von Karajan

[porphyry]

There is an old story about the conductor Herbert von Karajan (posted last year elsewhere on LJ), whose centennial is this month. The Berlin Philharmonic orchestra was playing in New York. At a dinner party, another conductor, Leonard Bernstein, was heard to say, “Last night, God spoke to me in a dream and said, ‘Lennie, you are the best conductor there ever was!’” Von Karajan overheard this remark and was said to reply, “I said no such thing!”

The interesting thing about this is that Malkhos and I appreciate the joke but also recognize the veracity of Von Karajan’s statement. We discussed it this morning.

“Well,” I say. “Von Karajan is right.”

“About what?” asks Malkhos.

“The conductor is God. Show me anybody else on the planet who can do what they do. Every time a conductor raises his baton, he resurrects from the dead the soul of the composer. Obviously, the work of a composer is the most virtuous part of his soul, the most perfect part. The part inspired by God, certainly, or whatever you want to call it. A musician alone can’t do it. But for the conductor, the composer dies a permanent death.”

Malkhos considers this. “That’s quite clever,” he tells me.

“No, it’s not,” I say. “That’s easy. I suppose, though, if I really wanted to make that argument, I would also have to say doctors are like God, too. They bring people back from the dead all the time.”

“No,” says Malkhos. “Doctors are only interested in the body, not the soul.”

“True,” I say. “They’re too diplomatic, too. They don’t save the virtuous. They’ll save anybody.”

It’s nice to live with somebody with whom I have such harmony.

Comments

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Hey, what about us nurses? We brought a bloke back from the dead only yesterday. He had even turned that beige waxy colour of the truly dead. The doctors turned up later and 'post-recommended' all our actions.

I guessed that Karajan was God when I started buying Deutsche Grammophon records in the 1980s.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

I have a much higher opinion of nurses than I have of doctors. It seems to me that get all the hardest work without the recognition or salary (at least, in the United States, doctors make obscene amounts of money compared to nurses). I mean, a good doctor is a good doctor, but who else endures what nurses do?

So yes, nurses are like God, too... hey! That makes you like one. :)

Yes, von Karajan and his conducting ability--unbelievable what he could do with an orchestra.

[himmapaan.livejournal.com]

Food for thought, that...

[benicek.livejournal.com]

'Endures'? You make us sound quite Christ-like. Haha. It's not that bad. Minimum-wage temp workers in factories and catering endure much worse.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

True. There are those who have it worse, I'm sure. The only time I was ever in the hospital was when I had the kids, and I always tried not to complain because I didn't want to be a burden to the nurses who were responsible for my ongoing care, you know? But I could hear other patients making unreasonable if not impossible demands, sometimes yelling at them, and--well, I guess it's just part of the job but I didn't think it was fair or necessary.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

I´d say the conductor is the right hand of God (sorry, all other pretendents).

...Moving his small finger at drinking the music from a collective chai cup, no? Then, I´d say Bach was my chosen Pope and Karajan a provincial prelate preaching in more or less full reform churches of grey widows all alike watching his back as interestedly as all the baptisms, weedings and funerals passing by in front of their eyes and alwazs there is this same old Man in Black.

But one must never judge a record by its cover.
Karajan´s sermons are both rightful and just, doing God no serious harm yet being as frustrated at only reading out His words to the Ignorant in echoing halls of fame, largely as any other preacher of Truth and nothing but it.

Incidentally, Karajan was the favourite conductor of my father, so I practically grew up with almost anything he ever directed and he does it on all the Deutsche Grammophon records I have inherited, and he is good, yes, but not God, unless one is of the hindi persuasion;)
I hoe you can forgive an old sceptic in Christ Church? ?

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear the weedings ar a bit worrying, but you´ll understand;)

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

I could well agree that Bach is God, or the closest thing to it I might ever know on earth. I always tell my husband if I had to stay on a desert island all by myself, with one composer, one author, and one drink to keep me company, I would choose Bach, Plato's Symposium, and port. I could probably live for a long time happily that way.