Karl Böhm
Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Karl Böhm was born in Graz. The son of a lawyer, he studied law and earned a doctorate in this subject before entering the music conservatory in his home town of Graz, Austria. He later enrolled at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under Eusebius Mandyczewski, a friend of Johannes Brahms. In 1917, Böhm became a rehearsal assistant in his home town, making his debut as a conductor in Viktor Nessler's Der Trompeter von Säckingen in 1917. He became the assistant director of music in 1919, and the following year, the senior director. On the recommendation of Karl Muck, Bruno Walter engaged him at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich in 1921. An early assignment here was Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, with a cast which included Maria Ivogün, Paul Bender, and Richard Tauber. In 1927 he was appointed as chief musical director in Darmstadt. In 1931 he was appointed to the same post at the Hamburg State Opera, a position he held until 1934. In 1933, Böhm conducted in Vienna for the first time, in Tristan und Isolde by Wagner. He succeeded Fritz Busch, who had gone into exile, as head of Dresden's Semper Opera in 1934, a position he held until 1942. This was an important period for him, in which he conducted the first performances of works by Richard Strauss: Die schweigsame Frau (1935) and ...
The Marriage of Figaro (1975)
Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is a comedy whose dark undertones explore the blurred boundaries between dying feudalism and emerging Enlightenment. Herman Prey's Figaro is admirably sung in a firm baritone and aptly characterized. So too, is his antagonist, Dietrich ... (more)
Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is a comedy whose dark undertones explore the blurred boundaries between dying feudalism and emerging Enlightenment. Herman Prey's Figaro is admirably sung in a firm baritone and aptly characterized. So too, is his antagonist, Dietrich ... (more)
Salome (1974)
This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, ... (more)
This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, ... (more)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1980)
Production of Mozart's opera about the Spanish nobleman who seeks to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the hands of the Pasha. Karl Bohm conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerischen Staatsoper with the right balance of serious purpose and light lilting ... (more)
Production of Mozart's opera about the Spanish nobleman who seeks to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the hands of the Pasha. Karl Bohm conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerischen Staatsoper with the right balance of serious purpose and light lilting ... (more)
Tristan und Isolde (1973)
Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers star in this filmed record of the Theatre Antique d'Orange's acclaimed 1973 production of Wagner's epic tale of doomed love in the Middle Ages. Tristan und Isolde also features the Orchestre National de R.T.F., under the direction of ... (more)
Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers star in this filmed record of the Theatre Antique d'Orange's acclaimed 1973 production of Wagner's epic tale of doomed love in the Middle Ages. Tristan und Isolde also features the Orchestre National de R.T.F., under the direction of ... (more)
Mozart Requiem (2005)
Opera by Strauss (more)
Die Fledermaus (1972)
Witty, fun, intoxicating film of Johann Strauss II's popular operetta, based on a stage production from Vienna State Opera; this is a showcase for the entire cast, but most especially Eberhard Wächter as the insufferably boorish Gabriel Eisenstein, and Gundula ... (more)
Witty, fun, intoxicating film of Johann Strauss II's popular operetta, based on a stage production from Vienna State Opera; this is a showcase for the entire cast, but most especially Eberhard Wächter as the insufferably boorish Gabriel Eisenstein, and Gundula ... (more)
Beethoven: Fidelio (1970)
Beethoven's opera Fidelio, conducted by Karl Böhm, featuring Gwyneth Jones as Leonore and James King as Florestan (more)
Beethoven's opera Fidelio, conducted by Karl Böhm, featuring Gwyneth Jones as Leonore and James King as Florestan (more)
Beethoven, Mozart & Brahms Piano Concertos (1979)
Pollini plays flawlessly, with the greatest finesse and sensitivity, very much in tune with each composer's personal style. His performances are exemplary in every respect. The video and audio are quite acceptable, given their 1970s vintage. Böhm and Abbado are at ... (more)
Pollini plays flawlessly, with the greatest finesse and sensitivity, very much in tune with each composer's personal style. His performances are exemplary in every respect. The video and audio are quite acceptable, given their 1970s vintage. Böhm and Abbado are at ... (more)
Mozart Symphonies Vol. I - Nos. 29,34,35,40,41 and Minuet K.409 (1978)
Mozart Symphonies Vol. II - Nos. 1,25,31,36,38 and "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1978)
