Mozart, Karajan and the Salzburg Festival

Mozart and Karajan: Salzburg´s two greatest sons dominated the music scenes of their respective times. Karajan applied himself to Mozart throughout his life, not least because of his dominant role in the Salzburg Festival. The Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award is an initiative of the Salzburg Festival in cooperation with the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute. The threee finalists are among the most exciting conducting talents of the next generation.

Throughout Throughout his life, Karajan, the maestro assoluto of his time, was linked with Salzburg. Here he was born on 5 April 1908 as the son of Dr Ernst von Karajan, who had a senior position at the hospital, and his wife Martha; and he attended the Mozarteum here. Then came years of learning and travelling, particularly in Vienna and Germany, which developed into a world-wide career. After the War, he returned to Salzburg practically every year in order to take part in the Festival. He brought to it not only musical quality but also international glamour.

Herbert von Karajan was appointed the Festival´s artistic director in 1956 and his personality was such that he exercised just a strong, indeed dominant, influence on its organization as had Max Reinhardt in his day. Karajan had the Grosses Festspielhaus built by Clemens Holzbauer – but on the basis of his own ideas – and he opened it in 1960 with a Rosenkavalier with Lisa della Casa, Hilde Güden and Sena Jurinac that has since become legendary.

Mozart was always in Karajan´s concert repertoire in Salzburg, and it was just the same with opera: in the same year, 1960, came a new Don Giovanni, in 1972 Le Nozze di Figaro, and two years later Die Zauberflöte. All these productions lasted several years. Finally, in 1987, came a new Don Giovanni. It was typical of Karajan´s perfectionism – or perhaps of his pursuit of absolute control – that he took on not only the conducting role but basically acted as director too. Alongside all his artistic merits it must be stated that under Karajan´s leadership the Festival not only developed into a meeting-place for beauty, wealth and power, but also acqired a commercial slant. So it could happen that record companies could influence the choice of programme and performers. Karajan in the course of his life made not less than 900 recordings - a unique figure. In addition, in 1967 Karajan founded the Easter Festival and took on the overall artistic direction. The Easter Festival is a showcase for the Berlin Philharmonic just as the Summer Festival is for the Vienna Philharmonic. And Karajan was of course the Berliners´chief conductor for life. Karajan died of heart failure in his house in Anif on 16 July 1989. Death overtook a man who was severely waekened by illness – he had kept going only thanks to the self-discipline that he had exercised all his life. On the contrary: the Salzburg Festival was about to open and the maestro was in the middle of rehearsals of Verdi´s Un Ballo in Maschera. That day the world lost a man who – together with Toscanini and Furtwängler, both of whom he had known, the latter indeed as a competitor – was one of the three leading conductors of the 20th century and who post-war was the dominant figure in the international classical music business. And on top of all that, one of the glamorous birds of paradise of the international jet-set with yacht and aeroplane, fast cars and various villas scattered across the world. At the commemoration for Herbert von Karajan a week after his death it was fitting that the music was Mozart´s Requiem. The conductor was Riccardo Muti. n

STURMAYR COIFFEURE - DAS TEAM

Rund Um Christian Sturmayr

Fachkundige Beratung, außergewöhnliche Haarstylings sowie Echthaar-Strähnen für Haarverlängerungen und Haarverdichtungen auf höchstem Niveau. Trendige Baby Sunlights als Must Haves des Sommers – es entsteht der Eindruck, dass die Haare von der Sonne natürlich aufgehellt wurden. Die glamouröse Frisur für den großen Auftritt bei den Salzburger Festspielen – gerne kommen die erfahrenen Stylisten direkt zu Ihnen – Sie selbst bestimmen den Styling-Ort.

ANTIK, EINZIGARTIG UND HANDVERLESEN