Karajan Live

Volume 2 of EMI's comprehensive Herbert von Karajan centenary edition gathers virtually all of the conductor's operatic and vocal output for the label in one place, taking up 71 CDs (Disc 72 contains complete librettos in the form of PDF files). I use the word "virtually" because the package omits four posthumously issued archival items taped live during the 1957-60 Salzburg Festivals (Beethoven's Missa solemnis, Brahms' German Requiem, Bruckner's Te Deum, and Verdi's Requiem). Otherwise, it's all here.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 9 – Berliner Philharmoniker; Herbert von Karajan
Classical | 2 CD | EAC Rip | 403 MB, 3% recovery | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon | Recorded: 1982 | Published: 1984

Rarely has this Symphony been shaped with such understanding and played with such selfless virtuosity as it was by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in a legendary series of concerts in 1982. The performance is electric and intense, yet Karajan - ever the enigmatic blend of fire and ice - has the measure of the symphony's spiritual coolness… When the history of Twentieth Century music-making comes to be written this performance will be seen as one of its proudest landmarks. - Gramophone CD Guide

The compact disc, as a sound carrier, was still on the horizon when Herbert von Karajan urged his record company to utilize the new digital technology in his recordings. Consequently Karajan's Magic Flute, recorded in 1980, became the first release of a Deutsche Grammophon digital production and was first released on LP. By the time the maestro died in 1989, the CD had finally replaced the LP as the primary sound carrier, yet he was realistic enough to know that the pioneering early stages of the digital era would be followed by further technical development. This is reflected in Karajan Gold. In this series the later development of the digital process that occurs after Karajan's death could be turned to the benefit of the Maestro's own recordings. Thirty releases from the early digital era were remastered for this series using DG's special Original-Image Bit-Processing technology. They were issued between 1993-1995.

Eight great symphonic cycles from the master conductor of our age in one box. Includes CD booklet with tracklists. The edition contains some of Karajans finest interpretations of Complete Symphonic Cycles by Beethoven (1970s), Brahms, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Tchaikovsky.