1908 Born 5th April in Salzburg
1912 Started taking piano lessons from Franz Ledwinka
1913 First performance before an audience at a charity concert
1916-26 Studied at the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg
1917 First public appearance as a pianist at the Mozarteum.
1926-28 Student at the Vienna Technical University
1926-29 Studied at the Vienna School of Music and Performing Arts and graduated as a conductor
1928 Conducted overture to Rossini's William Tell in Vienna
1929 First public appearance as a conductor in Salzburg
1929-34 Appointed as conductor at the Stadttheater, Ulm
1933 First appearance at the Salzburg Festival
1935 Appointed general music director of Aachen Stadttheater
1937 Conducted at the Vienna State Opera for the first time
1938 Married Elmy Holgerloef, leading operetta singer at the Aachen opera house
Also conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time
1939 Appointed conductor at the Berlin State Opera
1942 Married Anita Gütermann
1946 First post-war concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna
1947 First collaboration with the Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna
1948-60 Close collaboration with Philharmonia Orchestra in London
1948 Artistic Director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna
1948-49 Participated in Salzburg Festivals
1951-52 Conducted at the Bayreuth Festival
1955 Appointed principal conductor for life of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
27th February - 1st April First B.P.O. American Tour
23rd October - 19th November Philharmonia Orchestra American Tour
1956 7th October - 19th November Second B.P.O. American Tour
1957-64 Artistic Director of the Vienna State Opera
1957 First tour of Japan by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
1957-60 Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival
1958 Married Eliette Mouret
1959 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's World Tour 19th October - 23rd November
1960 Birth of daughter Isabel
1961 27th October - 8th November Third B.P.O. American Tour
1962 23rd March - 11th April V.P.O. North European Tour
1963 Opening concert for the Philharmonie Concert Hall in Berlin (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony)
1964 Birth of daughter Arabel
1965 Films of concerts and operas, with Karajan acting as conductor and director
19th January - 1st February Fourth B.P.O. American Tour
1967 Founding of Salzburg Easter Festival by Karajan
1968 On his 60th Birthday he is made Honorary Citizen of the City of Salzburg
1969 Establishment of the Research Institute of the Herbert von Karajan Foundation for Experimental Psychology in Music
1973 Founding of the Salzburg Whitsun Concerts by Karajan
1974 2nd - 13th November Fifth B.P.O. American Tour
1976 4th - 16th November Sixth B.P.O. American Tour
1978 Honorary Doctorate (Ph.D) from Salzburg University. Received Honorary Doctorate (D.Mus) from Oxford University
1980 First digital recording in Berlin (Mozart's The Magic Flute)
1981 Presentation of the compact disc digital audio system during the Salzburg Easter Festival
1982 Eliette Von Karajan's début as a painter, exhibiting her pictures on the record sleeves for the "Karajan-Edition" in the new "Galleria" series
19th October - 3rd November Seventh B.P.O. American Tour
1983 The Royal Philharmonic Society, London, honours Herbert von Karajan with its Gold Medal
Salzburg marks his 75th Birthday by creating a special postmark
1984 Tour of Japan with Berlin Philharmonic
1985 Conducted Mozart's Coronation Mass. First time that an orchestra was allowed in the Holy City to participate during a Mass
Received the Honorary Ring of the Salzburg Festival
1986 Festive concert in Berlin to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Wilhelm Furtwängler
1987 Karajan conducts the New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic (Worldwide television coverage)
1988 Karajan Edition of 100 Masterpieces on 25 CD’s, decorated with paintings by Eliette von Karajan
(DG 423 202-2 to DG 423 226-2)
In October Karajan appears for the last time in London
1989 In February last appearance in the USA with the Vienna Philharmonic
16th July Death of Herbert Von Karajan
The music playing is "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss (Please allow time for the file to download) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 1959 (Decca 448 042-2) As used in the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" Please click here for further details. (believed to be in the Public Domain) |