A busy pianist, 91 today

RODNEY GREENBERG says:

Gerhard – the substitution between James Galway and Andreas Blau for prominent flute solos was recalled by both of them with some hilarity in John Bridcut’s recent documentary “Karajan’s Magic and Myth”, shown on BBC4 on 5th December. It’s not available on iPlayer by now but will no doubt be repeated. Karajan not only demanded no beards in his films. He insisted that bald players wore wigs – which a make-up assistant handed to them before they came onstage or onto the film set.

Galway confirms his playing was used on the soundtrack while the non-bearded Blau mimed to a “playback” of it in a separate filmed session. These “playback” sessions were essential to the music films Karajan pioneered and were also adopted by Unitel for such productions as Bernstein’s Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, which I remember working on. Playbacks were filmed using carefully-lit and staged close-ups, and they added major impact when skilfully edited between the conventional, wider shots of the genuine concert.

Bridcut’s film mentioned another Karajan device: using cardboard cut-outs of audience members to fill otherwise empty seats in the upper stalls or balcony during retakes. Everything was geared to creating what the maestro considered was the best visualisation of a concert performance. No artifice was rejected if it enhanced his highly personal conception of televised music.

Blau was particularly amused by the irony that, in the end, his flute close-ups were so tight that no part of his face was in the picture. Just his hands. So it wouldn’t have mattered whether he or Galway or whoever sat in for the “playback” had a beard or not!