Herbert von Karajan DVD Clearance at Tower Records

Just viewed and thoroughly enjoyed the following DVDs:
Strauss : Alpine Symphony
Beethoven : Symphony No. 9
Strauss : Also Sprach Zarathustra

Also found the Karajan Centrum website at:
http://www.karajan.org/en/centrum/index.asp

I don't know, to me music is music.--You like a piece/ or you don't. The Rachmaninoff piano 2 in c by Herbie with Alixis Weisnberg gives me goose bumps like no other version. You are welcome to take exception to my candor as it were. I never implied it was ok for Joseph to kill 25 million. To me one, is one to many. Man just happens to be a nasty beast. Wern't none of it my fault. I do know from history that in many other world locations besides Russia and Europe,that when this thing goes on, either nobody knows in time, or nobody can stop it soon enough. My father along with many many others, gave his life in WW2 to try to make the world right. BUT, as we know, man is man--it never ends. I think if we knew everything about everybody, we might might have fewer choices in music and everything else. And, don't blame me for the Woody quote.--It IS from one of his movies. I'm not quite as insensitive as these comments may make me appear. I know every deceased person was somebody's Mother,father, son, daughter,brother,etc. I also think in terms of how many scientists, future world leaders were lost forever. Their contributions never to be counted. Also, most go off to war without much of a choice. So this also applies to the casualties for both sides.

Avguygeorge and Sean:

those are the two saddest and most disturbing posts I've yet read on Audiogon.

Avguygeorge, 1) I don't think we can ever abdicate responsibility for actions with the excuse that its OK to participate in some horrific criminal or murderous activity in order to save one's own life or as in the case of some articts/musicians, to save their place of privilege in society; 2) some Germans risked their lives by opposing the Nazis and other prominent Germans split from there in order to avoid being used as a tool by Hitler; 3) your comment that Stalin had a higher body count is both irrelevant and insensitive (the same is true for your Woody Allen reference).

Sean, your point is hard to follow, but I think it is that you are skeptical about the the documentation of the atrocities that the Germans committed in WWII. If that's the case, you belong to a small group of sadly misinformed and often malicious deniers (if you've ever met or heard some of these folks, you'll know its not a group to be proud to be associated with). The reason the story is, as you say, so "unified", is because it is backed up by a large body of consistent evidence. And, despite what you may think, much of the evidence was reported by people who were there -- those who suffered from it, those who witnessed it, those who particpated in it, and those who documented it.

I think as people who enjoy music and other aspects of art, we should cherish and support those who promote music and the arts in a sense of positive societal values -- and avoid those who use music/art or their station in life to support abhorrent viewpoints and regimes.

Well guys,the coward I am, I figure I'd have done whatever it took to stay alive had I been there in those days.---- AND,---don't believe all you read. In life at some point or another we all have some kind of agenda. (The person whom wrote what you are reading; included.) AND, from the "History Ch."; it appears Joseph Stalin had a MUCH HIGHER body count.
I love the line from a Woody Allen movie;goes something like "whenever I hear Wagner-- I think of marching through Poland." ---Me,I love "Tannhauser".

Yours is same as the friends father's view (then). That is why he hid them from his dad. His dad would have trashed them. Also as a teenager did not understand the importance to his Dad. He only cared about liking the music he heard.

This was also now 30 years ago. He was a teenager back in the 1970's so von Karajan's activities were not as well documented then.

Back then his father boycotted most all German products, not just those tied to the Nazi's. But he lived through the horror, so very understandable. My Dad had a VW Beetle back then. If I was borrowing it, I was not sure to take it to their house or hear his Dad start ranting... His Dad was a very nice man. He would sometimes kid with me.."you still driving that Nazi-mobile?".

I have a local friend now who's mother was a "slave" (a maid/cook) to someone who was like Oscar Schindler. She (the mother) and her child (the oldest brother) was protected and saved by them. Her mother's view of Germans in general is a lot more favorable.

Sugrabrie

I think it extends beyond just supporting a German as von Karajan was linked to the Nazi Party. I personally would not buy any cds by him, and I know of classical music listeners (both Jewish and non-Jewish) who researched his activities prior to and during the war and decided to "boycott" his work.

I know a Jewish guy who as a teenager would (instead of Playboy Magazine) hide von Karajan records in his bedroom (his favorite conductor). His father who survived the war had a policy of not wanting anything in the house that would benefit a German.