Herbert von Karajan (April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989) was an Austrian conduct… Read Full Bio ↴Herbert von Karajan (April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was one of the most prominent conductors of the postwar period and is widely regarded as the world's most recorded conductor. Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for thirty-five years.

Karajan played an important role in the development of the original compact disc digital audio format. He championed this new consumer playback technology, lent his prestige to it, and appeared at the first press conference announcing the format. Early CD prototypes had a play time limited to sixty minutes. It is often asserted that the decision to extend the maximum playing time of the compact disc to its standard of seventy-four minutes was achieved in order to adequately accommodate Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This, however, is denied by Kees Immink, who co-invented the CD.

As was the case with soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Karajan's membership in the Nazi Party and prominent cultural association with Nazism from 1933 to 1945 cast him in an uncomplimentary light after the war. While Karajan's defenders have argued that he joined the Nazis only to advance his own career, his critics have pointed out that other great conductors such as Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber and Arturo Toscanini fled from fascist Europe at the time. It should be noted, however, that many famous conductors worked in Germany throughout the war years, including Furtwängler, Ansermet, Schuricht, Böhm, Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, Rother and Elmendorff. Additionally, careerism could not have been Karajan's sole motivation, since he first joined the Nazi Party in 1933 in Salzburg, Austria, five years before the Anschluss. In The Cultural Cold War, published in Britain as Who Paid the Piper?, her book on CIA cultural policy in postwar Europe, Frances Stonor Saunders noted that Karajan "had been a party member since 1933, and never hesitated to open his concerts with the Nazi favourite 'Horst Wessel Lied.'" Additionally and in contradistinction to Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karajan had no objections to conducting in occupied Europe. Musicians such as Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman refused to play in concerts with Karajan because of his Nazi past. Some have questioned whether Karajan was committed to the Nazi cause given the fact of his marriage in 1942 to Anita Guetermann, a woman of clear Jewish origin, but it is only from that point that Karajan's star within the government dimmed.

Von Karajan has often been criticized for a performance that was too polished, especially in later years. "...[He] opted instead for an all-purpose, highly refined, lacquered, calculatedly voluptuous sound..." (Harvey Sachs). However, there is widespread agreement that Herbert von Karajan had a special gift for extracting beautiful sounds from an orchestra.

Classical, Baroque, Opera, Romantic, Philharmonic

Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4, 7

Puccini: La Bohème / Act 1
Herbert von Karajan Lyrics

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O soave fanciulla, o dolce viso
Di mite circonfuso alba lunar
In te ravviso il sogno ch'io vorrei sempre sognar
Fremon già nell'anima le dolcezze estreme
Tu sol comandi, amore

Fremon nell'anima dolcezze estreme
Fremon dolcezze estreme

Nel bacio freme amor

No, per pietà
Sei mia
V'aspettan gli amici
Già mi mandi via?
Vorrei dir, ma non oso
E di'
Se venissi con voi?
Che? Mimì
Sarebbe così dolce restar qui, c'è freddo fuori

Vi starò vicina
E al ritorno?
Curioso
Dammi il braccio, o mia piccina
Obbedisco, signor
Che m'ami, di'
Io t'amo

Amore, amor, amor

Overall Meaning

These lyrics are from the famous aria "O soave fanciulla" from Act 1 of Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème." The song takes place in a cold winter night in Paris, where Rodolfo (tenor) and Mimì (soprano) express their love for each other.

The first stanza begins with Rodolfo admiring Mimì's beauty and describing her as a sweet, radiant face surrounded by the light of the moon. He sees in her the dream he always longs to dream, and his soul trembles with extreme sweetness. Rodolfo acknowledges that she alone commands love.

In the second stanza, both Rodolfo and Mimì express their overwhelming emotions, where extreme sweetness trembles in their souls and love trembles in their kisses. Mimì asks Rodolfo not to leave her, saying she is his. Rodolfo hesitates to answer, but ultimately says that he would like to go with her. Mimì is delighted by this and says it would be so sweet to stay there with him as it is cold outside. They agree to stay close to each other, and Rodolfo asks Mimì to take his arm as they leave.

The lyrics in these stanzas beautifully depict the blossoming love between Rodolfo and Mimì, their intense emotions, and their reluctance to be apart. It highlights their desire to be together and protect each other in the harsh realities of life.

Line by Line Meaning

O soave fanciulla, o dolce viso
Oh charming young girl, oh sweet face

Di mite circonfuso alba lunar
Gently surrounded by the moonlight

In te ravviso il sogno ch'io vorrei sempre sognar
In you, I recognize the dream that I would always want to dream

Fremon già nell'anima le dolcezze estreme
The extreme sweetness already stirs in my soul

Tu sol comandi, amore
You alone command, my love

Fremon nell'anima dolcezze estreme
The extreme sweetness stirs in the soul

Fremon dolcezze estreme
The extreme sweetness stirs

Nel bacio freme amor
In the kiss, love trembles

No, per pietà
No, please

Sei mia
You are mine

V'aspettan gli amici
Your friends are waiting for you