Deutsche Exilliteratur 19331950

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.

While it never quite got the attention that the Mahler revival of the 1950s and 1960s got, the music of Franz Schubert, particularly with respect to the early symphonies and his choral works, saw an upsurge of its own beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As such, it went a long way to prove that this composer, who lived a tragically short life, was every bit as important to classical music as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The revival of the choral works, in particular, were a big factor in this; and a good deal of the credit for all of it could be ascribed to the series of recordings made of them for EMI by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus during the 1980s, with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.

Given the depth, range and quality of the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, it’s hardly been difficult to put together another anthology of great recordings and great artists. The structure is as before – here are 53 original albums (including three double-sets), featuring the great names of Deutsche Grammophon’s recording history, presented, once more, in alphabetical order of artist. Claudio Abbado leads off with a complete Carmen and Krystian Zimerman rounds off with his memorable account of the Chopin Ballades.

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.