The Orchestra Giovanile Italiana ( OGI ; Italian Youth Orchestra ) is the national youth orchestra of Italy . It was founded in 1984 by Piero Farulli at the Fiesole School of Music .
79-606: Conductors that have worked with the OGI include Claudio Abbado , Roberto Abbado , Salvatore Accardo , Yuri Ahronovitch , Piero Bellugi , Luciano Berio , Andrey Boreyko , Daniele Gatti , Carlo Maria Giulini , Eliahu Inbal , Zubin Mehta , Riccardo Muti , Gianandrea Noseda , Krzysztof Penderecki , Giuseppe Sinopoli and Jeffrey Tate . It is a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras . This article on
158-527: A chamber music festival. In 1994, he became artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival . In 1998, he announced his departure from the Berlin Philharmonic after the expiration of his contract in 2002. Before his departure, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2000, which led to his cancellation of a number of engagements with the orchestra. Subsequent medical treatment led to
237-557: A Jewish grandfather, she was considered a Vierteljüdin (one-quarter Jewish woman). They divorced in 1958. On 6 October 1958, Karajan married his third wife, Eliette Mouret , a French model born in Mollans-sur-Ouvèze . She had enjoyed a carefree childhood growing up in Provence before being discovered by Christian Dior when she was 18. This laid the foundation for an international modelling career. Karajan first met Mouret in 1957 and
316-498: A classical orchestra is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado OMRI ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈklaudjo abˈbaːdo] ; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan , principal conductor of
395-423: A computer to prove it. He insisted that this skill was learned, not inherited, and considered it the bedrock of musical interpretations. He cited inconsistencies in rhythmic accuracy and control as "one thing that might make me lose my temper. I can accept a wrong note from an orchestra but when everything is getting faster or slower, that I cannot accept." He once explained to a German journalist why he preferred
474-588: A concert at Carnegie Hall , Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic were confronted by protests and picketers. In 1956, Karajan was appointed principal conductor for life of the Berlin Philharmonic as Furtwängler's successor. From 1957 to 1964, Karajan was artistic director of the Vienna State Opera . He was closely involved with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival, where he initiated
553-530: A continual force in Karajan's life, not just as a composer, but as a conductor. Karajan recounted their only "proper" meeting, in 1939, to Osborne: [A]t the end [of a performance of Elektra in Berlin] he came and said to me it was the best performance of the opera he had ever heard. I said, "I don't really want to hear this; tell me what was wrong with it." I think he was surprised by my reaction, so he asked me to lunch
632-659: A degree in piano in 1955. The following year, he studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music , on the recommendation of Zubin Mehta . Abbado and Mehta both joined the academy chorus to be able to watch such conductors as Bruno Walter and Herbert von Karajan in rehearsal. He also spent time at the Chigiana Academy in Siena . In 1958, Abbado made his conducting debut in Trieste . That summer, he won
711-587: A limited season of concerts with the Staatskapelle. By 1944, Karajan was, by his account, losing favour with the Nazi leadership, but he conducted concerts in Berlin as late as 18 February 1945. A short time later, in the closing stages of the war, he and his wife fled Germany for Milan, relocating with the assistance of Victor de Sabata. Karajan's increased prominence from 1933 to 1945 has led to speculation that he joined
790-575: A member of the Public Education and Cultural Heritage Commission of the Italian Senate on 25 September 2013. Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan ( German: [ˈhɛʁbɛʁt fɔn ˈka(ː)ʁajan] ; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan ; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During
869-628: A mix of studio and concert releases, he recorded Symphonies 1–2 and 5–7 in Chicago, Symphonies 2–4, 9 and the Adagio from 10 in Vienna, Symphonies 1 and 3–9 in Berlin, and Symphonies 1–7 and 9 in Lucerne. A planned Eighth in Lucerne (the intended culmination of his traversal of the symphonies there) had to be cancelled owing to his ill health. The symphony was finally performed and recorded in 2016 under Riccardo Chailly as
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#1732852597526948-592: A professional violinist and a professor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory , was his first piano teacher. His mother, Maria Carmela Savagnone, also was an adept pianist. Marcello Abbado later became a concert pianist, composer, and teacher at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro . His sister also exhibited talent in music but did not pursue a musical career after her marriage. His other brother later became
1027-403: A son, the jazz bassist , Misha Mullov-Abbado. Abbado's nephew, the son of his brother, Marcello, is the conductor Roberto Abbado . Amongst a wide range of Romantic works which he recorded and performed, Abbado had a particular affinity with the music of Gustav Mahler , whose symphonies he recorded several times. Despite this, he never managed to complete a cycle with a single orchestra: in
1106-406: A successful architect. Abbado's childhood encompassed the Nazi occupation of Milan. During that time, Abbado's mother spent time in prison for harbouring a Jewish child. This period solidified his anti-fascist political sentiments. Claudio himself is known for having a famous anecdote about how when he was just eleven years old he wrote "Viva Bartók " on a local wall which caught the attention of
1185-488: A tribute to Abbado. A further Tenth Adagio recorded live in Berlin in 2011 was issued as part of a Berliner Philharmoniker Mahler set in 2020. He was also noted for his interpretations of modern works by composers such as Arnold Schoenberg , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Giacomo Manzoni , Luigi Nono , Bruno Maderna , György Ligeti , Giovanni Sollima , Roberto Carnevale , Franco Donatoni and George Benjamin . Abbado tended to speak very little in rehearsal, sometimes using
1264-460: Is Deutsche Grammophon with which he became most associated, making 330 recordings with it. Karajan's 1981 Deutsche Grammophon recording of An Alpine Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic became the first work ever to be pressed on the compact disc format. Even though his repertoire had been extensively covered in analog ( LP record ), he spent the rest of the 1980s making digital recordings , notably rerecording Beethoven's symphonies (Karajan and
1343-468: Is a patron of the Salzburg Easter Festival . Karajan had been a passionate sportsman since he was a teenager. He was a keen skier and swimmer and followed a daily yoga ritual. He won several regattas aboard his racing yacht, christened Helisara . He piloted his Learjet and was a great sailing and car enthusiast, particularly fond of Porsches . He ordered a specially configured Porsche 911 Turbo (type 930) with Martini & Rossi livery and his name on
1422-436: Is that he is a composer who cannot really be compared to anyone else. ... And you never come to an end with him. I think it is perhaps also to do with my love of remote places, my love of mountains rather than cities. Layton demystifies this relationship somewhat by observing that: [s]tring tremolandi and pedal points are, of course, among [the similarities between Bruckner and Sibelius], and we hear Brucknerian echoes in
1501-475: Is this sense of the Urwald , the primaeval forest, the feeling of elemental power, that one is dealing with something profound." When pressed about this connection toward the end of his life by his biographer Osborne, Karajan echoed some of these sentiments, saying: There is in both [Bruckner and Sibelius] a sense of the elemental. But I have often asked myself what it is that drew me to Sibelius's music and I think it
1580-462: Is tolerated if the results are successful." Indeed, James Galway , who served as principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1969 to 1975, recalled that "he [Karajan] achieved most of what he wanted through charm". But there were reasons for many of Karajan's eccentricities. Conducting with his eyes closed, for instance, was a consequence of memorizing scores; keeping his eyes closed helped him keep focus. Karajan's method of score study, too,
1659-576: The 12 London Symphonies as some of the finest he knew, and his multiple Beethoven cycles are still staples. Yet Karajan's real interests seem to have lain in the period from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Principal among these were his fascinations with the composers Anton Bruckner and Jean Sibelius . In a 1981 interview with Gramophone ' s Robert Layton, Karajan remarked that he felt "a much deeper influence, affinity, kinship—call it what you like—[in Sibelius's music] with Bruckner. There
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#17328525975261738-948: The Berlin Philharmonic , principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra , principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , music director of the Vienna State Opera , founder and director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra , founder and director of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra , founding artistic director of the Orchestra Mozart and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra . The Abbado family for several generations enjoyed both wealth and respect in their community. Abbado's great-grandfather tarnished
1817-563: The Berlin Philharmonic . That same year, he made his debut with the Berlin State Opera conducting Fidelio , and then had a major success at the State Opera with Tristan und Isolde . His performance was hailed by a Berlin critic as Das Wunder Karajan (Karajan the miracle). The critic wrote that Karajan's "success with Wagner's demanding work Tristan und Isolde sets himself alongside Wilhelm Furtwängler and Victor de Sabata ,
1896-526: The Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the city of Vienna, and in parallel, was music director of the Vienna State Opera from 1986 to 1991. During his tenure as GMD in Vienna, in 1988, he founded the music festival Wien Modern . There he backed numerous contemporary composers including György Ligeti , Pierre Boulez , and Luigi Nono . Abbado first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in December 1966. In
1975-589: The Gestapo and sent them on the hunt for the culprit. His passionate opposition to fascism continued into his adult years. During his youth his musical interest developed, attending performances at La Scala as well as orchestral rehearsals in Milan led by such conductors as Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwängler . He later recalled how he hated seeing Toscanini in rehearsal. Other conductors who influenced him were Bruno Walter , Josef Krips and Herbert von Karajan . It
2054-510: The Mozarteum in Salzburg with Franz Ledwinka (piano), Franz Zauer (harmony), and Bernhard Paumgartner (composition and chamber music). He was encouraged to concentrate on conducting by Paumgartner, who detected his exceptional promise in that regard. In 1926, Karajan graduated from the conservatory and continued his studies at the Vienna Academy , studying piano with Josef Hofmann (a teacher with
2133-892: The NHK Symphony Orchestra , the New York Philharmonic , the Concertgebouw Orchestra , the Orchestre de Paris , the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Milan and the Staatskapelle Dresden ), but the vast majority of his recordings were made with the Berlin and Vienna orchestras. He also left a considerable legacy of recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra , his last performance being in 1960. Although he made recordings with several labels, notably EMI , it
2212-898: The Nazi era , he debuted at the Salzburg Festival , with the Vienna Philharmonic , the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera . Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he sold an estimated 200 million records. The Karajans were of Greek ancestry. Herbert's great-great-grandfather, Georg Karajan (Geórgios Karajánnis, Greek: Γεώργιος Καραγιάννης ),
2291-633: The New York Philharmonic as an assistant conductor to Bernstein. Abbado made his New York Philharmonic professional conducting debut on 7 April 1963. A 1965 appearance at the RIAS Festival in Berlin led to an invitation from Herbert von Karajan to the Salzburg Festival the following year to work with the Vienna Philharmonic . In 1965, Abbado made his British debut with the Hallé Orchestra , followed in 1966 by his London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) debut. Abbado taught chamber music for 3 years during
2370-708: The Orchestra Mozart , Bologna , Italy. In addition to his work with the EUYO and the GMJO, Abbado worked with the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar of Venezuela. Abbado died from stomach cancer in Bologna on 20 January 2014 at the age of 80. One week later, in tribute to him, the orchestra "Filarmonica della Scala", conducted by Daniel Barenboim , performed the slow movement of Beethoven 's Symphony No. 3 (Marcia funebre: Adagio assai in C minor) to an empty theatre, with
2449-513: The Vienna Philharmonic for the first time, and from 1934 to 1941, he was engaged to conduct operatic and orchestra concerts at the Theater Aachen . Karajan's career received a significant boost in 1935 when he became Germany's youngest Generalmusikdirektor , at Aachen, and performed as a guest conductor in Bucharest, Brussels, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Paris. In 1938, Karajan made his debut with
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2528-588: The Berlin Philharmonic established the Claudio Abbado Kompositionspreis (Claudio Abbado Composition Prize) in his honour, which has since been awarded in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In addition to his work with long-established ensembles, Abbado founded a number of new orchestras with younger musicians at their core. These included the European Community Youth Orchestra (later the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO)), in 1978, and
2607-736: The Berlin to the Vienna Philharmonic: "If I tell the Berliners to step forward, they do it. If I tell the Viennese to step forward, they do it, but then they ask why." Karajan was a noted interpreter of virtually every standard of the classical repertoire, from the Baroque era to the 20th century. He was an admirer of Glenn Gould 's interpretations of Bach , performing the D minor Keyboard Concerto with him on one occasion. The eminent Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon considered Karajan's recordings of
2686-531: The Easter Festival, which remained tied to the Berlin Philharmonic's music director after his tenure. In his later years, Karajan suffered from heart and back problems, needing surgery on the latter. He resigned as principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic on 24 April 1989. His last concert was Bruckner's 7th Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic. He died of a heart attack at his home in Anif on 16 July 1989 at
2765-557: The Golden Nicolai Medal from the Vienna Philharmonic . He served as Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) from 1975 to 1979 and became its Principal Conductor in 1979, a post he held until 1987. (He was also the LSO's Music Director from 1984 until the end of his principal conductor tenure.) From 1982 to 1985, he was principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO). In 1986, Abbado became
2844-583: The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO; Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra) in (1988). In both instances, musicians from the respective youth orchestras founded spinoff orchestras, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra , respectively. Abbado worked with both these ensembles regularly as well and was artistic advisor to the COE, though he did not hold a formal title with
2923-553: The Mahler Chamber Orchestra. In turn, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra formed the core of the newest incarnation of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra , which Abbado and Michael Haefliger of the Lucerne Festival established in the early 2000s, and which featured musicians from various orchestras with which Abbado had long-standing artistic relationships. From 2004 until his death, Abbado was the musical and artistic director of
3002-587: The Nazi Party solely to advance his career. Critics such as Jim Svejda have pointed out that other prominent conductors, such as Arturo Toscanini , Otto Klemperer , Erich Kleiber , and Fritz Busch , fled Germany or Italy at the time. Richard Osborne noted that among the many significant conductors who continued to work in Germany during the war years— Wilhelm Furtwängler , Carl Schuricht , Karl Böhm , Hans Knappertsbusch , Clemens Krauss and Karl Elmendorff —Karajan
3081-579: The Prussian State Orchestra. He then became music director of the Staatskapelle Berlin, with which he toured Rome with extraordinary success. The next year, his contract in Aachen was discontinued. His marriage to Anita Gütermann (with one Jewish grandparent) and the prosecution of his agent Rudolf Vedder also contributed to his temporary professional decline, leaving him few engagements beyond
3160-585: The Slovene line, Karajan was related to the Slovenian-Austrian composer Hugo Wolf . He also seems to have known some Slovene . Herbert Ritter von Karajan was born in Salzburg , Austria-Hungary , the second son of physician (surgeon) and senior consultant Ernst von Karajan (1868–1951) and Marta (née Martha Kosmač; 1881–1954) (married 1905). He was a child prodigy at the piano. From 1916 to 1926, he studied at
3239-479: The abolition of Austrian nobility after World War I. The surname Karajánnis became Karajan . Although traditional biographers ascribed a Slovak and Serbian or simply a Slavic origin to his mother, Karajan's family from the maternal side, through his grandfather who was born in the village of Mojstrana , Duchy of Carniola (today in Slovenia ), was Slovene . Aromanian heritage has also been claimed. Through
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3318-493: The age of 81. Karajan believed in reincarnation and said he would like to be reborn as an eagle so he could soar over his beloved Alps. Even so, on 29 June 1985, he conducted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Coronation Mass during a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica , on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul , and with his wife and daughters received Holy Communion from
3397-511: The back. One of Karajan's signature skills as a conductor was his ability to extract exquisite sounds from orchestras. His biographer Roger Vaughan observed this phenomenon while listening to the Berlin Philharmonic play in 1986, after nearly 30 years under Karajan's direction, noting that "what rivets one's attention is the beauty and perfection of the sounds. The softest of pianissimos commands rapt attention. The smooth crescendos peak exactly when they should. The breaks are sliced clean, without
3476-622: The conducting ban. With the Vienna Philharmonic and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , he performed Johannes Brahms 's A German Requiem for a gramophone production in Vienna. In 1949, Karajan became artistic director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna. He also conducted at La Scala in Milan. His most prominent activity at this time was recording with the newly formed Philharmonia Orchestra in London, helping to build them into one of
3555-410: The development section of the first movement of Kullervo , written only a year or so after Sibelius first heard Bruckner's Third Symphony in Vienna. Yet the most potent assessment of Karajan's interpretation of Sibelius's music came from Sibelius himself, who, according to Legge, said, "Karajan is the only conductor who plays what I meant." Karajan was also a prolific opera conductor, championing
3634-475: The early 1960s in Parma. In 1969, Abbado became the principal conductor at La Scala . Subsequently, he became the company's music director in 1972. He took the title of joint artistic director, along with Giorgio Strehler and Carlo Maria Badini , in 1976. During his tenure, he extended the opera season to four months, and focused on giving inexpensive performances for the working class and students. In addition to
3713-543: The entire era of the composer. I feel more secure without a score. Communication with the orchestra is easier." Abbado recorded extensively for a variety of labels, including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia (later Sony Classical), and EMI. He conducted many opera recordings which received various awards. Among these were the Diapason Award in 1966 and 1967; also in 1967 he received the Grand Prix du Disque . In 1968 he
3792-465: The family's reputation by gambling away the family fortune. His son, Abbado's grandfather, became a professor at the University of Turin . He re-established the family's reputation and also showed talent as an amateur musician. Born in Milan , Italy on 26 June 1933, Claudio Abbado was the son of violinist Michelangelo Abbado, and the brother of the musician Marcello Abbado (born 1926). His father,
3871-538: The greatest opera conductors in Germany at the present time". Receiving a contract with Deutsche Grammophon that same year, Karajan made the first of numerous recordings, conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin in the overture to The Magic Flute . Karajan's career continued to thrive at the beginning of the war. In 1939, the Berlin State Opera appointed him State Kapellmeister and conductor of concerts by
3950-460: The hand of the Pope. By the end of his life he had reconciled with the Catholic Church, and requested a Catholic burial. Karajan was married three times. Karajan married his first wife, Elmy Holgerloef, an operetta singer, on 26 July 1938. He first worked with her on a 1935 New Year's Eve gala production of Strauss's Die Fledermaus . They divorced in 1942. Elmy died of heart failure in 1983. A statement from his Salzburg office stated that Karajan
4029-421: The house orchestra in concert. Abbado remained affiliated with La Scala until 1986. On 7 October 1968, Abbado made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera with Don Carlo . He began to work more extensively with the Vienna Philharmonic (VPO) after 1971, which included two engagements as conductor of the orchestra's New Year's Day concert, in 1988 and 1991. He was a recipient of both the Philharmonic Ring and
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#17328525975264108-420: The international Serge Koussevitzky Competition for conductors at the Tanglewood Music Festival , which resulted in a number of operatic conducting engagements in Italy. In 1959, he conducted his first opera, The Love for Three Oranges , in Trieste. He made his La Scala conducting debut in 1960. In 1963, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize for conductors, which allowed him to work for five months with
4187-505: The late 1980s it was suspected that he might become music director of the New York Philharmonic. However, after appearances as a guest conductor, in 1989, the Berlin Philharmonic elected him as its chief conductor and artistic director, in succession to Herbert von Karajan . During his Berlin tenure, Abbado oversaw an increased presence of contemporary music in the orchestra's programming, in contrast to Karajan who had focused on late Romantic works. In 1992, he co-founded 'Berlin Encounters',
4266-427: The membership number 1607525 and moved to Ulm. It is said that this accession was never formally carried out. It is also certain that Karajan rejoined the Nazi Party in Aachen in March 1935, this time receiving the membership number 3430914. After the annexation of Austria, the responsible Reich Treasurer of the Nazi Party discovered Karajan's double membership in Munich and declared the first accession invalid. The second
4345-418: The next day. He said, "You have made the music very clear, the fp here, the accent there; but these are not at all important. Just wave your stick around a bit!" He made a gesture like stirring a pudding. But what he meant was, let the music flow more naturally. Karajan conducted and recorded prolifically, mainly with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. He conducted other orchestras (including
4424-438: The performance relayed to a crowd in the square in front of the opera house and live-streamed via La Scala's website. Abbado's mortal remains were cremated and an urn with a part of his ashes was buried at the cemetery of the 15th-century chapel of Fex-Crasta in the Val Fex . It is a part of the municipality of Sils-Maria , a village in the Swiss canton of Graubünden where Abbado had a vacation home. His musical estate
4503-410: The performances are so great. I've never known anybody more compelling. He's the most natural conductor in the world. Some conductors need to verbally articulate what they want through words, but Claudio just shows it, just does it." In performance, Abbado often conducted from memory, as he himself noted: "...it is indispensable to know the score perfectly and be familiar with the life, the works and
4582-410: The phrasing and the words—always with Italian singers, which was unheard of in Germany then. I don't think I ever opened the score. It was so in my ears, I just knew it. Karajan went on to make two recordings of Falstaff —one for EMI/HMV in 1956 and another for Philips in 1980—and his colleague Otto Klemperer hailed the Vienna State Opera production as "really excellent". Strauss was likewise
4661-458: The removal of a portion of his digestive system, and he cancelled his conducting activities for 3 months in 2001. In 2004, Abbado returned to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic for the first time since his departure as chief conductor, for concerts of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 recorded live for commercial release. The resulting CD won Best Orchestral Recording and Record of the Year in Gramophone magazine's 2006 awards . The Orchestra Academy of
4740-405: The same name as the pianist ) and conducting with Alexander Wunderer and Franz Schalk . Karajan made his debut as a conductor in Salzburg on 22 January 1929. The performance got the attention of the general manager of the Stadttheater in Ulm and led to Karajan's first appointment as assistant Kapellmeister of the theater. His senior colleague in Ulm was Otto Schulmann . After Schulmann
4819-470: The simple request to orchestras to "Listen". This was a reflection of his preference for communication as a conductor via physical gesture and the eyes, and his perception that orchestras did not like conductors who spoke a great deal in rehearsal. Clive Gillinson characterised Abbado's style as follows: "...he basically doesn't say anything in rehearsals, and speaks so quietly, because he's so shy, so people can get bored. But it works because everyone knows
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#17328525975264898-454: The slightest ragged edge." Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Karajan's conducting style was his propensity to conduct with his eyes closed. This is highly unusual for a conductor, as eye contact is generally regarded as of paramount importance to the conductor's communication with the orchestra. Yet, as Vaughan remarked: "[h]ere is one of the fascinating aspects of conducting: there are no rules, only guidelines. The most eccentric approach
4977-430: The standard opera repertoire, he presented contemporary operas, including works of Luigi Dallapiccola and of Luigi Nono , in particular, the world premiere of Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore . In 1976, he brought the La Scala company to the US for its American debut in Washington, D.C. for the American Bicentennial . In 1982, he founded the Filarmonica della Scala for the performance of orchestral repertoire by
5056-496: The works of Wagner , Verdi , Richard Strauss and Puccini . Verdi's last opera, Falstaff , was something of a mainstay throughout Karajan's career. In his conversations with Osborne, Karajan recalled that, in the 1930s, when Italian opera was still something of a rarity in Austria and Germany: [M]y training in Verdi's Falstaff came from Toscanini. There wasn't a rehearsal in either Vienna or Salzburg at which I wasn't present. I think I heard about thirty. From Toscanini I learnt
5135-466: The world's finest. Starting from this year, Karajan began his lifelong attendance at the Lucerne Festival . In 1951 and 1952, Karajan conducted at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus . During its 1955 tour of the United States, Karajan's past membership in the Nazi Party led to the Berlin Philharmonic's concerts being banned in Detroit, and Philadelphia Orchestra music director Eugene Ormandy refused to shake Karajan's hand. Upon arriving in New York City for
5214-412: Was "very shocked, affected, and deeply upset by the news. He had never forgotten her; she had been a part of his life." Karajan did not attend her funeral in Aachen. On 22 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War , Karajan married his second wife, Anna Maria "Anita" Sauest, born Gütermann [ de ] , the daughter of a well-known manufacturer of yarn for sewing machines. Having had
5293-408: Was born in Kozani , in the Ottoman province of Rumelia (now in Greece), leaving for Vienna in 1767, and eventually Chemnitz , Electorate of Saxony . Georg and his brother participated in the establishment of Saxony's cloth industry, and both were ennobled for their services by Frederick Augustus III on 1 June 1792, thus adding the prefix " von " to the family name. This usage disappeared with
5372-416: Was deeply taken with her. Their first daughter, Isabel , was born on 25 June 1960. In 1964, their second daughter, Arabel, was born. After Karajan's death, Eliette continued his musical legacy by founding of the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna, now in Salzburg and known as the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute . Her numerous projects focus particularly on the development of young people, and she
5451-447: Was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with the Nazi Party takeover, Karajan was promoted to first Kapellmeister . In the postwar era, Karajan maintained silence about his Nazi Party membership, which gave rise to a number of conflicting stories about it. One version is that because of the changing political climate and the destabilization of his position, Karajan attempted to join the Nazi Party in Salzburg in April 1933, but his membership
5530-422: Was later declared invalid because he somehow failed to follow up on the application and that Karajan formally joined the Nazi Party in Aachen in 1935, implying that he was not eager to pursue membership. More recent scholarship clears up this confusion: ...the truth is that Karajan actually joined the Nazi Party twice. The first time this happened was on 8 April 1933 in Salzburg. He paid the admission fee, received
5609-471: Was listed on the Gottbegnadeten list (God-gifted list of artists exempt from mobilisation ). Karajan's denazification tribunal, held in Vienna on 15 March 1946, cleared him of illegal activity during the Nazi period. The Austrian denazification examining board discharged Karajan on 18 March 1946, and he resumed conducting shortly thereafter. Years later, former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt said of Karajan's Nazi party membership card, "Karajan
5688-568: Was made retroactive to 1 May 1933. During the entire Nazi era he "never hesitated to open his concerts with the Nazi favorite ' Horst-Wessel-Lied ', but "always maintained he joined strictly for career reasons." His enemies called him "SS Colonel von Karajan". In 1933, Karajan made his conducting debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Walpurgisnacht Scene in Max Reinhardt 's production of Faust . In Salzburg in 1934, Karajan led
5767-460: Was obviously not a Nazi. He was a Mitläufer ." In 1946, Karajan gave his first postwar concert in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic , but was banned from further conducting by the Soviet occupation authorities because of his Nazi party membership. That summer he participated anonymously in the Salzburg Festival. On 28 October 1947, Karajan gave his first public concert following the lifting of
5846-510: Was one of the youngest and thus one of the least advanced in his career. He was allowed to conduct various orchestras and was free to travel, even to the Netherlands to conduct the Concertgebouw Orchestra and make recordings there in 1943. He conducted for an audience of 300 Nazi armaments officials at a conference convened by Albert Speer in Linz, Austria, on 24–25 June 1944. In September 1944, he
5925-946: Was presented with the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis and also the Dutch Edison Award . In 1973, the Vienna Mozart Society awarded him the Mozart Medal . Abbado received the 1997 Grammy Award in the Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without conductor) category for "Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 1 With Finale 1921, Op. 24 No. 1" and the 2005 Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) category for "Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3" performed by Martha Argerich . In 2012, Abbado
6004-477: Was somewhat unusual, as noted by his friend Walter Legge , who remarked: He is one of the few conductors I have known who has never made a mark in a score. He will absorb a score quietly sitting on the floor, like a relaxed Siamese cat. Over the years he has learned how completely to relax the body so the mind is absolutely free to do what it wants. Karajan was also known for his preternaturally keen sense of tempo, even going so far as to have himself tested against
6083-578: Was transferred to the Berlin State Library where it is being catalogued and digitised. From his first marriage in 1956 to singer Giovanna Cavazzoni, Abbado had two children: Daniele Abbado (born 1958), who became an opera director and Alessandra (born 1959). His first marriage was dissolved. From his second marriage, to Gabriella Cantalupi, Abbado had a son, Sebastiano. His four-year relationship with Viktoria Mullova resulted in Mullova's first child,
6162-492: Was upon hearing Antonio Guarnieri 's conducting of Claude Debussy 's Nocturnes that Abbado resolved to become a conductor himself. At age 15, Abbado first met Leonard Bernstein when Bernstein was conducting a performance featuring Abbado's father as a soloist. Bernstein commented, "You have the eye to be a conductor." Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Milan Conservatory , and graduated with
6241-659: Was voted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame that April, and in May, he received the conductor prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards . Abbado received honorary doctorates from the universities of Ferrara (1990), Cambridge (1994), Aberdeen (1986) and Havana . On 30 August 2013, President Giorgio Napolitano , appointed Abbado to the Italian Senate as a Senator for life , in honour of his "outstanding cultural achievements". Abbado became
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