Icon: Herbert von Karajan
By Gavin Borchert, eMusic Contributor
Few classical performers have had their careers tied as closely to the recording industry as Herbert von Karajan's. He made his first recording in 1938 and worked in the studio right up to his death in 1989. The orchestral qualities he strove for - beauty of tone, clarity of color and texture, sharpness of rhythm, impeccable intonation, and a sonic surface of polished precision - were exactly those qualities that have always sounded best on… more »