Herbert Von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan was rightfully included in the top ten conductors of all times and peoples. A real maestro, the idol of the audience, had perfected gestures and conquered the world with his strong-willed art, mystery and millions of copies of records. The man came to popularity in a faulty way, but became an example of how many geniuses - slaves of their own irrepressible unique gift - are ready for anything for him.

Herbert was born in Salzburg in April 1908 to a doctor's family. Because of the sound of the surname, many mistakenly believed that he was Armenian by nationality. In fact, the man has Greek ancestors who once lived in Macedonia. The prefix von in the initials of his descendants appeared in the 18th century.

The musician's grandfather was a wealthy merchant, his name was Georgy Karayannis, but when the man was given a knightly title in Saxony, the surname was reduced to Karajan and the same background was added, indicating his aristocratic origin.

The gift of von Karajan was noticed already in childhood, and therefore neither he nor his parents had long thoughts about the educational institution. In Salzburg, he entered the local Mozarteum Conservatory and at the age of 21 got a good place in the German theater in Ulm, becoming the first bandmaster there.

Having occupied a high position in the theater for some time, being a creative and vulnerable nature, he was greatly offended by losing his place there. At the same time, he tried to convince himself in every possible way that his time would definitely come. How he managed to get acquainted with Edgar Grosse (member of the SS), who at that time worked as artistic director of the theater in Aachen, is still a mystery, but this connection allowed von Karajan to conduct symphony concerts and opera performances there. The SS man Rudolf Vedder was involved in his career.

Since then, many gaps have appeared in Herbert's biography; after the end of the war, the man tried with all his might to destroy traces of his acquaintance with these people. And only later he opposed the publication of the surviving documents about his life in those years. And he did it for a reason, thanks to the papers, it was possible to prove his double entry into the ranks of the NSWPD, while the conductor vehemently denied the facts presented, calling them a fake and a misunderstanding.

In 1938, von Karajan's name began to appear in the headlines, after the performance of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde by the Berlin Philharmonic under his direction. After this, Hermann Goering himself began to promote the musician. But not everything went so smoothly in Herbert's career, for some reason Adolf Hitler did not like him.

Historians attributed this to the Fuhrer's great love for Wagner's work, he knew all the composer's operas by heart. At one of the concerts, the musician conducted, but by mistake the singer sang the wrong line. Hitler was also in the hall, who wrote off this misunderstanding at the expense of the Australian, since he preferred to work without notes. Since then, he has been ordered to keep an eye on the score.

The situation in Germany worsened over the years, and after the concert with the orchestra of Gottfried von Einem, Herbert had even greater problems. The fact is that the Austrian composer by that time had already been interrogated several times by the Gestapo on suspicion of collaboration with anti-fascists, and everyone who had contact with him automatically fell into the field of view of the SS men.

In 1945, the man decides to flee the country, although he had a large number of fans in Germany, including among the military. At that time, von Karajan's fame went far beyond the borders of one country, and many theaters and operas dreamed of getting a talented musician into their ranks. He became artistic director of the Society of Friends of Music, and worked at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.

In 1955, von Karajan, as the successor of Wilhelm Furtwängler, was appointed head of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. At the same time, he has been working with the Vienna State Opera as artistic director for 7 years. Over time, the conductor's past was forgotten. He was adored by ordinary citizens, professional musicians and politicians who spoke with admiration about any work of Herbert.

Von Karajan was often criticized for recording compositions created before 1945, including Mozart's Requiem, as well as works by Richard Strauss, Sergei Prokofiev, Ludwig van Beethoven (a concert with David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich). Only occasionally did he make exceptions, choosing compositions of his contemporaries for the repertoire, with pleasure he conducted the orchestra performing Remo Giazzotto's Adagio Albinoni.

The personal life of the great composer is also eventful, as is his career in music. The first time he married when he was young, this marriage did not make him happy, and the couple soon broke up. She was an artist of the Aachen operetta. For the second time, the man did not dare to associate fate with his “colleague in the shop”, this time the daughter of an industrialist Anita Gütermann became his chosen one.

Von Karajan also had problems with her, but this happened because of the Jewish roots that the second wife had. A criminal case was opened against the conductor, probably, they demanded a divorce, but the man resisted the right to privacy and did not betray his spouse. As a punishment, Herbert had the risk of being at the front, however, this threat was not fulfilled, the couple was left alone.

The conductor's third wife was 19-year-old Elietta von Karajan, and Herbert himself was already about 50 years old at the time of his marriage. Their acquaintance took place in the southeast of France, in the city of Saint-Tropez, the girl went on a yacht trip, where there were many other guests. Soon she was seasick, and the fun turned to torture. Herbert was also there, he noticed the state of the young beauty and, unnoticed by the others, took her away from the ship. Then the couple went to a restaurant, and then to a small bar, where Elletta danced merrily, and the conductor admired her.

"We went to a restaurant with a pianola that was playing very old songs. So we danced. The next day I had swollen feet ...

After the man and the girl went home, their next meeting took place only a year later. Then the model worked for Christian Dior, another photo session brought her to London, and there one friend invited the beauty to a concert of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The conductor was Herbert von Karajan. After the concert, they met again, and then their dates began to happen more often. After some time, the couple got married, Elietta gave Herbert two children - both daughters. The marriage between the model and the conductor lasted 31 years, until the musician's death.

Herbert died on July 16, 1989 in the same place where he was born - in Austria, at the age of 81. The man continued to conduct until the last day, performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

The busy work schedule coupled with old age gave health complications. Unaware of the problems, von Karajan was not seen by doctors. The cause of death of the great musician was myocardial infarction.

Herbert Von Karajan 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is Herbert Von Karajan in 2020 ?

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2021

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.9M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $814.9K - $1.4M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2020

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.1M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $561.5K - $1.6M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2019

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.2M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $657.7K - $1.4M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2018

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $839.7K - $1M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2017

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.6M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $946.3K - $1.7M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2016

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.6M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $524.1K - $1.3M.

Herbert Von Karajan Net Worth 2015

Herbert Von Karajan 's revenue is $1.9M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Herbert Von Karajan and could vary in the range between $801.9K - $1.3M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Herbert Von Karajan. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does Herbert Von Karajan make a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from Herbert Von Karajan' projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.