, the star conductor never wanted to face up to the fact that he had been a member of the Nazi Party. To this day, he is regarded by many as a mere follower. Historical documents show that he joined the party twice and deliberately used it for his career.]
^Osborne 2000, p. 729: "Karajan believed that we have different lives, possibly in metamorphosis. As far as the here and now was concerned, however, he was Catholic; and had requested a Catholic burial. Years previously, he had purchased a modest burial plot in Anif churchyard."
^Osborne 2000, p. 667: "In February 1983, a bronze bust of Karajan was unveiled in the foyer of the new State Theatre. Two months later, during the night of 17 April, Karajan's first wife Elmy Karajan-Holgerloef died of heart failure."
.svg)
_Anif.jpg)
.svg){kind=logo}
