Herbert von Karajan in Rehearsal and Performance

Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) was a titan among 20th-century conductors, a charismatic man whose direction of both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival during much of the Cold War period made him one of the era's dominant musical personalities. Even those who disliked the smooth, blended orchestral sound that he cultivated would find it difficult to deny his technical mastery or his influence. Herbert von Karajan in Rehearsal and Performance includes two black-and-white programs from a series made for television in the mid-‘60s, when the conductor was at the height of his powers. The first finds him rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic in a 1965 performance of Schumann's Fourth Symphony in preparation for a recording of the work: the camera remains tightly focused on the maestro as he quietly but insistently coaxes the precise emphases he desires out of the players, after which the viewer is treated to a full performance, artfully filmed. The second program from 1966 begins with von Karajan offering advice to an unnamed student conductor who's rehearsing the Berlin Philharmonic in playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, followed by a complete performance of the work under the maestro, more conventionally filmed. Presented in PCM stereo, the orchestral sound is frankly mediocre throughout, but what's important here is the footage of a great conductor at work, and while some may find von Karajan's manner studied (he's not being caught off-the-cuff, needless to say), the result is fascinating—and film buffs should take note that both programs were directed by the great French filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)