A child prodigy on the piano, Karajan studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He made his professional conducting debut in 1929 at Salzburg, and he was appointed to a conducting position in Ulm, Ger., later that year. He remained in Ulm until 1934, when he was appointed Kapellmeister at Aachen. Karajan was in Aachen until 1941, also occasionally conducting the Berlin State Opera during that period. He fled to Italy in 1944. He helped found the London Philharmonia in 1948, and in 1955 he became music director of the Berlin Philharmonic.

A Nazi Party member from 1933 to 1942, Karajan was exonerated by an Allied tribunal after World War II, but his American debut in 1955 precipitated public protests. He soon became principal conductor for the Vienna State Opera (director, 1956–64) and the Salzburg Festival, an annual music festival with which he was energetically associated throughout his later career. He was also a chief conductor at La Scala, Milan, and a guest conductor at the New York Philharmonic. In 1967 Karajan founded the Salzburg Easter Festival. He conducted the Orchestre de Paris (1969–70) and returned to the Vienna State Opera in 1977. Throughout these associations the Berlin Philharmonic generally remained the centre of his musical activities, though after 1982 a series of disputes caused estrangement between the orchestra members and Karajan. He resigned his position in April 1989, a few months before his death.

Karajan's musical interpretations were noted for their precision and objectivity. In the 1970s and '80s, however, his conducting was characterized by a more personal style.