Why Karajan conducts with closed eyes - Karajan | Interview 27.12.1977

An interesting interview between Friedrich Müller and Herbert von Karajan himself, from 1977, giving insights into conducting Beethoven.

#Karajan #Beethoven

[alefabbri]

I'm Italian. A dear friend of mine told me that when she was little, she used to go on holiday to the "Gallia" hotel, in Lido di Spina in the province of Ferrara. One day her dad showed her a gentleman reading the newspaper comfortably seated in an armchair in the hotel lobby and said to her: Now I'll show you a very important person... do you see that gentleman? he is a very famous person, he is Herbert Von Karajan! OMG!! Now, I am a doctor and a few years ago I went on a home visit to see a patient who had many paintings of famous composers hanging on his walls, including an original autographed photo of Stravinsky! Out of curiosity (I'm a great music lover) I asked him what his profession was and he told me that he was head of the horn section in an important Italian orchestra. We talked for a long time and he told me about the time he was directed by Von Karajan. During rehearsals and at the concert Karajan never looked at his face. After the concert this musician approached him and asked him: Maestro, why don't you ever look at me while conducting us? Are you mad at me? Didn't I play well enough? And Karajan said to him: on the contrary, if you didn't play well enough, I would certainly have watched you many times!

[moldyreesescups]

my dad and grandpa saw him live in the Berlin philharmonic :0 !

[승연-pf]

인터뷰 영상 감사합니다. 이런 생각과 마음으로 지휘를 하셨으니까 그런 음악이 나왔음을 알았습니다. Vie
en Dank.

[coltonschuh]

I love hearing Karajan speak! Thanks for sharing. Such wonderful insight from one of the world’s greatest conductors.

[caznrod]

..könnte stundenlang zuhören... danke fürs hochladen.

[zbigniewbrzezinski]

He was the Zeus of conductors !
RIP...

[hanstaeubler]

As a longtime Karajan fan, I saw this interview for the first time today (in Corona Lockdown February 17th, 2021) and I was able to discover (for me new) facets again - e.g. that Karajan also dealt with the complex of quantum mechanics (see quote Heisenberg) and musically his remarks on the subject of rhythm and tempos -> I also think that many works are performed too slowly respectively that's exactly why I love Karajan's concert recordings ... thanks for publishing this interview!

[gretareinarsson]

I love this thought of never being finished with any piece of music. It´s true. One plays a piece of music differently from one period on ones life to the next.

[patikporkert]

Vielen Dank für das hochladen! Da wünscht man sich eine Interviewlänge von 120 Minuten ✨😊

[canaleteatrale]

Wundervoll...! Danke fürs Posten! Schön, zum 250.!

[KWT]

RIP Maestro Karajan (#dotd in 1989) 🌺🌺🌺

[USAMehdi]

I love Von Karajan ever since I was a kid. I bought all his Beethoven's symphonies, his 9th recorded in 1963 ( I think) is the absolute Best.
I was 15 when he came to our hometown so I took my sister's 35mm camera and waited at concert hall till he came. I took a snapshot of him n his wife. They turned n smiled. Unfortunately when the film was developed, the camer/picture was out of focus.( back then in 70s there was no auto focus cams) :-(.
Of corse I couldn't afford the ticket so I went around the back n listened with my ear to the wall. I wished I knew German or English so I could communicate n ask him to pose. He was such a nice man, (and his lovely wife) I'm sure he/they would agree...
That's my memory of the great Karajan... God bless his soul.

[berlinzerberus]

'Ich habe ein sehr starkes Rhythmusgefühl!' [Herbert von Karajan]
Wie wahr!

[rolandoblest]

von Karajan fue único en sus conciertos, películas y vídeos. Además debemos agradecerle que un Compact Disc pueda contener más de 60 minutos.

[restrepoaparicio]

wow, magnifico que gran mensaje, cierro los ojos para escuchar

[jkkay]

13:30 for the actual question of why Karajan conducts with closed eyes

[guillermon.alamoteologiayr]

cuando un visual se vuelca a la música, sale un Karajan. Visual, técnico, detallista, brillante y efectista

[honda]

First time I have ever heard Karajan voice and it's completely different of what I always imagined! So interesting! Also this film gave me a much more humanistic impression of this men that I always thought as beeing cold and stern! Also happy to hear about Beethoven 4th which I prefer above all the others and could hear almost everyday along my life with goosebumps all the time! Finally I never approved the conducting with the eyes closed because I have the idea that looking at the musicians may give them information about the performance that could be critical. I understand now that if the rehearsals were perfect then it may be more important to close ones eyes when conducting to hear the minutest details of the playing without distractions and be able to make small interventions if needed. Nice film, thank you.

[katrinat.]

That was absolutely fascinating! When he explained about Beethoven's notations and the Dynamics and how differently they could be interpreted by different conductors, that made total sense to me! You always hear about HOW each piece is different with each performance, and of course with each conductor but now I understand WHY!!!! After listening to this I don't feel that he's an ego maniac. I like him. Very interesting that he's done yoga for decades

[teresamadariaga]

Grande maestro, me emociona verle dirigir la quinta de Bethoven y Dvorak " excelso" 👏👏👏👏👏 traducción al español, plis 🙏