Schubert Böhm

This is the most beautiful of Mozart playing, his last piano concerto given here by Emil Gilels with total clarity. This is a classic performance, memorably accompanied by the VPO and Böhm. Suffice it to say that Gilels sees everything and exaggerates nothing, that the performance has an Olympian authority and serenity, and that the Larghetto is one of the glories of the gramophone. He's joined by his daughter Elena in the Double Piano Concerto in E flat, and their physical relationship is mirrored in the quality, and the mutual understanding of the playing: both works receive marvellous interpretations. We think Emil plays first, Elena second, but could be quite wrong. The VPO under Karl Böhm is at its best; and so is the quality of recording, with a good stereo separation of the two solo parts, highly desirable in this work.

These are marvellous performances: vibrant, clear, characterful and effortlessly well played. The recordings, too, still seem new-minted, even the Ninth, the first of the symphonies to be recorded. The Berliners' art is the art that disguises art. Böhm never feels the need to do anything clever but just quietly sees to it that this superb orchestra plays at its best. Böhm's way with the two late symphonies is, in fact, highly sophisticated.

Recorded - Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna 27th May 1953. During the 1950's, Karl Böhm made a handful of orchestral recordings for Decca with the Wiener Philharmoniker of, music by, among others, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Weber. Reappearing here, for the first time on CD, internationally, are his swift recordings of Beethoven's Eighth and of two Schubert symphonies (Nos. 5 and 8). Never imposing his will too strongly on his Viennese orchestra - and they had these classics in their blood - he directs performances that are fresh and gives full rein to the Vienna Philharmonic's wonderful tonal resources. Add the acoustic of the Grosser Saal at the Musikverein, familiar as daily bread to all the participants, and you have the best kind of tradition.

Karl Bohm was one of the most significant conductors of the 20th century; Three decades after his death, his clear-cut conducting style, that was characterized by deep gravity is enjoying a well-deserved revival. The present set makes available for the first time his complete later recordings of orchestral music on Deutsche Grammophon, including Mozarts last symphonies, Wagners orchestral music and the ninth symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert and Dvorak.

The rhythmic, textural and structural clarity of Karl Böhm’s recordings are much admired across the world. This new release includes Böhm’s celebrated recordings of Mozart Serenades and the great orchestral works of Richard Strauss, as well as equally notable performances of Beethoven and Brahms symphonies. This 17 CD box with booklet includes including new liner notes by Berliner Philharmoniker intimus Helge Grünewald and rare Böhm photographs.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525 / Serenata KV 239 / Sinfonia KV 364
Wiener Philharmoniker / Berliner Philharmoniker / Karl Böhm
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 303 MB | Full Artwork: 20 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon "Resonance" # 427 208-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1980's / 1990's
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

Karl August Leopold Böhm (1894 – 1981) was an Austrian conductor. (…) Böhm was praised for his rhythmically robust interpretations of the operas and symphonies of Mozart, and in the 1960s he was entrusted with recording all the Mozart symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic. His brisk, straightforward way with Wagner won adherents, as did his readings of the symphonies of Brahms, Bruckner and Schubert. His 1971 complete recording of the Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic was also highly regarded. On a less common front, he championed and recorded Alban Berg's avant-garde operas Wozzeck and Lulu before they gained a foothold in the standard repertory. Böhm mentioned in the notes to his recordings of these works that he and Berg discussed the orchestrations, leading to changes in the score (as he had similarly done, previously, with Richard Strauss). He received numerous honors, among them first Austrian Generalmusikdirektor in 1964.

Theobald Böhm, who was born in Munich on 9 April 1794, was among the most accomplished German flautists of his age and was a composer and an ingenious inventor who perfected the construction of the flute.