A concise rehearsal

Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965) was a German conductor. However, he had a dislike of rehearsals. Karajan recalled:

One time he was going over Tchaikovsky’s Fifth with the Vienna Philharmonic. He came to the second movement, with the horn solo, and said, “Let’s start.” He did a few bars, stopped, and said, “See you this evening. You know the piece, I know the hall.” The solo horn protested, “I am new, I have never played this piece in concert.” Knappertsbusch said, “It is beautiful music–you will love it.”

Vaughan, Roger (1986) Herbert von Karajan. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.222. Cited in: Holmes, John (1993) Conductors on Composers. Westport: Greenwood, p.191.

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