This month marks the 100th anniversary of the birth (April 5, 1908) of Austrian conductor, maestro Herbert von Karajan (pictured at left), perhaps the most famous orchestra conductor who has ever mounted a podium.

Von Karajan ingratiated himself to the Nazis by joining the party in 1933, but who always remained suspect to Hitler after a botched performance of Wagner. But Hermann Goering remained a big fan.

After the war, Karajan took over several major orchestra positions including the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera and ,most importantly, the Berlin Philharmonic, where he was appointed conductor for life. He also maintained closed ties to La Scala, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony and the Vienna Philharmonic. He was called, somehwat sarcastically, "the general music director of Europe."

Despite on-going controversy (pianist Arthur Rubinstein and violinists Isaac Stern and Izthak Perlman refused to perform with von Karajan because of his Nazi past) and his glamorous jet-set lifestyle, he ruled over the European music scene from the 1950s to the 1970s. He died in his native Salzburg on July 16, 1989.

According to some sources, the former piano prodigy was a pioneer in the recording industry who had four Beethoven symphony cycles to his credit and who made more money off more recordings (estimated at more than 200 million copies of some 800 titles) than any other classical musician.

But what about his artistic legacy?

Von Karajan, a famed authroitarian, believed in strenuous rehearsal and once said that in a performance his duties came down to four simple things: Make the orchestra play faster or slower, louder or softer.

But such comments camouflaged his native talent and hard work, as did his love of fast cars, piloting airplanes and yachts, skiing and hunting.

Some critics find his readings too polished and machine-liked. Others still consider some of his interpretations definitive, especially in the late Romantic repertoire.

Filmmakers Stanley Kubrick used his recordings in "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Shining" and "A Clockwork Orange."

Deutsche Grammophon has reissued a lot of von Karajan's CDs to mark his centennial. You can get a good idea of what's available at the classical music page of amazon.com and universalclassics.com or www2.deutschegrammophon.com.

What do you think of von Karajan and his legacy?

Do you have favorite performances of certain works done by him? What are they?

What do you think the public should know about von Karajan?

Should his Nazi past matter in an assessment of his music-making?

Let Art Talk know.