Abe's Blog

Thanks for bringing this up!

I taught physics for 32 years, and many times noticed that the best physics students were very commonly involved in music...

Dick

Dear Abe,

Mr. Von Karajan has given me many hours of enjoyment while I was driving my 18,000 lbs truck around Manhattan.

Aside from the fact that I love Ludwig von, I loved to see the reactions to a trucker hooked on classics.

My all time favorite is still Toscanini, even if he does have the fastest Ninth symphony to date. Toscanini was recording on 78's and insisted on a one take recording. I understand it took quiet a few recordings before he found one he could live with. When asked by the media to comment on the number of recordings he had to make just to find the one, Toscanini replied "Sometimes the orchestra is off, sometimes the chorus is off and sometimes I am off".

As you no doubt know, he was a terror to his first violinist. I think that's where Von Karajan got it right. Where Toscanini scared his orchestra (the NBC, I believe) into producing the sound he had in his head, Von Karajan used his charisma to vibrate sympathetically with the orchestra so the orchestra understood the sound he was looking for.

I also understand that there exists a line of succession starting with Beethoven and, through various teachers Beethoven's technique comes down to Toscanini and then Leonard Bernstein. I'm not sure where Von Karajan fits into this story, if it is, in fact, true.

(And, yes, I did have to specify Leonard Bernstein because I didn't want him confused with Elmer Bernstein).

Nez se Pas?

Orpheuse

Hi Orpheuse,

You are right about Toscanini. Not only he scared the musicians to give the best of them, but sometimes he begged them, he cried in front of them, he threatened to quit conducting, and other things if he thought the orchestra was not giving him what he needed.

There is story about one day when he was rehearsing with the NBC orchestra in New York, and for hours they could not provide him with the sound he wanted. They were rehearsing for hours, but Arturo Toscanini was not satisfied. He started to show anger and frustration with the Orchestra, but in particular with the first violin. It came to a point where he abruptly stopped the rehearsal, started to shout in Italian very loudly and all of a sudden he took from his pocket a "very old" watch and he threw if with force to the floor. needless to say the watch broke in one thousand pieces. He destroyed the watch in front of the musicians; and then he stated to lament it (almost crying): "You see what you have done. I destroyed a watch that was given to me by my grandmother when I was a child! It is the most valuable item I have ever had, etc. etc. (you get the idea)". After his speech everybody was silent and sad. After this they continued the rehearsal and the orchestra played like in no other time before. The sound was impeccable and Arturo was really satisfied and happy.

After finishing he went to lunch with one friend. His friend told him that he was very sorry that he lost such a valuable watch. The friend said to him "this is something that we will never forget. I am really sorry and sad to see you loosing such a treasure!". Arturo Toscanini looked at him and said" "Not to worry. I bought a dozen of this (and he showed his friend another exact replica of the destroyed watch) in a flee market."

Abe

Hi amichelen:

Don't forget Van Karajan was considered an excellent interpreter of Gustav Mahler. One of the most memorable recordings of Mahler's 9th was made by Van Karajan and the BPO during a live performance in 1982 at the Berlin Festival. Grammaphone considered it the best recording of 1982.

WindGenMan

Hi WindGenMan,

You are absolutely right!

Karajan conducted Mahler with the same passion as when conducting Beethoven. I also have a special love for his Mahler 9th.

Abe

What a wonderful, rounding message! I especially appreciated your intro to this thread. Concur that as scientists (whether pure research or applied engineering) we owe it to ourselves and our work to be as multidisciplinary as possible. Not just for the enhancement of the work, but for the enjoyment of living. Thank you!

The only worthy destiny and real happiness for every human being is to be born to create great music, great art, great literature. As these things only really change the world. When scientist discovers a new Nature law he does not change the world as this law does no matter that it been discovered by someone and all goes the same. But when great symphony is creating --- I believe it's change the world really.

But unfortunately great musicians, artists and writers used to be born in proportion 1:1000000 or so and someone has to grow crops, to build houses, to design heating systems, to teach children, to drive trucks to be engineers at all, etc.

We only have rare opportunity to enjoy these immortal creations time to time which remind us what for we came here.

I totally agree with you.

Even though I spend my life doing technical and scientific matters, I lament that I could not learn how to play the violin or how to paint. Believe me, when younger I triad to learn to play the violin and I triad to learn how to paint, to no avail.

It is a good thing, however, to know that there are many artists in this world who give us all many hours of joy.

-Abe

To add, obliquely, an engineering vein to the thread, von Krajan was an enthusiast of exotic cars. I seem to remember he was into Lamborghinis?

(I'd say Why Not as a Lambo makes a fair attempt at a classical sound)

MusicalWords.it, the new arts blog, will publish some article about Maestro Herbert von Karajan during this year. Read the first here:

http://www.musicalwords.it/2008/06/12/100-years-of-herbert-von-karajan-by-jacopo-simoncini/

All the articles are in italian and english.

www.musicalwords.it

All the articles are in italian and english.

I saw an interesting mix of English and Italian, but couldn't find the articles in English. I read enough Italian to get the gist, but it is an effort - how or where do you click to get the English versions? Dick

It is interesting that von Karajan had early on thought about engineering, but decided to stay with music. Despite this decision he kept his mind active in many quarters, including working with Sony to develop the CD with his own Telemondial S.A.M., company. He said that in time people would want to see not just hear great music, and that he wished he had been born 20 years later, as great things in technology would soon be in the offing and he did not want to miss them. When he received his honorary degree from Oxford he gifted the University a grant to study the neurological effects of music on autistic children and set up his own institute to study the psychology of music. So, Heribert should have said he would have liked 30 of 40 years, as 20 would only have put him at 2009! But, his was and is one for the ages!

All in all this guy had great drive, vision, energy, and according to many who worked directly with him, great generosity.

Thank you for your insight. I did not know the Von Karajan was so generous and human. By watching his performances ones may think that he was very cold and far fro reality.

Abe