Karajan was unquestionably a great Tchaikovsky conductor. Yet although he recorded the last three symphonies many times, he did not turn to the first three until the end of the 1970s, and then proved an outstanding advocate. In the Mendelssohnian opening movement of the First, the tempo may be brisk, but the music's full charm is displayed and the melancholy of the Andante is touchingly caught.
The Karajan Official Remastered Edition is a series of 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings he made for EMI between 1946 and 1984. Karajan captures all the splendour, power and charm of the Russian repertoire in this 7-CD box, recorded almost entirely with the Philharmonia. Tchaikovsky, both symphonies and ballet music, takes pride of place beside Mussorgsky, Borodin, Balakirev, Stravinsky and Prokofiev. The great Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff performs an aria from Boris Godunov and the celebrated comic actor Peter Ustinov narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
5 April 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert von Karajan, the legendary Austrian-born conductor who achieved a position of musical supremacy as director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra that made him one of the most famous and celebrated conductors of the second half of the twentieth century. While the majority of his symphonic recordings were made for Deutsche Grammophon, von Karajan also recorded for Decca and EMI during the 1950s and 1960s. This set is reissued to mark this momentous anniversary and contains all of his orchestral recordings made with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca during the late 1950s/early 1960s.
Without a doubt, most of Herbert von Karajan records (usually with Berliner Philharmoniker) stand out as finest among the rest. Not that he turned everything he touched into pure gold, but his recordings of orchestral works are very often peerless. And in slow compositions his abilities are even more applaudable, as he was able to feel the Adagio pieces to the smallest detail.
To celebrate what would have been Herbert von Karajan's 100th birthday on April 5, 2008, EMI has gathered together all of the conductor's recordings for the label in two super-budget boxed sets. Volume 1 weighs in at an imposing 88 discs and focuses on orchestral repertoire (the second volume consists of vocal and operatic works). The first nine discs encompass Karajan's EMI Vienna Philharmonic sessions…
Karajan’s Deutsche Grammophon complete recordings is recorded on chronological order. From the “Magic Flute” overture of the 1938 recording used as first recording to the recording of the last in 1989, and the Symphony No.7 of Bruckner. There is no selling separately. It becomes ordering limited production.