Lebrecht On Karajan: "100 Years Of Suckage"

Herbert von Karajan was a moral and creative nullity. His myth does not survive the test of time.

Norman Lebrecht wishes Herbert Von Karajan a happy 100th birthday

Now, we admit that the Herbie cult gives us the willies, and his actions during the war are inexcusable, but OC serenely concedes that HVK's Salome is the best she has ever listened to -- his Strauss is generally stellar, and his Trovatore, of all things, gives off a dark, shiny, malevolent beauty that always fascinates OC. His Sibelius is not half bad either, even if not as great as Barbirolli's. And young Karajan's Beethoven symphonies cycle has indeed a majestic beauty (the later sets are just embarrassingly pompous). We also dig a Haffner that HVK conducted in his youth.

But, moral issues aside (again, as a huge Oswald Kabasta fan OC has learned how to separate musical talent from moral flaws) the not so short list of conductors who really run circles around cranky Herbie, with all due respect, makes OC wonder what all the fuss about Karajan's anniversary really is. (Besides, as Uncle Normy points out, that Deutsche Grammophon is trying to make a lazy buck out of it).

Comments

[Jason]

It's kind of like Lebrecht's concerns about the Mozart 250th birthday commemorations a few years ago ("Too much Mozart makes you sick"), but this has a lot more acid. Of course, Lebrecht hardly ever has a kind word to say about Karajan, so no surprises here.

Although I agree about the sketchy nature of Karajan's past, and I believe that worship of K can get out of hand ("Remember! Karajan 08" does him no favors with its near-jingoistic tone.), I do think that Lebrecht occasionally lets Karajan's past cloud his judgment of the conductor's strengths. In my opinion, he is among the elite in Wagner and Strauss, and I like his supple approach to Mozart and Beethoven... well, his Beethoven from the '60s and '70s, anyway.

I do think Karajan's version of Salome is quite excellent, but many other versions offer their own rewards to listeners. Still, the eerily "distant" tone of the whole thing and Behrens' spooky/sympathetic turn as Salome make the recording a wonderfully weird experience.

[Camilli]

Lebrecht is certainly casual with his facts. Tossed out by the Philharmonia? That would have been Walter Legge, who was frantic to keep him under the EMI tent. Rather, he was lured away by the Berlin job, and other gigs in Austria.

Also, the notion that it was somehow significant that he was the youngest music director in Germany in 1933 is misleading, to say the least. He had been a music director for several years before then, and it was a full two years later that he got the big promotion to Aachen-- for which he had to join the Nazi party.

Shame, Norman-- if you are capable of it!