Miguel Sánchez
That day, in the busy schedule of karajan a new interview appeared. For such a highly mediatic man, meeting journalists was just another routine. We suppose they would talk about classical music, the next recording or the last concert. A simple interview, no more. Following the usual questions, the journalist asked Karajan about his favorite symphony, and this old fox hardened in hundreds of audiences gave him an atypical answer: “my favorite symphony is the sound of a 12 cylinder Ferrari".
Few times an interviewee surprises you with such an unexpected headline. We suppose that Karajan, fed up with an interview like all the others… decided to make that one something different. In a world at first glance as corseted as that of symphonic music, that someone as renowned as him gave that answer could have been considered a real departure from tone. Anyway, geniuses have to be given certain licenses ... and in Karajan's case, the answer was not just eccentricity.
DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR, BUT NOT JUST OF ORCHESTRAS
In the symphony orchestra we have the brass section. That is precisely what Karajan was passionate about; if we refer to metals that go on wheels of course. This Austrian born in 1908, and who He is surely the most important conductor of the XNUMXth century, he was a true devotee of the two and the four wheels. In 1928 he entered the motor world with a motorcycle, but in style: it was neither more nor less than a Harley Davision. In 1934 he bought his first car and, just four years later, his first racing car: a BMW ready to run rallies.
Although it was not so easy to see him dressed in a pilot's jumpsuit as a tailcoat dress conducting a symphony, it was not strange to see Karajan in the factory of the Porsche, for instance. He was a true fan of the brand. That we know, had a lovely 1959 RSK Spyder, one of the most beautiful German car bodies. Small and silver, a bullet. Vibrate in the circuits did at the controls of the 908 of 1969, a true racing car. And to imagine ... to imagine we imagine the mischief that Karajan would do with his 911 RS Turbo in the curves of the Austrian mountain passes.
But Karajan's passion was not only limited to the Sttutgart brand (or at least one of them). By his garage they passed a Mercedes 300 SL -the mythical "seagull wings" -, a 1966 Rolls Royce -something more "formal" to go to the gala dinners-, the spectacular ford gt40, or two of the best rally cars ever seen: the angular Lancia Stratos and the rectilinear Audi Quattro.
However ... there was a brand that took his most special affection. The one who performed her favorite symphony: Ferrari. If you keep listening to the 250 GTO in the following video and don't keep reading the article, don't worry, I assure you that the same would happen to me. We love Mahler, Wagner, Beethoven… but Enzo Ferrari must be given credit.
THE HORSE SYMPHONY
Enzo Ferrari used to say: “when you buy a Ferrari you buy the engine, the rest I give it to you”. That is the supreme importance that is given in the Maranello brand to mechanics. Y if there is an engine that defines Ferrari… it is any of its 12 cylinders. They have been developing them since 1947. The V12 Lampredi, the current Type F140… They are the engines that have propelled the most victorious F1 cars and their most iconic street models. And among all this living legend of the motor, we remain - and I think Karajan would also do it - with the V12 Colombo. A V12 Colombo was the one that powered the first Ferrari: the 125S from 1947. Or the one that overwhelms the eardrums under the hood of the 250 GTO, possibly the most legendary Ferrari in history. The sound of these engines is the emblematic melody of Ferrari, its "horse symphony".
Karajan had two Ferraris. Just two Ferraris equipped with this type of 12-cylinder engine. Both are two icons of the brand, although curiously neither was red: a 275 GTB 1966 in blue and a 250 GT Luso silver, purchased in Vienna in the mid-60s. Both are as powerful as they are elegant; how powerful and elegant is the sound of a philharmonic.
If you realize, karajan he went into a real trance when directing certain passages of some symphonies like this Die Moldau. But who knows, Perhaps there, surrounded by musicians and spectators, he would only think of returning home as soon as possible, going to the garage, opening the door and launching his Ferrari towards the road at night.
