Karajan, Herbert von (käräyän`), 1908–89, Austrian conductor. Karajan began his conducting career in 1927. After World War II his reputation spread through Europe to the United States. He toured with various orchestras (notably the Berlin Philharmonic) and participated in many of Europe's music festivals. He was musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic and was artistic director of the Vienna State Opera (1956–64). He was a remarkable conductor, but his dictatorial style made him controversial.

Karajan, Herbert von

(born April 5, 1908, Salzburg, Austria—died July 16, 1989, Anif, near Salzburg) Austrian conductor. A child prodigy on the piano, he attended Salzburg's Mozarteum. He took his first conducting post in Ulm in 1929. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party, and under the Third Reich his reputation grew swiftly. After World War II he initially was not allowed to conduct, but in 1947 he began recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, the start of a legacy of some 800 recordings. His U.S. debut in 1955 was attended by controversy over his Nazi-era activities. That same year he became Wilhelm Furtwängler's successor at the Berlin Philharmonic, and he headed the Salzburg Festival from 1964 until his death.