Mozart: Herbert Von Karajan

Between 1961 and 1986, Herbert von Karajan made three recordings of the Mozart Requiem for Deutsche Grammophon, with little change in his conception of the piece over the years. This recording, from 1975, is, on balance, the best of them. The approach is Romantic, broad, and sustained, marked by a thoroughly homogenized blend of chorus and orchestra, a remarkable richness of tone, striking power, and an almost marmoreal polish. Karajan viewed the Requiem as idealized church music rather than a confessional statement awash in operatic expressiveness. In this account, the orchestra is paramount, followed in importance by the chorus, then the soloists. Not surprisingly, the singing of the solo quartet sounds somewhat reined-in, especially considering these singers' pedigrees. By contrast, the Vienna Singverein, always Karajan's favorite chorus, sings with a huge dynamic range and great intensity, though with an emotional detachment nonetheless. Perfection, if not passion or poignancy, is the watchword. The Berlin orchestra plays majestically, and the sound is pleasingly vivid.

In light of the "chill-out" trend of the 1990s, major labels released many albums of slow, meditative pieces to appeal to listeners who wanted relaxing or reflective background music. Deutsche Grammophon's vaults are full of exceptional recordings of classical orchestral music, and the performances by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic are prominent in the label's catalog. The slow selections on Karajan: Adagio are in most cases drawn from larger compositions, though these movements are frequently anthologized as if they were free-standing works. Indeed, many have come to think of the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 as a separate piece in its own right, largely because of its evocative use in the film Death in Venice. Furthermore, the famous Canon by Johann Pachelbel is seldom played with its original companion piece, the Gigue in D major, let alone in its original version for three violins and continuo; it most often appears in an arrangement for strings.

Recorded live in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on June 29, 1985 at High Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II, Herbert von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Coronation Mass. The performance features Agnes Baltsa, Trudeliese Schmidt, Gösta Winbergh, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Wiener Singverein.

Beethoven thought the libretto immoral, Wagner thought it trivial. It was Herbert von Karajan’s mentor and inspiration, the composer and conductor Richard Strauss, who brought Mozart’s Così fan tutte back centre stage in the early years of the 20th century, since when this exquisite, witty and subtly disturbing exploration of sexual politics has become one of Mozart’s best-loved works. The present set preserves one of its most admired recordings, originally released in the autumn of 1955 on the eve of the bicentenary of Mozart’s birth. Gramophone described it as a ‘superlative issue’, perfectly staged for the microphone with an ideal cast and conducting and playing of the finest quality. ‘Listening with friends in my music room’, wrote the critic Alec Robertson, ‘gave the impression that by some miracle the opera was being performed there to a scale proportionate to its size, enabling us to savour the exquisite music, without any of the usual distractions.’

Herbert von Karajan (German: [ˈhɛɐbɛɐt fɔn ˈkaraˌjan]; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. /quote]

Two great recordings of two of the greatest choral works. Karajan and Levin swoops the standards of tempi, phrasing and intens music making. Karajan's finest recording of the Requiem. Levin sets the bar a milestone higher. Remastering of the Requiem is confidentional good. Sound quality of K427 is superb.

Here are Maurizio Pollini's compelling interpretations — paired with two now legendary conductors - of five piano masterworks performed with the Vienna Philharmonic at home, the Musikverein's magnificent "golden hall" In Mozart and Beethoven the camera captures the pianist's virtuosity as well as his empathy with Karl Bohm as they document the only two Mozart concertos that Pollini has ever released. For the Brahms concerto Pollini is joined by a young Claudio Abbado creating great music-making in which this essential repertoire is joyfully illuminated by two kindred spirits.