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Herbert von Karajan was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, and he was a dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. By one estimate he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

Karajan was born in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary. From 1916 to 1926, he studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He was encouraged to concentrate on conducting by Paumgartner. In 1926 Karajan graduated from the conservatory and continued his studies at the Vienna Academy, studying conducting with Alexander Wunderer and Franz Schalk. In 1933 Karajan made his conducting debut at the Salzburg Festival. It was also in 1933 that Karajan became a member of the Nazi party, a fact for which he would later be criticised.

Karajan's career was given a significant boost in 1935 when he was appointed Germany's youngest Generalmusikdirektor and performed as a guest conductor in Bucharest, Brussels, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Paris. On 26 July 1938, he married operetta singer Elmy Holgerloef. They divorced in 1942. On 22 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Karajan married Anna Maria "Anita" Sauest. Having had a Jewish grandfather, she was considered a one-quarter Jewish woman. By 1944, Karajan was, according to his own account, losing favour with the Nazi leadership, but he still conducted concerts in wartime Berlin. In the closing stages of the war, he and Anita fled Germany for Milan.

In 1946, Karajan gave his first post-war concert in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic, but he was banned from further conducting activities by the Soviet occupation authorities. On 28 October 1947, Karajan gave his first public concert following the lifting of the conducting ban. In 1955 he was appointed music director for life of the Berlin Philharmonic. Karajan was closely involved with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival, where he initiated the Easter Festival.

On 6 October 1958 he married his third wife, French model Eliette Mouret; they became parents of two daughters, Isabel and Arabel.

He continued to perform, conduct and record prolifically until his death, mainly with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. His last concert was Bruckner's 7th symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic. He died of a heart attack in his home at the age of 81.
Source: Wikipedia

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