The Philharmonia went on several tours with von Karajan conducting. One of the most memorable was a Mozart sized orchestra tour to Germany, France and Austria. Clara Haskill was the piano soloist. It was a pleasant change to play Mozart and not the big symphonies calling for an enormous orchestra. Von Karajan seemed to be at his best and happiest.
A little later we played at the Salzburg Festival. We rehearsed in the Mozarteum (the concert hall) one morning and as I was leaving the hall to go to lunch I encountered a plump lady wearing a saucy Tyrolean hat complete with feather. It was Frau von Karajan and she exclaimed to me “Wo ist mein Mann, Herbert?” I remained dumb because I had seen von K. only minutes before escorting a beautiful willowy blonde out of the back door. They were married later and she often used to come to our recording sessions
