Early in 1977, Anne-Sophie Mutter played for Herbert von Karajan in a private audition. Much has been said and written about this encounter and the collaboration that followed. But this Weekly SpinOn centres on a principle that guided Karajan’s work with Anne-Sophie Mutter from the very beginning: repertoire choice was…
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Track 1: Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a – IIf. Dance of the Reed-Pipes – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Vienna Philharmonic · Herbert von Karajan This week’s playlist picks up directly from the previous one. In last week’s Weekly SpinOn, we looked at Karajan’s early Decca recordings and at projects from the early…
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Gardens, with their bright colors, soft shade, and still ponds, have long inspired composers. They appear in music either as social spaces, where children play and adults gather, or as idealized visions, more dream than description. It’s not incidental that many cultures imagine paradise as a garden. Eden is described…
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What does triumph sound like in classical music? It isn’t always loud or heroic. Sometimes, it’s persistent. Sometimes, joyful. At times, deeply personal — or carefully staged. This week’s playlist explores four pieces that reflect different kinds of triumph, each in its own way. We begin with Anton Bruckner, whose life…
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Invitations to Dance is a playlist of four orchestral works that approach dance from different angles — as narrative, tribute, rhythm, and tradition. All four pieces were composed between 1819 and 1852, and though rooted in different styles and national contexts, each uses dance as a musical form of expression…
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It was really a premiere for Karajan. His first-ever recording with the Berlin Philharmonic and his first ever recording of a symphony...
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There are a lot of pieces that Karajan only recorded once and never performed live. But it was unusual for him...
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Like many of his early masterworks, Tchaikovsky’s overture “Romeo and Juliet” had a difficult genesis...
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Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No.1 in B flat minor is arguably the most popular solo concerto of all. The triumphant introduction is one of the famous beginnings in classical music...
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Here you can download the full curriculum vitae of Herbert von Karajan!