Berliner 17. September 2019

A tremendous sense of energy and fulfillment. Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic gave a series of concerts of Beethoven's symphonies from April 12 to 16, 1966. Each day's programming was carefully planned by Karajan himself for maximum effect. The overture "Coriolan" at the beginning and "Leonore No. 3" before the final Ninth indicate that everything is leading up to the main Ninth. I was very interested in the full text of Mr. Nao Shibata's commentary in the booklet, in which he analyzed Karajan's intention. Except for the overture "Coriolan," this is the first time it has appeared.

The radio recordings between 1939 and 1945 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Wilhelm Furtwängler are among classical music’s most compelling sound documents. Created at the peak of the collaboration between orchestra and conductor, Furtwängler’s artist personality is conveyed more vividly than anywhere else. What can be heard is music in which inspiration and the expressive will know no bounds and in which, not least, the existential experience of the Second World War reverberates. For the first time, the Berliner Philharmoniker are releasing a complete edition of these recordings on 22 CD/SACD.

Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings has released, on 22 hybrid SACDs, its Wilhelm Furtwängler edition, the first complete collection of all the surviving radio broadcast recordings of the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Furtwängler during the period 1939 to 1945. From a total of 21 concerts, most complete and some in part, these recordings were originally produced by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) and are the first high resolution digital transfers from original monaural analogue sources.

Josef (1827-1870), Johann (1804-1849), Johann Jr (1825-1899) Strauss. Strauss is the name of a legendary Austrian family dynasty that has produced several waltz composers and outstanding band masters, and one of the members also wrote well-known operettas.

When Kirill Petrenko performed Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony with the Berliner Philharmoniker in March 2017, one critic was ''stunned at how beautiful and breathtakingly exciting this music can be''. This first audio release of the orchestra and its new chief conductor reflects the whole sonority and intensity of the interpretation - and offers a taste of an exciting new beginning.