Word: karajans
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...post was once the domain of giants like the autocratic Herbert von Karajan, but with his boyish enthusiasm and unruly curls Rattle cuts a different sort of figure. A native of Liverpool who grew up when the city's four other famous mop tops were shaping tastes in music, he found his calling at a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony. "I was around 11 or 12, and all I remember is the feeling that I wanted to be in the center of this," he says. "It never occurred to me that it would happen as fast...
...modern recording era has spawned a curious new breed of conductor who feels compelled to commit anything and everything to disc, even if he has little to say. A highly unscientific survey of the current Schwann catalog highlights Herbert von Karajan, Neeme Jarvi, and Sir Neville Marriner as some of the more egregious offenders...
...post at the Wurttemburg State Opera in 1968, Carlos Kleiber has followed the example of his father, and led the life of a conductor-errant, though he has certainly been tempted by many an orchestra. Norman Lebrecht reports that Kleiber was tapped by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra after von Karajan's passing, but refused. Of all the major classical labels, only Deutsche Grammophon proved to have enough stomach and patience to deal with him more than once, and they have finally coupled two formerly premium-priced discs to produce what is arguably the best single disc of Beethoven symphonies...
Since the death in the past few years of conductors Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, music lovers have amused themselves with a rather desperate parlor game: Where will the next great maestro come from? And when? Well, here's one answer: from California, and right now. From his dazzling appearances during the past two weeks with the Lyons Opera and Ballet in San Francisco and Berkeley, Kent Nagano has confirmed his spot at the head of the class of young conductors leading music into the future...
...begin, one might consider that the tyrant-weary Berlin Philharmonic eyed him as a potential successor to von Karajan's chief conducting post, not necessarily for his musical worth, but because he was the one of the least oppressive candidates. This characteristic colors his entire artistic output--Haitink has been renowned for utter reliability and dependability, never for willful or idiosyncratic interpretations. Those seeking musical histrionics should look elsewhere. His sound can be counted on not to offend conventional acoustic sensibilities, but his middle-of-the-road path ensures that his interpretations will almost never be terribly memorable...