vita nuova

about karajan
one can say a lot of  karajan as a man and even as an artist. in this second aspect,  one can say, however, a lot on his defense. he was one of the most elegant conductors of the twenty century. take his cosi fant utti of the fifities, his falstaff, his first rosenkavalier. in opera his was almost superb in everything, carmen , verdi , wagner , strauss and verismo. in his good days he could change from weightness to lightness with a naturality few would succed (perhaps beecham, caros kleiber and monteux). he could be both sensuos and sharp. his few incursions in modern music were generally very sucessful ( bartok, honegger) including the vienna school album. it may not be standard but it is full of original insights. his mesitersinger recording is a masterpiece. his beethoven cycles were declinig towards the spetacular in the last years, but his two first integrals ( the philharmonia and the first berlin recording ) were also beautifully done. nobody was able of a so dramatic reading of the bruckner eight as him ( i know, jochum and shcuricht are also excellent). for me his masterpiece.