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Recorded: 3/11/ 1957, NHK Concert Hall, Tokyo by NHK television
This recording features Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker's inaugural live concert of 1957 performed at NHK hall after their arrival in Tokyo.
The fascinating images in black and white from Japanese television witness the enthusiastic success of the concert.
Note: the first few seconds of the part featuring Beethoven's Symphonie Nr.5 are showing pictures slides.
(Karajan was to return in triumph to Japan for another tour two years later, this time conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker.)
From the mid-Fifties on, music was destined to have a fundamental role in the policy of showing the world the best face of German civilisation, one that, fortunately, no tragedy could cancel: the face of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, etc., and of the great, peerless symphony orchestras who historically were the privileged performers of the music of these composers, markedly the two greatest names: the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker. This is why both orchestras began to perform frequently beyond the confines of their own nations, thus becoming ambassadors of the new politics of their respective countries and of the civil, reassuring image of themselves that they wished to project.
- Unpublished outside Japan
- Inaugural concert of his 1957 travel to Japan
- A breathtaking witness to an historical event
- Some of Karajan's best works in his repertoire
Excerpts from Frankfurter Allgemeine dated 30/11/1957
Philharmonic Musicians Create a Stir
The Success of Herbert von Karajan in Japan
"At the beginning of September, countless Japanese music lovers queued up all night long to buy tickets the next morning for the concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic, which would perform two months later in November.
Naturally there is always great interest whenever leading musicians from abroad perform here, but this time the excitement was particularly intense. At last report, tickets were going for 150 DM and more from scalpers, and Japan's highly critical connoisseurs of music could scarcely dare to miss an offering by von Karajan and his orchestra. These Berlin Philharmonic concerts are the biggest event to date in the roughly 60-year history of Western music in Japan-and this country can by no means be called inexperienced in this area: in addition to famous individual instrumentalists and singers, the last two or three years have seen appearances in Japan by the Vienna Philharmonic under Hindemith and the "Symphony of the Air" from the United States, formerly conducted by Toscanini. But the Vienna group appeared only at half-strength and the American orchestra lacked a convincing conductor.
Karajan himself was here once, in 1954, conducting the best orchestra in the country, that of Japan Radio. But this time (November, 1957) he came with more than 100 members of the Berlin Philharmonic, a breathtaking event for the Japanese music world.
For the last few years, the Japan Radio Corporation has played a leading role in introducing artists from abroad to the local public.
Karajan himself, together with his orchestra, were invited by the JRC, with support from the Foreign Ministry of Japan and the German Embassy in Tokyo.
In keeping with local custom, the first offering (November 3rd 1957) (the Overture to Die Meistersinger and Beethoven's Fifth) was a radio concert played before 600 invited guests, among them several members of the Imperial family, Prime Minister Kishi and many members of the administration, foreign ambassadors and emissaries, as well as nearly all the leading conductors and musicians of Japan.
With many guests in evening dress, the result was an unusually festive picture by Japanese standards. Since this performance, all of the public performances have been broadcast on the radio, with each broadcast consisting of half of a concert, and each half then rebroadcast a second time as well. This setup has allowed Japan the chance to hear von Karajan daily. The result is something that has never happened to date: even the small provincial newspapers have printed reports about the Berlin Philharmonic-indeed, even a few publications of the sporting press have not passed up the chance to give Herbert von Karajan a place of honour in their columns.
Particularly numerous were the 'Roundtable Discussions' so popular on Japanese radio and in the papers."
"Japanese music critics have hardly known where to put their superlatives. The balance between the orchestra's discipline and its relaxed approach have been praised repeatedly, as has the unity created by conductor and players. The talent, musicality, and independent approach of the orchestra members, and the preeminent features of Herbert von Karajan's conducting, have been equally admired. The language used includes 'phenomenal virtuosity', 'unsurpassed perfection', and 'deeply felt emotional approach'.
Even if the Japanese have for decades turned their attention to Western music more than any other people of Asia with seriousness and high artistic expectations, we may still say that the visit of Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic have had a unique effect, and that interest in European culture has been aroused yet again as a result. Karajan has been one of the best ambassadors that German cultural circles have ever sent to these parts."
Lily Abegg (Frankfurter Allgemeine 30/11/ 1957) |
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