Abstract
The career of conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908–89) is often considered exemplary for twentieth-century classical musicianship. At the same time, Karajan remains a controversial figure both with regard to his affiliation with National Socialism and his role in the commercialization of classical music. Going beyond biographical approaches, this article argues that Karajan’s appearances in Europe, North America, East Asia, and the Middle East, together with his turn toward musical mass production, served to shield him from postwar political protests. A consideration of Karajan’s global career also requires expanding the traditional focus on international musical relations as cultural diplomacy projects to include the role of the music industry in twentieth-century classical musical life. From the 1950s, the infrastructures of Karajan’s career emerged as a global system of musical production and distribution based on cooperation with selected partners, on recordings, festival performances, intercontinental tours, and media innovations. Collaborations with European, American, and Asian record companies and music agents helped Karajan to detach his career from political ideas of music-making such as those related to denazification, national representation, or democratization. Instead, infrastructures allowed Karajan to promote an apolitical understanding of global audience participation through individual music consumption.
Funding source: Baden-Württemberg Stiftung
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Research funding: This work was supported by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editors' Forum: Infrastructures of Musical Globalization, 1850–2000; Guest Editors: Friedemann Pestel and Martin Rempe
- Infrastructures of Musical Globalization, 1850–2000: Introduction
- “This is How the Students Graduate!”: Cuban Conservatories as Infrastructures of Musical Globalization
- Copyright Societies and Musicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Enduring Infrastructures in Times of Decolonization?
- Between Winning and Losing the Cultural Cold War – The Soviet Ministry of Culture and Musical Infrastructures During the Cold War
- “He is Not an Artist But a Trust”: Herbert von Karajan’s Global Career and the (A)political Economy of Classical Music
- Minor Infrastructures: Genre and Petroleum Politics in the Music of Grace Chang and Fela Kuti
- Epilogue
- Review Essay
- Pippa Biddle: Ours to Explore: Privilege, Power, and the Paradox of Voluntourism; Keri Vacanti Brondo: Voluntourism and Multispecies Collaboration: Life, Death, and Conservation in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef; Allison Schnable: Amateurs Without Borders: The Aspirations and Limits of Global Compassion
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editors' Forum: Infrastructures of Musical Globalization, 1850–2000; Guest Editors: Friedemann Pestel and Martin Rempe
- Infrastructures of Musical Globalization, 1850–2000: Introduction
- “This is How the Students Graduate!”: Cuban Conservatories as Infrastructures of Musical Globalization
- Copyright Societies and Musicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Enduring Infrastructures in Times of Decolonization?
- Between Winning and Losing the Cultural Cold War – The Soviet Ministry of Culture and Musical Infrastructures During the Cold War
- “He is Not an Artist But a Trust”: Herbert von Karajan’s Global Career and the (A)political Economy of Classical Music
- Minor Infrastructures: Genre and Petroleum Politics in the Music of Grace Chang and Fela Kuti
- Epilogue
- Review Essay
- Pippa Biddle: Ours to Explore: Privilege, Power, and the Paradox of Voluntourism; Keri Vacanti Brondo: Voluntourism and Multispecies Collaboration: Life, Death, and Conservation in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef; Allison Schnable: Amateurs Without Borders: The Aspirations and Limits of Global Compassion