Karajan - Rehearsal of Schumann's 4th Symphony - Part 1

[atrumdecretum]

Perhaps the only wonderful Nazi who's ever lived. Seriously though, I love his Dvorak interpretations, especially the 3rd movement of the 9th symphony; All other performances seem.. so rushed to get through a piece so magically beautiful; maybe Dvorak had it wrong?

[retrovertigo369]

true maestro

[ThaoSheronwb77]

nun wie geil hab 3 brüste

[andrewbautista23]

karajan, the only conductor that makes me not bored listening to the orchestra.

[Kay0Wee]

I am studying conducting, and I have never seen anyone more inspireing than Karajan!

[Nadius89]

Nobody understand why I am so obsessed with this man. I am not a musician, I have never attended proper music lessons, but for me his conducting seems out of this world. Thank you so much for uploading this.

[zamyrabyrd]

What a revelation! The kind of high polish and streamlined performances Karajan was able to get from the players was his keen listening and attention to detail.

[tudormihalache1945]

Atent la toate detaliile,extrem de perfecţionist acest Karajan. Dar şi orchestra era formată din virtuoşi după felul în care răspundea cu promtitudine. Multă muncă pentru a dezveli frumosul pentru urechi.

[fabros1985]

1965...



[penalista100]

perfection and majesty!

[whythewar1]

what year was this?



[miau05]

Even I with not knowledge whatsoever of classical music can understand he's genius ... and that's saying something ....

[Marindo]

incredible

[TheWillyJ16]

what he says about flute/violins and harmonics is so true!

[Bedrich94]

Cazzo se si spiega! Che direttore!

[jw960928]

sehr gut!!

[LampoCastor]

Thanks for uploading this. Fascinating to see how he weaves his magic!

[padredemishijos12]

Unlike Toscanini, who refused to work with Mussolini, Von Karajan remained in Hitler's Germany, and remained Hitler's favorite. Furtwangler has a falling out with Hitler.

[LampoCastor]

@padredemishijos12

Karajan was not Hitler's favourite conductor by any means. Hitler attended one performance by Karajan, the state gala performance of Die Meistersinger, Berlin Opera in June 1939. Due to a problem with Rudolf Bockelmann (one of Hitler's favourite singers), Hitler flew into a rage, describing Karajan as that 'kerl' and describing him as insufficiently 'german'.

At the end of 1940, Goebbels wrote in his diary: 'The Fuhrer has a very low opinion of Karajan and his conducting'

[padredemishijos12]

@LampoCastor I stand corrected, he was not Hitler's favorite, but, nonetheless, he remained in Germany during the war, and he had an aryanized orchestra, ie, he had no Jews in his orchestra. He was totally free to protest the aryanization of the Berlin Phil. Toscanini chose to flee Italy instead of playing for Mussolini. Karajan lived in comfort while everyone else suffered German imperialism and plunder. Karajan benefitted from it and that is part of his legacy.

[allegramente5000]

@padredemishijos12 'his' orchestra?...HvK wasn't pricipal conductor of the Berlin Phil til long after WW2.

All of this is said with the considerable benefit of hindsight,and in rather easier times (ie. i'm assuming you don't live under a dictatorship)...i guess you take an equally dim view of Prokofiev writing a cantata in honour of Stalin?

[Wolfareon]

Nice video!

[quelbop]

from a visual point of view i find the rehearsal footage of Hvk more interesting than the numerous movies of him conducting (eyes closed)

[cutepossession]

yes Dudamel...watch this

[padredemishijos12]

@cutepossession May I recommend that you watch on YouTube, "last beethoven rehersal" and see what a 26 year old Dudamel does with a Eroica rehersal. Enjoy. (Dudamel has a photographic memory, and I think he is the next Toscanini or Furtwangler.

[00DeadlyMj00]

If God loved Karajan, there're 7 ppl who r not loved by God! lol ...jk!... I <3 Karajan, God and even those 7 who doesnt love Karajan! Music makes our souls get together and dance through life :)

Not even Beethoven who was deaf could live without music!

[mariandelochs]

Absolutely fascinating! My fave conductor of all!

[BolandseBoer]

Unerreichbar!

[horvathivan]

is he conducting without the score?

remembering the numbers of the bars?

[mariandelochs]

@horvathivan

Yes, Karajan always studied the scores very closely and committed the music to memory. One of the few who hardly, if ever, had a score before him when conducting.

[Gresilde]

Varese13: the intensity and discipline he imposes is very much possible with any orchestra, whether populated by "virtuosi" or not. Most orchestras need a superb technical rehearsal like this, if not always, regularly. Keep them on their toes. It's not that they can't do what he wants: it's that they haven't thought of doing it.

[tenorismo]

I always loved his hair. His hair reminds me of a stage wig from a production at Bayreuth

[lapinot21]

You stopped the video at the best moment !!!

[Torowe1]

@lapinot21 yes what happens at the Lebhaft ???!!

[Varese13]

As wonderful as I think this is, he'd never get away with this sort of detailed rehearsal with most orchestras these days. It has occurred to me that this is very much a choreographed rehearsal, not an actual one, where he is permitted to raise points he would probably have to leave aside in a real situation. Most orchestras these days are collections of virtuoso players who prefer a bit more deference than he gives here. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful document of a bygone era.

[Torowe1]

@Varese13 yes Varese ... the violin tuning seems staged and all the excessive bow tapping when HvK enters - it certainly feels like a "choreographed rehearsal" for the cameras ... BUT .... what a rehearsal !! If it really is the last Probe the day before the DG recording, then it must have been a long day !! (Surely he wouldn't have left rehearsing the Intro to the very end ??)

[sutherndudetx]

Wow. It's amazing what Karajan hears in the music.

Wish we could see the entire rehearsal.

[TheOutcome7]

Anyone calling this man God is ridiculous.

This is an extraordinary man behind the scenes rehearsing the world's top philharmonic orchestra quite as regularly as any other orchestras would. The product of the rehearsing is what is purely amazing, not this process.

Albeit, it is quite interesting to see Karajan at work in a normal environment, rather than surrounded by an eager audience in a luxurious concert hall.

[japanesesweet]

@TheOutcome7 the Vienna Symphony orchesta is a good orchestra but not one of the 'worlds top'- -that might apply to the Vienna Philharmonic.

The process is fascinating because often it is forgotten about the preparation which goes into a concert.

[dawnye1]

wow this is new to me. I never knew conductor were so involve. Thanks

[bcsfeh]

who engineered this? they are a half-step sharp!

[Torowe1]

@bcsfeh must be Robert's *final* revision ...symphony aus d# minor .... he just could not stop tinkering !!!!!

[kriziehy27]

this is AMAZING.. I'm at awe right now.. 0_0

[someone6030]

He is the epitome of conducting, like no other in the world, a class for itself.

[JMillerBayRidge]

I am offended that I cannot present this video to students because of gross comments. You people have no decency

[70schild63]

@JMillerBayRidge The state of this world now, sighs the sad truth that decency is all but gone. God help us!

[milkfed1986]

truly amazing!

[OhDanny]

What this man is hearing and the effects this may cause in his brain is unbelievable...

[plouw09]

This man is a god. No, in fact, this man IS God.

[amineurin]

Da spürt man Hingabe ...Liebe und Perfektion!

...und man lernt viel ..manches hört man erst nachdem der Meister es erwähnt :)

Vielen Dank z0tX!

[MrDorfmann]

Hochinteressant wie er an den Details feilt, z.B. das Zusamenspiel Geige-Flöte.

So etwas sollte heute mal wieder im Fernsehen gesendet werden, statt den üblichen wir-machen-uns-gegenseitig-nie­der-Sendungen.

[BeatrixPotterer]

He certainly knew what he wanted. But that's a killer downbeat at the start, no rhythmic sense to it. Was it deliberate to foster ensemble? The orchestra actually starts playing somewhere after "is it time yet" and "he's going to start yelling if we don't do something".....

[Maestrp37388]

I learned so much during the time I was in orchestra. I'd love to go back and do it again!

[kamanetzki]

If anyone out there wants to understand the function of a conductor, look at this. It puts the lie to the phrase "the conductor's there just to keep the beat". His understanding of phrasing and his musicality are outstanding. You might not agree with his interpretation but if there are any young conductors viewing this clip, take careful note and learn and enjoy!

[Wolfareon]

@kamanetzki u certainly are not one.

[kamanetzki]

@Wolfareon "u certainly are not one"...not one what? If you mean I'm not a conductor, that is correct. But I am a singer, both soloist and chorister and I know from 35+ years of singing under many different conductors what's good and what's bad. As I said on my original comment you may not agree with his interpretation but you can learn from it. Are you a conductor? If so, what does he do wrong in this clip which I suspect is a "choreographed rehearsal" anyway?

[Wolfareon]

@kamanetzki sorry, i didn't read ur text, just wrote mine. but you're right. :)

[djdrocco]

I'm impressed. Gonna go look for that recording now.

[TimeSignatureManiaq]

This is pure gold!

[orientalbeatify]

I love him

[SuccessorsofWagner]

The master at work. God love him!

[Karajanism]

@SuccessorsofWagner Don't ever rely on this word 'God'.

[pinky0926]

Whatever you think about Karajan's personality or even his sound, you can't deny he was utterly commanding and overwhelmingly charismatic.

I bet if he asked these guys to play "twinkle twinkle little star" they wouldn't bat an eyelid, hahaha

[CowHoofOnAHotPlate]

its very interesting, after listening to lots of recordings of karajan and lots of concert videos, and then a rehearsal of him and the weiner symphoniker!

I have literally seen a new side to karajan, one I have not seen before.

[spacecadet2016]

This is an amazing seven-part vid of a supreme rehearser. Tight, oh tight, he works them SO hard, especially the first fiddles. His deep knowledge of string technique and his grasp of the tonal and motivic elements sets him way apart. WOW.

[NiniClarineta]

Thanks for post!!! Great Maestro!!!

Please, if you have more videos of rehearsals, please share with us...!!!

Salutes from Brazil

[Incendiae4]

Wow, amazing ear.Through all the rich sounds of the cellos, and then the violas and the violins and everything, he still hears the slight fluctation of a note, or if it's not played right: "Ah ah ah! Slowly, slowly, don't begin with an accent, press it in, don't strike it home." That's so cool. Incredible.

And my god, that man could play Beethoven. I being in the younger generation (13) just proves that legends never die. And as far as conductors go, Karajan was a legend. Thank for posting this!

[ipmoic]

Just did a bit of research. Written in 1841, the 4th symphony is actually Schumann's 2nd. But his revised edition of 1851 makes it ultimately the 4th.

Many conductors prefer to perform the less heavily orchestrated original version.

Does anyone know if this is the original or revised edition that Karajan is conducting?? Extra credit if you do!

[Torowe1]

@ipmoic pretty sure this is the 1851 Br&H edition - edited by Clara Schumann

[ipmoic]

Sorry thebloads, the flute is apparent, but so in tune that you might mistake it for another violin.

And thanks for the history lesson.

Nothing like hearing a rehearsal in order to understand the inner workings of a conductor's mind.

[thebloads]

i still cant hear the flute lol

[cellospot]

Absolutely fascinating! Thank you so much for posting this!

[4keram]

1966

[virtuosomusician]

Karajan was a legendary conductor. I really wish I could have seen him when he was still living.

[ipmoic]

Isn't this symphony really not his 4th, but rather an earlier work? --perhaps, in terms of chronology #1.

I thought I remembered reading this many years ago.

[thebloads]

nope, it is the 4th.

[equinoxranch]

Karajan was clearly in a league of his own, beyond words. Some great talent out there, but this guy was a galaxy, far more than any constellation.

[raulpjc]

Karajan, Rattle, Ozawa, Solti, etc, are great conductors, among the best, but they are all simple students when compared to the greatest conductor ever, God Toscanini

[jacqcques]

Karajan is just a marvelous conductor. Even Rattle does just nearly as good... While Nagano can do somewhat like it. The "Karajan sound" is the difference we cannot reach today....

[ilvmsic]

This is very educational! Thank you very much for posting! I welcome more rehearsals with English subtitles.

[michaelflute1]

An amazing conductor, he just want to make music as the music should be. He reminds me Karl Bohm!!!!

[wsk250]

What an outrageous guy, you've been arguing with... z0tx, keep posting _music_ please. If you have more of Karajan or other conductors in rehearsal... You know what you can do... ;-)

Thanks!

[webebohm]

This Deiter dude from Sprockets is.....brilliant.

[calfuris]

I personally would.  I am a great fan of this style of music.

While I haven't had the opportunity to see a performance that is five hours long, I have certainly gone to many multiple-hour concerts.

Also, I must say that the use of the word "gay" as a demeaning adjective reflects quite poorly on your intelligence. Please consider using words that would keep your stupidity masked for a bit longer.

[brahms1984]

It is just beautiful and that makes the difference from one conductor to another, some1 like karajan can make the music the way it should be heard!

Thank you for posting:)

[Stormlord6]

Völlig banale Anweisungen. Ein Absturz für die Wiener Klassik.

Wie sagt er? Wenn er am Griffbrett spielt, sind die Obertöne weg? ICH HAB IN MEINEM LEBEN NOCH NIE SO EINEN SCHWACHSINN GEHÖRT!

[zeonic6trial]

in Synergie zur Flöte

[CaptainBluebear08]

Weshalb halten Sie Schumann für Wiener Klassik?

[Stormlord6]

Das halte ich nicht. Ich meine das Allgemeine von Wien; die klassische Musik. Mir ist klar, dass man unter "Wiener Klassik" Mozart, Haydn und Beethoven versteht.

[iguitar344]

Thank you for posting this, it is great to look see Maestro Von Karajan at work.

[JorPove]

Schuman no era "mal orquestador" , porque tenia conocimientos de sobra para no estar satisfecho (como muchos compositores) con los resultados de su primer intento.Por eso Brahms-pese a la oposicion de la viuda de Schuman- recompone la sinfonia,que es una maravilla de melodias evocadoras. Y Karajan nos da en este video una muestra mas de porque-pese a los insultos-que uno lee acerca de el-fue uno de los mejores directores de orquesta ,"enseñando" a la mejor orquesta en su momento...

[RCAMPOMAS]

Hmm. Well. I'd choose an slightly slower tempo for those stresses. To me it's rather fast, considering all attention he's paying to the contrasts of all the instruments.

[Torowe1]

@RCAMPOMAS but the metronome is supposed to be 1/4 = 52 ... and he is certainly slower ..... what do you think ???

[SandyBurnell]

This is priceless.

[marceldelta666]

Karajan's mistake was to bet to highly on Schumann's disgusting orchestration. My little brother can orchestrate something better than he did. People like to talk down to Chopin's orchestration; it can be unfunctional, but at least the instruments don't lose themselves... you hear the whole piece. Schumann's orchetra is bad... really bad. Mignon's Requiem, Manfredo, all the sinfonies (except some parts of the 3rd) and the concertos are all musical masterpieces, but sad in terms of orchestra

[bachelbel]

Schumann is not that bad in orchestration, his orchestration doesn't have a wide range of colors like brahms and ravel, but the strings and woodwind's harmonies are incredibly beautiful

[RCAMPOMAS]

Oh. It's a shame you could not be there to warn Karajan about that painful mistake.

It's quite funny that Schumann, being a such a bad orchestrator (as you say) went straight to history...with his symphonies (criticized, reviewed, played and recorded by hundreds of highly skilled and legendary conductors) among of his most beloved works, with their orchestration as essential part of them to express Schumann's unique mood and temper.

[marceldelta666]

So what? His symphonies are under-interpreted, nowdays and at his time. He assumed his bad orchestration. Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Wolf and Mahler said the same. Like him, a dozen of other bad orchestrators made history(Chopin, Elgar, Albeniz, Villa-Lobos). It doesn't mean he's a bad composer. Hey, you nasty fucker, I'm Schumann's fan No.1. But I recognize his ineptude as an orchestrator.

The grosso of his work is the piano pieces and the songs. All of his works for orchestra are less interpreted.

[RCAMPOMAS]

"Nasty Fucker". HA HA HA HA HA. I did not intend to "fuck you nastily". HA HA HA HA.

Jokes apart. At certain point, sort of the same you say, happened to Beethoven too, but it was rather related of what certain instruments of his time could do. But my real question is (in fact i typed it too, but for one strange reason i dont see it published now(???)), How in the world you call "mistake" to the fact that Karajan's wanted to recorded it as is ?

[marceldelta666]

The mistake is not trying to record this, but his interpretation relies mostly in the orchestration of the piece. He should have focused more on the interpretation and dinamics contrasts, what he didn't (I have the recording, I'm not basing myself just on this video).

As Schubert's orchestration Schumann's orchestral music is like a trio. I has the strings, woodwinds and metals. Each one does its part separadetly. In my orchestra there's no such thing. The sections connect with each other

[munkybrain]

well in all probability you're stunningly correct, because that would account for why Karajan was one of the better Mahler conductors, if you agree with me when i say Mahler was an amazing orchestrator, insofar as i understand these things

[munkybrain]

this symphony was in fact re-orchestrated i'm pretty sure, because schumann decided the orchestration was so bad. if not completely at least he revised it. so poor old schumann would probably be quite upset if he knew you thought that.

i think it sounds quite effective for a 'badly orchestrated' piece.

[marceldelta666]

Yes, it was re-orchestrated. A lot of people don't know that this is actually Schumann's first Symphony. He only revised and published for last.

And no, he wouldn't be upset. He always knew that he was a bad orchestrator in comparisson with Liszt, Cesar Franck, Cornelius, Mayerbeer and Wagner. I guess he wouldn't care much. As you said, it still sounds great. That's because the music is great... more than great. It's just that the orchestration don't work so well. Imagine if it did...

[Nachtmarchen]

The problem is that Schumann's orchestration suffers more from modern string sections than most, he direly needs slim/period strings - but even before Gardiner & Co. there was colorful, transparent Schumann, from an unlikely source: Klemperer. His forward wind balance and the traditional antiphonic seating (1st violins on the left, 2nd violins on the right rather than both on the left) for which this music was written really dispel the myth that Schumann's orchestration was unworkable.

[Garnet826]

omg, it's so cool how he conducts!

[beryllium2]

This is going to sound completley niave, but the first Orchestra note, the A, it sounded just the the first note of the Star Wars theme.

Anyway, This is my favorite Schumann symphony and its so cool to watch this rehersal!!!

[vuxta1]

great learning tool. If your part of an orchestra, watching this can really help you become a better studier of your part, and a better preformer in your ensamble.

[revorrah]

Karajan always tapped his music stand twice extremely fast when he wanted his orchestra to play, like a cue. You can hear that quick tap on recordings. It is really quite hilarious!

[mrmorganmusic]

This is a fantastic video.  I'm digging this big time.

[joven35]

Me too! I love it! Very helpful, for me.

[crisvez]

thanks zOtx for this video-gift,I love karajan. it is wonderful

[mathpianist93]

proof that this man felt every piece he conducted.

[cobrafarmer]

Yikes! Turn off your sound and see if you can guess where to play with Karajan's downbeat.

[Grandtenore]

Right...you look at Karajan and Furtwangler and you may be lost, but the magic in their conducting styles is that they literally physically manifested before the ensemble what the piece was to be. It's so amazing to me. I strive to do the same as a choral conductor.

[gunta03]

True. But what he's doing is not insisting or demanding where to play the downbeat. He's suggesting where it should be and giving the orchestra the freedom to listen to themselves as an ensemble to a achieve a good, overall musical sound.

[simsa21]

ich glaube, der Harnoncourt hat damals bei den Syphonikern gespielt. Schade dass man ihn nicht sehen kann.

[stefanxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

heftig was der klanglich rausholt

[koncert24]

gran video, increible como tenemos la oportunidad de ver ese trabajo en detalle. excelente.

[Matteo7419]

Dear friends, I love HVK and I think I's been one of the greatest of the XXth century. But I know for sure that this rehearsal was expecially prepared for TV and all the details he goes noticing to the orchestra were fixed before the TV recording. Interesting indeed, but not authentic 100%.

[ch322]

you are 100% right. nevertheless, as you also point out, it's a great video.

[darkprose]

If they were "fixed" already, then the VPO made a point to "forget." If you listen carefully -- and even on the best stereo, the nuances would be lost -- you can hear the differences after he gives direction. The first note is played differently after Karajan's direction. Plus, yes, it was prepared for TV, but I am sure that everything he says here he would say off camera, too. The notion of authentic is misplaced here. I think this is "authentic" Karajan.

[ckeledjian]

hehe, funny how he midly reprimends the first violin for not looking at the flute when they play at unison. Also how he corrects a little wrong change of bowing that the orchestra inadvertely makes because visually there is another bar and one tends to accentuate the first measure. It's a rediscovery of the piece.

[Segis84]

He definitely knows the piece exactly by heart =) Wonderful.

[mpppadre]

Karajan forever

[darwinc]

I agree to you saying that he's a great conductor who pays attention to every detail...but you call that a boring symphony??

[leverkuhn82]

Unbelievable! look at the sort of details he is listening..."play close to the fingerboard, so you take out the harmonics and the flute brightens the sound"..."bring out those two crescendos"...he's on top of every single detail, and without even looking at the score. He makes Schumann's boring and excessive symphony sounds almost like a piece of music.

[MahlerTitan]

boring lol, keep your opinions to yourself!

[Schumiszt]

Boring? definitely not for me..

[jacobsimon]

Gives the lie to all those criticsms of Karajan as automaton. What subtleties he goes for--and gets.

[mjj0829]

this is truely amazing. This is what's called Charisma. And PASSION

[riccalef]

Amazing! Thanks!

[ekerilaz]

Many thanks for this. I've been wanting to see this for some time. Fascinating and fabulous.