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Favourite Conductors Feature : Herbert Van Karajan.

Always a conductor to polarise opinion, Karajan produced a unique volupturous sound with his beloved Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. To some he was an itinerant yachtsman who also liked fast cars, to others a dedicated and inspired conductor.

His first break was with the Ulm Stadttheater Orchestra, Germany. Great reviews led after World War 2 to a brilliant career with the London Philharmonia Orchestra, a long lasting collaboration with fixer Walter Legge, then the Vienna Symphony, and finally the Berlin Philharmonic and a long association with the illustrious Deutsche Grammophon Record label.

To performers under his direction he could be abrasive, when the Berlin Philharmonic threatened a players strike over conditions he was prepared to wait it out until they caved in. His hard regime of analysing other conductor's work and preparing music so that it could be listened to over and over again by the audience made him the leading classical music money earner of his time.

Always interested in new technologies, he embraced the change from 78's, and its restrictive programming schedules of 3-4 minute sides, through to LP's and CD's. He also made several movies of symphonic works.

One quote which describes the essence of the music Herbert Von Karajan produced was when he was asked : 'It seems to me that the music is coming from another world', to which he responded, 'You are right. It is coming from another world. It is coming from eternity.'

See the Karajan music selection here.