Brahms Symphonies Studio Master

With almost 450 years of tradition, Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Originally founded as court orchestra by Prince-Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg in 1570 the ensemble expanded its activities with the founding of the Royal Court Opera in 1742 by Frederick the Great.

Klemperer and Brahms had much in common, which may go some way to explaining the empathy with which Klemperer conducts the works of the great composer. As Richard Osborne says in the accompanying liner notes: ‘no detail was insignificant, yet none was allowed to subvert the larger whole’. The recordings in this box have all been remastered in HD from original tapes for the Otto Klemperer Complete Edition in 2023.

The two stereo Beethoven cycles, those of the Symphonies (1965–70) and the Piano Concertos (with Wilhelm Backhaus, 1958–59), form the core of this edition of the complete Decca recordings of Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1900–1973).

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the interim Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures (Tragic Overture and Academic Festival Overture), and Piano Concerto No. 2.

Supplementary to his legendary Beethoven cycles for Decca are Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt’s recordings for Philips, Mercury, Deutsche Grammophon and Accord.

Mariss Jansons died last November. During the final 15 years of his life he was the chief conductor of two of the world’s greatest orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony, based in Munich.

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the interim Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures (Tragic Overture and Academic Festival Overture), and Piano Concerto No. 2.

Zubin Mehta has long been a constant in Munich's musical life.

Zubin Mehta has long been a constant in Munich’s musical life. Mehta has enjoyed an artistic relationship and deep friendship with the Munich Philharmonic in particular for decades. Since he conducted his first concert with the orchestra in 1987, he has been a regular guest and was appointed the orchestra’s first and so far only "conductor emeritus" in 2004.