Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music [Hardcover]

Richard Osborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2000

One of the greatest and most celebrated performing artists of the twentieth century, Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) dazzled, intrigued, and intimidated the music world. This meticulously researched biography provides a compelling portrait of a complex man who was driven to achieve power, success, and perfection in his career and in his personal life. As the young Karajan told his brother, "Whether it's conducting, skiing, or motor racing, I simply want to be the best."

Richard Osborne draws on his own extensive conversations with Karajan, interviews with those who knew the conductor, and a treasure trove of primary sources to bring into focus the flamboyance and flaws of an extraordinary musician as well as the turbulent international music scene over six decades. The author debunks many legends about Karajan, particularly those relating to his membership in the Nazi Party, which he opportunistically joined in 1935 to obtain a conducting appointment. While the decision haunted him throughout his life, Karajan's career flourished after the war. A jet-setting superstar, he once held, simultaneously, six of the world's most prestigious musical posts, including director of the Salzburg Festival, artistic director of the Vienna State Opera, and conductor for life of the Berlin Philharmonic. After signing with legendary producer Walter Legge, Karajan achieved international fame through his best-selling recordings. He also embraced the challenge of adapting to rapidly changing technologies, and quickly mastered each new medium-television, vinyl LPs, tapes, and CDs.

This comprehensive, well-balanced, and objective biography will stand as the definitive work on this exceptional maestro.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Von Karajan (1908-1989), an Austrian-born conductor who was a controversial figure because of his membership in the Nazi party at an early stage of his career and because of his lifelong autocratic behavior, receives an exhaustive, penetrating biography. Music critic Osborne, who published Conversations with von Karajan shortly before the conductor's death, has drawn on a huge number of sources to create a notably balanced account of a career that still divides many music lovers into energetic pro and con parties. Von Karajan spent his early years as a provincial opera conductor and orchestra builder in Aachen (where he joined the Nazis as a career move in 1933), then endured years of struggle during the war--when, Osborne convincingly demonstrates, his career was in fact held back rather than encouraged by the Nazis because his wife was partly Jewish. It was not until after the war, when British record producer Walter Legge hired him for a series of recordings with his new Philharmonia Orchestra, that von Karajan began to build an international reputation. After a drawn-out struggle with Wilhelm Furtwangler, von Karajan took the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic. This, combined with his vastly successful recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, finally established the conductor as a world figure whose wide-ranging recordings sold at almost pop-star levels. Osborne is particularly good at showing the wide swings in the quality of von Karajan's performances, from the totally committed to the polished but banal; his material on the conductor's now largely forgotten efforts (to which he devoted large sums of his own money) to immortalize his performances on videotape is riveting. Beautifully written, eminently fair-minded and full of enthralling anecdotes, this book will be catnip to any serious music lover. Photos.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Osborne, a respected British broadcaster and writer on classical music (Conversations with Karajan, LJ 4/1/90), here builds on documentation of Karajan's career compiled by the late Swedish writer and scholar Gisela Tamsen and adds information from his own decade-long research, including interviews with Karajan and Karajan's contemporaries. First published in Britain in 1998, this solid study aims to dispel many myths about Karajan, especially regarding his Nazi party membership. In 1935, he joined to obtain a conducting appointment, and Osborne provides the transcript of his "de-Nazification" hearing, attempting to clear Karajan's name once and for all. Karajan's recordings are his permanent legacy, and archives of recording companies were rich sources. The author reveals his musical taste and high opinion of Karajan's artistry; his gigantic book is both a chronicle of and critical commentary on a mighty musical career. Collectors of Karajan's recordings are the book's likely audience; recommended for public and academic libraries.
-Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Libs., College Park
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 863 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (March 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555534252
• ISBN-13: 978-1555534257
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh Insights into Conducting and the Nazi Era, December 10, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music (Hardcover)

Classical music lovers and those who are interested in understanding more about the Nazi era in Germany and Austria will find this book to be a very rewarding experience.

HERBERT VON KARAJAN -- A Life in Music provides an unusually multidimensional biography of the conductor. Author Richard Osborne takes us through the famous and not-so-famous concert halls in the world, visiting the natural intrigues that exist in the musical world, examining the role of the Nazi Party in Germany within the musical establishment, detailing the life of a civilian in Germany during the Nazi years, and developing an evolving story of creativity from the podium and from the musical director's perspective. The sweep and detail of his portrayal of von Karajan are imposing and fascinatng, as the man himself was.

....

.... The story of the music and the man are both much more unusual and important than I had reason to hope for. Mr. Osborne's biography was very rewarding in both areas, and also took me to places where I did not expect to go.

For I had not known that von Karajan had been a member of the Nazi party from 1935 until his resignation during the war after marrying his second wife, Anita, whose ancestors included Jews. Apparently, his career was significantly affected by this alliance with the party. First, it helped him to get musical jobs in Germany until the above-mentioned marriage. Second, it made it hard for him to get certain musical jobs after World War II, even though he was cleared by the American and Austrian authorities of criminal activities. Apparently, his motives were career-oriented, rather than overtly political . . . despite many press stories to the contrary. The book contains much detail on this involvement, including documentation of the occurrences. I was impressed that nothing seemed to be glossed over. You also get comparisons to the degree of collaboration with and avoidance of the Nazis that other conductors and musicians took during the same time. I learned a lot as a result.

On the musical side, I was impressed by the hundreds of descriptions of how von Karajan created the musical results. The man was willing to put intense efforts into preparation, and then would rehearse and perform wihout a score. He was very aggressive in getting control over personnel in the orchestras he was involved with, obtaining lots of rehearsal time, and teaching the players to listen to one another to bring out the texture in the score. ....

Von Karajan usually conducted symphonic works with his eyes closed, making few gestures . . . often not openly marking the tempo. This could unnerve soloists until they began to realize that this conveyed more freedom to them, and that the orchestra would support them.

Due to the strange way his career evolved, von Karajan learned to master opera first. His casting decisions were often challenged by others because he was as interested in the acting as he was the singing. Great actors are rarely great singers and vice versa. Appearance was important to him also, so the compromises could become even stranger. Traditionally, casts were chosen for the singing alone. Not so with von Karajan.

I love detailed program notes. Much of the book is written like a series of them, built around important performances and recordings. You get a sense of how his performances differed from those that he and others had performed previously, the composer's intentions, and what the musicians and singers thought the interpretations should be. ....

Finally, I learned about what Mr. Osborne and others consider to be the great recordings of much of the world's best classical music. It will keep me busy for years seeking out these recordings, and enjoying them. ....

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat, from cover to cover, December 27, 2001

By 

Philippe Vandenbroeck (HEVERLEE, BELGIUM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music (Hardcover)

This is probably the ultimate biography of a complex and controversial personality in recent musical history. The book is conventionally structured: it is based on a detailed chronology supported by a rich factual database on Karajan's accomplishments as an orchestra builder and manager, recording artist and film maker. Stretching to more than 700 pages, the rich detail of Osborne's account certainly is one of the main attractions of this book. We learn a tremendous amount about Karajan's working methods, contract negotiations, concert tours, recording schedules, casting policy, press reviews, etc. As the story progresses Osborne branches out in all kinds of directions, gradually weaving more and more threads into the basic narrative. Given the quality of Osborne's prose this never becomes tedious. And it really does learn us something substantial about the breathtaking speed, economy, tenacity and versatility of the Karajanesque genius. There is no doubt that the book as a whole transcends the merely anecdotal. What emerges is a rich, multifaceted, holographic image of a great artist. What is even more impressive about Osborne's book is that it gives us an idea of what constitutes the essence of great conductorship. Instead of being confronted with woolly and simplistic generalizations about a certain 'Factor X' that allows an individual to coax exactly the right sound from a full symphony orchestra, we see the conceptual foundations of this most elusive of disciplines emerge in all its technical, psychological and somatic richness. Therefore, this book is definitely a must-read for any classical music lover, irrespective of personal predilections with respect to the man himself.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a musical leader of extraordinary power, August 18, 2000

By 

Mystery Devotee (Lowell, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herbert Von Karajan: A Life in Music (Hardcover)

Richard Osborne's carefully documented portrayal of Karajan presents the picture of a complex perfectionist, sometimes gregarious and sometimes reclusive. For those readers who are collectors of Karajan's recordings, Osborne's narrative details the long association of the conductor with the Philharmonia, Vienna Philharmonic, and Berlin Philharmonic, as well as, the conductor's numerous opera recordings, the author includes information about production, technical, and musical matters that illustrate how substantial Karajan's commitment to recording was throughout his career. Osborne includes an appendix to the book about Karajan's membership in the Nazi party. A Chapter with transcipts from the denazification tribunal will be of interest to readers clarifying this stage of the conductor's complex life. The book provides fascinating background to the pre- and post-war musical lives of Vienna, Salzburg, and Berlin and enables the reader to view Karajan as a musical leader of extraordinary power and influence in an era of profound political and cultural upheaval in Europe and the world.