Mats Norrman wrote:

>Kevin Sutton <[log in to unmask]> nukes us:
>
>>Karajan: Doubtless a fine musician and master conductor, but his
>>homogeneity of sound may have done the music world more harm than good.
>>I don't much care about his political controversies, although I would be
>>against anything to do with Nazism.  Have enjoyed many of his recordings.
>
>ARG!  And I don't mean "American Record Guide"!  Actually, I have never
>seen any proof for that Karajan was a Nazi, and if someone on the list
>sits on those prooves, bring them out in the light!

Of course I haven't actually seen any original lists or similar proof,
but it appears that Karajan's having joined the Nazi party is clearly
documented, and Karajan never denied it.  His contention that he joined
w/out regard to politics simply to ensure his appointment to a coveted
conductorship in Aachen failed to explain an earlier joining in Austria
at a time when membership there was illegal, and it seems now that his
joining again later in Germany was more to legitimize his earlier attempt
to join than to secure the Aachen post.

It does not appear however that Karajan ever overtly furthered Nazi
policies and during WWII, at a time when opportunism would have indicated
otherwise, he married a non-Aryan (i.e., a woman who was one fourth of
Jewish descent).

His documented cordial relationships w/ Jews and Negroes after WWII
similarly belied any sympathy w/ Nazi doctrines.

Walter Meyer