Elektra Rehearsals - 1981- Karl Böhm - Wiener Philharmoniker

[@Jegiro]

This is taken in the year of his death. So sad to him looking frail and ill. He wasn’t a popular person with everyone (then again who is?), but he was certainly a maestro and an intense conductor, amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

[@psijicassassin7166]

He was popular with Nazis.

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

And a nazi.

[@MarcusLangbart]

I'm in love with the piano arrangement for Elektra

[@rogerbrett-freeman5411]

Alas Karl Bohm never appeared at Covent Garden in my days - he was extremely expensive and Solti would have resisted it. I was fortunate to have seen Miss Varnay as Herodias in Brussels. Her voice was shot but her acting was incredible - she very nearly stole the show from a fabulous Anja Silja.

[@wallshootout5616]

He was the best conductor for the works of Richard Strauß in the world.

[@DC-qd7uz]

Bohm's Mozart and his R. Strauss are literally 2 sides of world, thanks you maestro!

[@stefanufer608]

I still think his Mozart opera recordings are the best ever

[@avivbenjamin]

I just love him. One of the best conductor's, his Strauss is the best .

[@gerwaldwalcher7939]

That happened a few months before his death

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

You are not an orchestra musician

[@Anthonyprinciotti]

@@leonardoiglesias2394 While was certainly an incredibly knowledgable and experienced conductor, his actual conducting provided little guidance to the orchestra. He was one of those conductors who couldn't show the orchestra what he wanted with his arms and hands, yet reflexively yelled at the orchestra when his wishes weren't fulfilled.

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

@@Anthonyprinciotti nobody can „show“ you with hands „how“ to play. A conductor must rehearse and tell technically what he wants and insist until he gets it. BUT, BUT, he has to know HOW to do it, he MUST know the instruments and know how to conduct a GROUP. How to get the piano he wants, how to get the accents he wants, etc. you cant show everything with your hands. Sometimes you have 5 different voices…which one do you want to conduct…? You have to ORGANIZE that.

[@stefanufer608]

Absolutely fascinating - I’ve seen parts of this before but not the ending, and what an ending! A huge thank you for posting.

[@1968KWT]

RIP Karl Böhm (born #otd in 1894) 🌹

[@WotanKlingsor]

Varnay is a goddess

[@silvr94]

"I can't beat any clearer" coming from Karl Böhm LOL

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

You are not an orchestra musician. I am. I can tell just reading your comment

[@silvr94]

@@leonardoiglesias2394 I am a rehearsal pianist and a conductor myself. I've played piano for literally hundreds of conductors. Well into my twenties I also played cello in an orchestra. I'm not saying that Böhm is a bad conductor, but there are definitely conductors who have a clearer baton technique. Böhm never formally learnt conducting. As far as I know he was a lawyer and after the war, opera houses were desperately looking for musicians. He started out as a rehearsal pianist and later started conducting (as was common practice back in the days). Everyone agrees that Böhm was a fabulous musician and a great conductor. All I'm saying is that there are far clearer ways to beat than what he's doing here (he was close to death here, so again, I dont't want to be pedantic).

[@saikaiei88]

Vielen Dank für das Hochladen!

[@Felipe.Taboada.]

impresionante la Varnay cantando 40 años después de su debut como Sieglinde en 1941. También es notable su Kostelnicka de Janacek en 1972 creo.

[@SilfredoSerrano]

1970.

[@draganvidic2039]

Rysanek sang both Sieglinde and Chrysothemis for more than 35 years sounding the same… Nobody has ever done that.

[@mooriable]

Is this perhaps THE Sofiensaal that was unfortunately destroyed by fire 20 years later?

[@andreaguarino8207]

They play like demons, oh my God!

[@sivakumarvakkalanka4938]

At the beginning of the video, isnt that Zubin Mehta at the extreme right, following with a score?

[@mooriable]

Yes, indeed. Both Böhm and Mehta had been frequent guest conductors(the latter still is) of the Philharmonic, and Mehta is following the score with then first concertmaster Gerhart Hetzel, who died so tragically only 11 years after this although he was a few years younger than Mehta.

[@andreaguarino8207]

@@mooriable He got injured in the mountains

[@mooriable]

@@andreaguarino8207 Right. The concertmaster suffered a fatal injury from a fall there in July of 1992 at age 52 during the Salzburg Festival season.

[@BariTone7-v5r]

Somebody got a wobble from hell. Two notes for the price of one.

[@randysills4418]

It's big enough to drive a mack truck through! Terrible!!!

[@draganvidic2039]

It’s Varnay. Old here.

[@WotanKlingsor]

Her voice is still huge and colourful though

[@ArgerichStan]

It is very frustrating seeing Böhm fail so badly at clear conducting here due to his health and age and then blaming the orchestra on not being able read his “cues”

[@wotan10950]

Thank you for posting. I’m sorry to say this is my least favorite recording. Bohm was too old and sick to lead the orchestra, and they sound dead in the final dance and elsewhere. Ligenza is shrill, Rysanek can’t find the pitch even when she’s in the correct octave, Varnay’s voice is one big wobble. And I like these artists, but not here. If anyone wants my DVD, let me know.

[@bayreuthvinylman2616]

Totalmente de acuerdo, prefiero Sinopoli, Böhm esta muy mayor aca.

[@wotan10950]

@@bayreuthvinylman2616 Sinopoli’s recording is fantastic! Agreed!

[@wotan10950]

@@isaacteesdale5934 [e-mail]

[@wotan10950]

I’d be happy to send the DVD free of charge, if you will pay the postage.

[@Haronardi]

@@bayreuthvinylman2616 ¿Y la versiòn de Inge Borkh, Marianne Schech y Jean Madeira?

[@yefimpastukh3505]

On of the greatest 20th Century operas - the music is beautifully played. Just Bohm is too weak for this(old),and the singers are not great either.

[@BellaFirenze]

Although Böhm never joined the Nazi party, in public and in private he continually expressed strong support for Hitler and his regime. Böhm's support of the Nazis predated their rise to power. Böhm was a beneficiary of the Third Reich and used its system to advance his career. His ascent was facilitated by the expulsion of Jewish and politically out-of-favor colleagues. Böhm was an outright Nazi who in 1938 told the Vienna Philharmonc that anyone who did not vote for Hitler’s Anschluss could not be considered a proper German.

[@lublondon]

Dafür ist Karajan gleich zwei Mal der NSDAP beigetreten…. Trotz ihren politischen Irrungen oder Opportunismus sind sowohl Böhm als auch Karajan großartige Künstler. Dirigenten des Jahrhunderts Wagner hat es ja vorgemacht… wie man ein Genie und menschlicher Kotzbrocken zur selben Zeit sein kann

[@lapernice6978]

So very similiar to Karajan who on the other hand joined the nazi party twice just to make sure…

[@southfloridaarcheryguy114]

I don’t care. That was a long time ago. And he was genius. I’m more concerned about our modern collegiate Nazis that have fouled the landscape recently. Now let’s jettison the politics and appreciate this rare gift of Bohm and his last rehearsals.

[@BellaFirenze]

@@southfloridaarcheryguy114 Mein Gott in Himmel! Sind Sie in Amerika? Sind Sie ein weiterer verrückter MAGA-Republikaner? Dieselbe Rhetorik. Wer bist du? Wer hoffst du zu sein? Wen interessiert das? Sag deiner Mutter, dass sie eine Straßenläuferin ist. Get lost Karen.

[@martinatherton3018]

​@@lapernice6978Not remotely similar. They were utterly different cases. But don't let your ignorance get in the way of what you imagine is a good post.

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

Das Stück ist eine zu salzige Suppe.