Karajan artists: Rolando Panerai – “a most balanced man”
Rolando Panerai never embodied a title role in a Karajan production, so unlike with other soloists it is difficult to name the Karajan/Panerai production. But Panerai worked...
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Spotlights
Spotlight Stravinsky: “Le sacre du printemps”
Karajan’s first approach to Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” came quite late, in 1962. At that time, the piece had been in the repertoire for a long time...
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Spotlight Handel: Concerti grossi, Water Music and others
Karajan isn’t widely thought of as a baroque specialist. Nevertheless, he “had a great if somewhat eccentric fondness for Handel’s music (Richard Osborne).” Early in his career in Ulm...
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Karajan artists: Irmgard Seefried – a “most gifted singer”
In his Aachen years, Karajan encountered many very fine musicians with whom he continued working after the war – for example Christa Ludwig, Elisabeth Grümmer and Wilhelm Pitz. Another superlative talent was the soprano Irmgard Seefried...
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Spotlight Smetana: “The Moldau” and other orchestral works
Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau” was one of the first pieces Karajan recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1941. It is – together with Dvořák’s “New World Symphony” – the most popular work...
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Spotlight Orff: “Trionfi” and “De Temporum”
It would definitely have been one of the best-selling classical albums of all time: Karajan conducts Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, the most popular choral work in the 20th century. But the record...
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Seiji Ozawa – the sorcerer’s apprentice
On 6 February 2024, Seiji Ozawa died 88 years old in Tokyo. He was Karajan’s favourite apprentice, a life-long friend and almost a member of the family...
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Karajan artists: Hermann Prey – joining the world class
In 1954, Karajan made one of his legendary Philharmonia opera recordings in London. It was Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” and...
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Spotlight Walton: The First Symphony
It is a well-known fact that Karajan met some of the most important composers of his time – from Richard Strauss to Hans Werner Henze. The case with William Walton seems to be special as they were not only colleagues but friends...
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Karajan artists: Leontyne Price – the American diva
She was an indispensable voice for Karajan’s opera and concert projects in the 1950s and 1960s – Leontyne Price. The soprano from Mississippi is one of the first Afro-American divas in classical music and is regarded as...
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