Strauss "Don Juan" - Karl Bohm with Vienna Philharmonic (Rehearsal and Concert)

Strauss "Don Juan" - Karl Bohm with Vienna Philharmonic (Rehearsal and Concert)
Recorded at the Grosser Musivereinssaal, Vienna- 17-18 September 1970

[@Jegiro]

If ever anyone doubted the importance of a conductor, they need to watch this intently. Karl Bohm was full of passion, enthusiasm and intensity, he was truly a conducting genius, I would have loved to meet the great man.

[@andrewroberts8139]

Big fan of the Nazis

[@thomasnormile4756]

​@@andrewroberts8139 grow up

[@orientaldagger6920]

You don't think the Vienna PO have this score memorized?

[@kenhunt278]

That doesn't matter. They still need to be reminded regularly. This was surely played to the camera for a DG Video. I agree about the Nazi part. But I guess by the 70s we were just just supposed to forget about it.

[@novagerio]

​@@andrewroberts8139 Blessed you are, you piss-ant, who didn't need to live in the days of his youth!

[@psalmtone2008]

This guy KNEW the score...big time.

[@papagen00]

Well duh he was friends with Strauss and conducted "Daphne" premiere.

[@vinylisland6386]

Never heard the theme in the harp before. First conductor who pays attention enough to detail to bother to bring it out. No wonder he and Strauss became friends.

[@detectivehome3318]

Same here!

[@michaelrosa2015]

The master of time management. Never have witnessed a conductor rehearse at such a pace.

[@luangouveia4715]

Search for Stokowski’s rehearsals…

[@jefolson6989]

The Vienna musicians know ths music as well as Boehm, maybe better. It's only interpretation and they quickly pick that up. He doesn't need to waste time with a lot of ' educating". Great conductors can and should be practical. "Artists" rarely are.

[@thricegreatart]

I love what a hardass he is with one of the world's top orchestras.

[@mogmason6920]

“Don’t take it off” Bohm:”I can striptease if you want” *air horn intensifies*

[@jeanghika7653]

I'd rather concentrate myself on the music, not on the behaviour of the Maestro. Try and admire a record of Igor Markevich: just the hands and forarms are moving.

[@Sshooter444]

He has their respect already

[@plekkchand]

@@jeanghika7653 Then concentrate om it. No one's stopping you.

[@arjenbij]

​​@@jeanghika7653hat does it matter if the music is good in the end? All that matters.

[@rudolfserkin2006]

Boehm has good ears, and a good memory. He never misses any little mistakes. His rehearsal is very hard for the players!!

[@urbanviii5103]

They go home for dinner after 2-1/2 hrs. with him and think "I have an upset stomach, I won't sleep tonight. And tomorrow, there will another long rehearsal, with 400 stops and starts, and he will still complain. Not good enough." Probably like Szell with Cleveland!!!

[@warrencohen8246]

@Algernon Campbell That's actually part of the psychology. He gets the violins to play it a few times by focusing on something else. But they really weren't that bad-Don Juan is famously hard, but everyone knows it because they have prepared it for auditions. The problem comes from trying to get agreement on intonation, which you get simply by doing it a few times.

[@markokassenaar4387]

@@urbanviii5103 I heard a funny anecdote that in the Concertgebouw Orchestra, they called rehearsing with Szell "Szell straf", which sounds like "celstraf", the Dutch word for "imprisonment" 😄

[@InnocentVIII]

@@markokassenaar4387 Wonderful story! He probably worked their asses off.

[@markokassenaar4387]

@@InnocentVIII Granted, recordings with Szell always sound incredible, but he was an old-fashioned drill sergeant.

[@audiowatches5750]

Karl Böhm my father worked with him in the Residentie Orkest in The Hague Holland. He was one of the greatest conductors of all times!

[@principalpercussion]

I played under him with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for years.. He at times was very difficult, but all in all fun to to make Music with !!! Herbert Baker

[@srothbardt]

What did you play?

[@evalooonie]

I'm curious since you are a musician. - Do you agree that no conductor conducts Mozart especially Mozart operas as wonderfully as Karl Bohm.?And his conducting the Mozart Requiem, just astonishing. Thanks

[@principalpercussion]

I was Principal Percussionist... Write, Herb

[@CamhiRichard]

I heard a story about Böhm -- maybe you could shed some light as to the veracity. It was said that whenever the Met orchestra did something he didn't like, he'd say, "My Vienna Staatsoper-Orchester would never do a thing like that." Then one day, a few members of the Staatsoper orchestra came to New York for a visit, and were allowed to meet the Met orchestra members. They said "You guys must be really good. Whenever Böhm gets annoyed with us in Vienna, he says, "My Met Orchestra would never do something like that!"

[@urbanviii5103]

@@CamhiRichard Absolutely WILD story!!

[@svrfan]

all of Böhm’s remarks were right on the spot and were all for getting the performance better not to show off as a conductor. Masterful!

[@HansDunkelberg1]

Why is it necessary to mention that Boehm hasn't aimed at showing off as a conductor?

[@stevenj9970]

He’s an incredible conductor. Strict adherence to the score. Fantastic. It’s not like a Mozart or Beethoven were there’s very little information written on the page outside of dynamics. Strauss and Mahler wrote lots of explanations in the parts and they all mean slightly different things. This is an amazing upload thank you so much

[@ilirllukaci5345]

Late in his career, Bohm took an increasingly subjective approach to conducting. He actually praised the 1981 Bernstein Phillips Tristan und Isolde, the first recording of it I ever heard. The interpretation is so notoriously slow that it occupied 5 cds. The only conductor I can think of whose interpretations, with advancing age, grew more objective, albeit with ever slower tempi as well, was Klemperer.

[@kenhunt278]

Not 5 CDs. 4LPs.

[@mooriable]

6:06 and 15:00 It is remarkable to see that Böhm knew where Strauss himself or the publisher had made mistakes and what the composer really would have intended even though not written in the score. It shows how it helps to know the composer of a piece personally and to have spoken with him/her directly.

[@josepht5945]

That’s Professionally Beautiful. Karl Böhm is a gift to the World of Philharmonic Classics. One of the Greatest Philosophic Conductors.

[@petyang3327]

Karl Bohm was one of best friends of Richard Strauss, he knew not just the music but the composer much more than other musicians

[@yp3424]

So did Sir Georg Solti.

[@bernabefernandeztouceda7315]

And Szell

[@johannschneider6372]

Es ist wunderbar zu sehen, wie Böhm jeden Fehler hört und die Instrumentalisten alles abstreiten, dabei hat Böhm Recht!

[@feuersalamander8331]

Die genialen Fähigkeiten solcher Dirigenten wirken auch nach ihrem Ableben weiter fort. Das macht Spitzendirigenten noch wichtiger. Mir fällt auf, das Strauss in dieser Tondichtung durchaus schon mit dem Witz operiert hatte, den er mit weit über 40 im Rosenkavalier anwendete.

[@Piflaser]

Unglaublich was der alles hörte

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

Truly fascinating to see the great Böhm at work. Also how challenging it is to produce quality music.

[@astoriacub]

Particularly Strauss, Strauss is difficult to play. It's quasi-tonal, there's many key changes, meter changes, and it's rhythmically complex. Strauss excerpts are part of almost every professional orchestral audition.

[@renatoperezpizarro7439]

The Vienna Philharmonic players must have played Don Juan dozens of times and Böhm must have conducted it hundreds of times, but they still manage to make it sound fresh. By the way, I am in awe of Böhm's total recall of every note and dynamic in the score. Reminds me of Toscanini.

[@madraven07]

Violin section is incredible.

[@LuisFernandoMadrid]

This is Pure gold, Thanks for sharing!!!

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

I can't even stand how good Strauss is. It's simply staggering.......the molten taffy flow of the lusciousness of the harmonies, like a liquid dragon chasing a forgotten dream........stunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnning !! And I'm a fan of Karl, so all is well

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

Thank you. Strauss does intense things to my soul. And responding with words is bound to bring deep growls of poetry from the inner depths of the unknown cosmos

[@stevenj9970]

I am mesmerized with this rehearsal I keep watching it again and again even though I’ve played this work dozens of times myself

[@mooriable]

21:10 When he says "copla mia" or "culpa mea" depending on the actual pronunciation of Latin and/or Italian, it literally means "My fault" or is equivalent to the expression "My bad!"

[@jurandyrgalvilorero7823]

He is Spectacular! A big conductor

[@itopus1]

How Maestro Böhm makes the orchestra sing like a magnificent ship under full sails ! True mastership.

[@MrJapanese25]

28:07 The unique clarinet sound of legendary Alfred Prinz.

[@Ocelot2000]

Great to see a rehearsal of this!

[@williamhicks2299]

Bohm was a supreme master of music in a way that never called attention to itself or himself.

[@ClaudioAlbertoZuñigaGuarachi]

Yes your right, not a showman a real Artista.

[@mk5244]

....hard effort to produce top level results. Maestro Böhm knew what he was talking about, every single moment. VPO adored him. They had known the results for decades. Mi piace moltissimo

[@choonja2573]

00:00 - Rehearsal 47:11 - Concert

[@vaskenvfermanian]

thanks :)

[@andreafasano9254]

Un gtande Maestro. Queste prove sonk una vrande lezione di direzione d'orchestra.

[@WALTERGRIMM]

Das ist eine sehr gute Probenarbeit, grosses Kompliment! Dieses Stück ist auch äusserst schwer zu erarbeiten, da die einzelnen Register klar und transparent klingen und doch schön ineinander fliessen sollen.

[@unclejuniorsoprano]

I read Karl Bohm's biography. You don't get to where he got with ease. He was a soldier during WW1. That didn't last long. He managed to get out on a medical deferment. He made some fabulous recordings.

[@r.i.p.volodya]

Great rehearsal. Such a complex score.

[@Imafungi123]

Holy shite, this man was a Genius

[@reuvenmarkmozes-mozesmusic7000]

17:00 why he is not conducting there? They needed his conducting in that place. It could save some time and talking….

[@phantomfantom]

stunning!.. what a master musician, and how efficient use of rehearsal time... just wonderful!

[@closmartins]

I just laughed out loud when I realized he actually used names such as Anna, Bernhard, Dora, ... for the Letters A, B, D, etc. in the scores (I'm not even a professional musician and live in Brazil, where the conductor just says the name of the letters). When I think of the austrian pronunciation of the letter's names like B or D (you can't tell you're hearing B or P/D or T) i just realized the conductors have to do such a thing like saying human names instead 🤣❤🇦🇹

[@markovelikonja5399]

Interesting - I realized I'd never seen video of Karl Bohm, and I had only really seem photos of him as an old man. He would have been 76 here and looks very vibrant.

[@gracielamostazo9038]

y gracias..¡¡¡ a KZbin... por darnos ésta maravillosa experiencia...¡¡¡ ...y a toda la gente _que hace posible_éstas cosas nos lleguen..................

[@daniel3231995]

Wow lol so this is what it's like to be the best. Amazing recording.

[@jean-christopheMiquel-ef3ur]

Inoubliable Boehm qui restera comme un des plus grands chefs straussien qu'il nous fut donné d'entendre avec Rudolf Kempe,un des plus justes et précis,toujours respectueux de la partition.

[@Piflaser]

ne oubliez Clemens Krauss

[@jean-christopheMiquel-ef3ur]

@@Piflaser Oui, merci de nous le rappeler. On espère que les enregistrements de Clemens Krauss seront mieux diffusés , en France en tout cas , puisque celui-ci y souffre d'un certain oubli.

[@Piflaser]

@@jean-christopheMiquel-ef3ur Chez les francais je aime beaucoup Paul Paray et Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, qui sont aussi presque inconnus.

[@jean-christopheMiquel-ef3ur]

@@Piflaser Paul Paray est encore connu, par contre D-E Inghelbrecht souffre d'un injuste oubli.

[@raticida123456]

this music is so great

[@markuswendelin5448]

The best Orchester and conducter ever 💘💘💘🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹

[@diegeigergarnele7975]

I love how the first violins keep practicing silently passages of this beginning... really make it clear how easy it is to fuck up in this piece if one of the world's top orchestra concert meister practice during rehearsal

[@theingabo212]

43:32 The violinist thought that Karl Bohm was asking them to stop in order to say something. Thanks for uploading this video btw. Maestro knows this piece very well!

[@egon4593]

Boehm is great, but I' m glad just to listen to the rehearsal instead of taking part myself.🙂

[@shosha1878]

Composer and conductor=Genius

[@alfredoechevarrieta7512]

Gracias a Vasken Fermanian, EuroArts y Unitel que me permiten asistir a un ensayo y Función con el Maestro Bohm. Y me sumo a los aplausos.

[@neo5982]

やはり何回も見てしまう。

[@pabloaldunate]

what a king

[@atsumoritokyo1101]

Wunderber ! This thrust at the actual performance ! Really excellent. Of course, the orchestra works of Richard Georg Strauss himself, except for the composer himself, they are not works that a third party flips turns over the score in production performance. There is no such time margin. Dr.Karl Böhm was a real disciple of R.Strauss, alongside Herbert von Karajan. They were well aware of the attitude. There is no gap in attitude. It's true-professional.

[@philzmusic8098]

THIS is how to rehearse! Show what you want as much as you can, and speak as little as possible.

[@gabriel1chan]

the third trumpet is a bit fast here, the triplet is weak on the down beat, the fourth horn.... so much detail. amazing hearing. the orchestra can pick up at any point and played as if no Interuption. this is a jewel to music liver. it showed why Carl Bohm is one of the greatest Conductor without doubt.

[@davidebondoni4462]

Ausgezeichnet!

[@DerekWilliamsMusic]

Marvellous!

[@Christian-tw7me]

Böhm is high professionell but also a special Character..

[@mathiasmendezm]

Danke.

[@1lekhine]

What a Master !! Danke

[@nannojonkers3817]

Much ado about authenticy in classical music. Well: this is super-authentic R. Strausss. Böhm was a close friend of the composer; over a long time. Wished (impossible however) we had such modern renditions on CD or video of work of earlier composers, Schumann, Brahms e.g., who 'd been close friends of the composer. By the way: Böhm was a pupil of a pupil of the same Brahms. So.............we have about one of such friend-conductors even in 19th century Brahms.

[@papagen00]

You'd think the Vienna Philharmonic knew this music inside out and could play it in their sleep. But seriously, Bohm has a point. The Viennese are more laid-back and rhythmically less precise than their Berlin counterparts.

[@MarkyMarc78]

Böhm = Absolute hearing. No more words...

[@Apfelstrudl]

MarkyMarc78 that says absolutely nothing about musicality.. It can even hinder you a lot if the instruments are not tuned as you hear them absolutely

[@jeanghika7653]

Relative hearing is quite enough. You get the A at the begining (the job of the oboist), and all has to conform themselves to it. Never heard of 440 A, 435 A, even 432 pitch?

[@cbzigmund]

Here you see what a professional he was and how well he understood the score. On yet another level entirely, hear his incandescent 1966 Tristan und Isolde at Bayreuth. The ultimate white-hot performance of this opera: kzbin.info?search_query=bohm+tristan

[@ingolaufs]

Karl Böhm hatte richtig gehört: Die Harfe hatte eine Oktave zu tief gespielt. Schade, dass der Harfenist nicht zu seinem Fehler stehen konnte.

[@sanman42]

great!!

[@mustafakandan2103]

Not a very charming man perhaps,but a wonderful conductor. Definitely one of my favourites.

[@polenc7167]

I disagree, Bohm seems a very nice man. He just doesn't do a lot of glad handing. And course he is demanding of his players. Is this not a nice thing to do?

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@polenc7167 Actually Böhm was notorious for his near-sadism, particularly with singers. Very few performers liked him. Many singers, after having worked with him once, refused ever to do so again. John Eliot Gardiner has a similarly dismal reputation amongst performers.

[@mk5244]

@@jasonhurd4379 ...the greatest ones did work with him, again and again. Birgit Nilsson e.g. But of course some fell short of his demand. I doubt if any of the so called superstars today would come close to a rehearsal with him.

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@mk5244 I think you are correct! But yes, the greatest did enjoy working with Böhm repeatedly, including Leonie Rysanek, James King, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Reri Grist, Edith Mathis, Hermann Prey, Evelyn Lear, Elisabeth Höngen, Christa Ludwig, Peter Schreier, Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. There is no one of the stature of these artists on the world's stages today. Böhm was the sort of conductor who had no problem with well-prepared, professional singers. It was only the lazy, sloppy ones who had problems with him.

[@onkelgreifenklau]

@@jasonhurd4379 Janowitz, Gruberova.....all well prepared !

[@LysaChoikw]

13:10 Monsieur le chef d'attaque avec des lunettes de soleil !!

[@detectivehome3318]

13:44 The smile of perfection

[@watutman]

They made him smile at 14:6 that is great.

[@peroz1000]

Entendi.Seu canal é bastante eclético musicalmente.Gostei muito.

[@1968KWT]

RIP Karl Böhm (born #otd in 1894) 🌹

[@dirkhunnemeyer2581]

"Gehts nochmal in die Schul zurück" Na der Böhm !!!: "was machts den im Hauptberuf" Ein Großer !!!

[@b286guy]

“Children, it must be there on the page.” 😂

[@NewZago]

Music is pure discipline.............that´s all.........Karl Bohm does not need to be nice at all.........

[@manabuoda1136]

No better Don Juan performance!

[@elcazatalentos8220]

Böhm was reproached for not emigrating during Nazism, as other musicians did. He justifies his stay in Germany, in Dresole, for financial reasons and for family reasons. After the war a process of denazification was instituted against him and he was forbidden to act for two years. Böhm defends himself: "I was never a member of the National Socialist Party. Those were terrible years; I was not even allowed to give music lessons ».

[@ibizaking]

The corrections Böhm made here, are still not in the score published by Dover...

[@jasonhurd4379]

Dover's scores are notoriously unreliable.

[@bubffm]

Tough cookie, Böhm at the heighst of his powers. Great!

[@michaelrosa2015]

And when he refers to ensemble as 'Gentlemen', he is literally correct. I did not see a woman anywhere in the video.

[@miriamzschocke2593]

Women weren't given permanent positions until the 1990s!

[@carlosg.ramirezarevalo8921]

En ese momento, las mujeres estaban literalmente vetadas de esta orquesta.

[@nannojonkers3817]

Correcting myself. Next to Böhm I should absolutely have mentioned in one breath the other exceptions on this issue: Klemperer and Walter, pupils of Mahler (; and how different those two maestro's were in interpreting). There will be more of this kind of conductors that I forget at the moment to think of.

[@johannschneider6372]

Carlos Kleiber ...

[@berlinzerberus]

DEFINING PRECISELY! ;)

[@incontrariomotu]

He knows exactly what he wants. And just after he asked for it, you hear the difference.

[@incontrariomotu]

You understand then all the respect he could get from the orchestra musicians.

[@billinrio]

It''s a music education watching this guy. What authority! Nothing gets by him. I developed a real dislike for the 3rd trumpet, making snide remarks to his colleagues out of the side of his mouth.

[@thelookuplookdown]

I know Strauss was an atheist, but listening to this one hears God saved the best for last.

[@peroz1000]

A million thanks! I've looked for this for a long time.Do you have "Ein Heldenleben"?It's my personal favorite .

[@MorganHayes_Composer.Pianist]

35:48 this motif on the cor anglais may have been (unconsciously?) used in the famous" world at war" BBC series from the 1980s. Music was by Wilfred Josephs.

[@johannschneider6372]

Super Übersetzungsfehler bei 9:50. Böhm meint nicht die Violinen, sondern die Noten im Glockenspiel, da der Herr dort die anderen Noten jetzt auch sehr kräftig spielte, Böhm wollte aber nur die erste haben. Great translation error in 9:50. Böhm wanted the Glockenspiel-player not to play the rest of the tones so loud. He hasn't spoken to the violins!

[@lingling8047]

13:11 badass violist 😎

[@gregmonks]

There are so many bad, incompetent, overrated conductors these days. Karl was a gem. I'd pay good money to resurrect him just to watch him deal with the modern woodwind players who furiously emote and gyrate and distract from the performance.

[@Robert...Schrey]

that‘s an interesting question, why they feel the urge to make those movements nowadays.

[@christophjoachimbauer3715]

36:20 Das tönt nicht recht.

[@jaimedwgs]

Rehearsal through 46:15

[@psono429]

thank you! is Roland Berger in the horn section? I saw him at least twice with Bohm and Abbado.

[@tonycatterick841]

Tony, retired UK professional horn player. Why during the rehearsal we’re there four horns Strauss wrote for and in the concert all the horn parts were doubled up with a second row behind? Makes a bit of a nonsense of getting the same balance of volume as the rehearsal. Couldn’t have anything to do with extra filming fees for the players surely?

[@nannojonkers3817]

Thx a lot for this exceptional video. Most instructive and inspiring. Böhm: in Strauss incomparable; always pure, fiery and crystal clear. What a formidable conductor Böhm was, also in e.g. Wagner and Bruckner. Conductor in the category of the geniusses, like they seem not to exist anymore (I am a pensioned man, so...nostalgia) I understand every word of his Austrian-German language, nonetheless thx. also for subtitling for non-German speakers. That's nice. One note only about Böhm as Nazi. I detest everything about Nazism; I am blessed by being born too late to have witnessed it. For me Churchill is the one and only hero for his keeping the enemy away from concurring all of Europe. Then now my note, to be understood in this context. The Nazi's were barbarians, yet not cultural barbarians where it comes down to among others music (except for their anti-judaism towards also jewish composers and musicians, of course). So: difficult and complex choices for musicians and other culture-bearers then, at least till the horrors came out for everyone who did not turn away from it.

[@dirkseibert3939]

Dieses Orchester ist in der Probe der reinste Hühnerhaufen, keine Disziplin und jeder quatscht, keiner hört richtig auf den Dirigenten. Eigentlich ein Hähnehaufen, damals saßen ja nur die Gockel der Schöpfung hinter den Pulten.

[@vaskenvfermanian]

You're welcome.

[@richardwilliams473]

Not one female member in the orchestra? Why ?

[@lingling8047]

it makes me sad to see that in that time it was normal for orchestras to only consist of men. i am happy that is has changed now and that it will continue to develop

[@EE12CSVT]

Nope, the players selected on merit and on temperament

[@fredogerald1475]

Be sure that this was fuly orchestrated according Böhms own directives. It cannot be otherwise with a lot of Chaplinlike overacting incorporated. And still this worldfamous conductor made some of the best rehearsals existing and seemingly spontanuous. Only Simon Rattle with the Berliner came near to it after my experiences. That much to be learned about compositions and the very best ways of conducting following the exampels from both of them.

[@FlorianIrsigler]

8:33 "...doch foisch."

[@geroelze929]

Die Melodie ist eigentlich nichts besonderes, aber die Orchestrierung ist großartig. Aber man muss sich nur den Rosenkavalierier oder seine Lieder anhören um zu merken welch wunderschöne Melodien er komponieren konnte, gerne mit Lokalkolorit. Er baute diese Fähigkeit nach seinen Tondichtungen und Jugendopern richtig aus. Und was warf man ihm vor, er sei einer von gestern. Hätte er die nächsten Jahrzehnte etwa immer noch jugendstilhaft weiterkomponien sollen.

[@jacobflaschen]

It's Böhm, not Bohm.

[@detectivehome3318]

Tomayto/Tomahto

[@Weltschmerz1523]

@@detectivehome3318 No, respect the language dumb American.

[@plasticbucket]

The New Year's Day concert must take months of rehearsal. B