Karajan – Legendary Decca Recordings (9 CD box set, APE)

Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Audio CD
SPARS Code: A-D
Number of Discs: 9 CD box set
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 2.97 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no

CD1
Johannes Brahms – Symphony No 1
Joseph Haydn – Symphony No 103 ‘Drumroll’

CD2
Haydn – Joseph Haydn / Symphony No 104 ‘London’
Johannes Brahms / Tragic Overture/Symphony No 3

CD3
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Symphony No 40
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Symphony No 41 ‘Jupiter’
Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky / Romeo and Juliet – Fantasy Overture

CD4
Ludwig van Beethoven / Symphony No 7
Antonin Dvorak / Symphony No 8

CD5
01. Swan Lake – Act II Scene
02. Swan Lake – Act I Valse
03. Swan Lake – Act II Dance of the little swans
04. Swan Lake – Act II Scene and second dance
05. Swan Lake – Act III Czardas
06. Swan Lake – Act IV Finale
07. Nutcracker – Ouverture miniature
08. Nutcracker – Act I Marche
09. Nutcracker – Act III Dance of the sugar-plum fairy
10. Nutcracker – Act II Trйpak
11. Nutcracker – Act III Arab Dance
12. Nutcracker – Act III Chinese Dance
13. Nutcracker – Act II Dance of the reed pipes
14. Nutcracker – Act II Walz of the flowers
15. Sleeping Beauty – Introduction and liliac fairy
16. Sleeping Beauty – Act I Pas d’action
17. Sleeping Beauty – Act III Pas de caractиre
18. Sleeping Beauty – Act III Panorama
19. Sleeping Beauty – Act II Valse

CD6
Adam-Giselle
01. von Karajan, Wiener Phil. – Introduction
02. Les vendangeurs
03. Entree du Prince
04. Loys seul et entree de Giselle — scene d’amour
05. Retour des vendangeurs — Valse
06. Pas de deux
07. La chasse
08. Marche des vignerons
09. Variation de Giselle
10. Galop general
11. Final (Act I)
12. Apparition et scene de Myrthe
13. Apparition de Giselle
14. Pas de deux
15. Scene des Wilis
16. Grand pas de deux
17. Variation de Loys
18. Variation de Giselle
19. Final (Act II)

CD7
Edvard Grieg – Music from Peer Gynt
01. – 1 – Morning
02. The Death of Ase
03. Anitra’s Dance
04. In the Hall of the Mountain King
05. Ingrid’s Lament
06. Solveig’s Song

Gustav Holst – The Planets
07. Mars, the Bringer of War
08. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
09. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
10. Jupiter, the Bringer of Joy
11. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
12. Uranus, the Magician
13. Neptune, the Mystic

CD8
Johann Strauss
01. Die Fledermaus
02. Die Fledermaus (2)
03. Annen Polka
04.Jojeph – Delirien Walzer
05. Johann – Der Zigeunerbaron
06. Auf Der Jagd
07. Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald
08. Richard Strauss- Till Eulenspiegels
09. Tanz der sieben Schleier

CD9
Richard Strauss – Don Juan, op.20
Richard Strauss – Tod und Verklarung, op.24
Richard Strauss – Also sprach Zarathustra, op.30

Remarkable Standard Set By All Concerned in these Classic Decca Recordings of Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic

As well detailed by Santa Fe Reviewer, this set represents a remarkable standard of playing and recording. I currently own several of these performances and can only add to the praise.

A few additional points:

The Holst Planets here offered is the recording that set that work free from any residual insularity associating it with other British symphonic works of its time, such as the the Elgar symphonies. As everyone knows it’s now a huge concert and recorded favorite around the world. Although there have been many recordings since Karajan’s with the Vienna this breakthrough issue remains one of the very finest. Karajan’s ability as a great conductor in what was unfamilair territory is here most evident.

Also not to be overlooked is the ballet music. Karajan was perhaps at his very best in the big Tchaikovsky ballets, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, and these selections do not disappoint. The Giselle is also suprisingly well-done, with the Vienna Philharmonic bringing a lusty richness to a score too often under-played.

The Strauss selections showcase beautiful sound along with fine performances by a master in this music. Karajan was one of the premiere specialists in the music of Richard Strauss, and hearing him lead the sensationally recorded Vienna Philharmonic in these delectably decadent symphonic tone poems can only be described as a truly sybaritic experience!

Over the years I have come to appreciate Karajan’s Brahms more than I did as a young listener, when Brahms symphonies meant Furtwangler, Klemperer or Toscanini. On these works Karajan does an excellent very musical job, and the Vienna catches just the right darker Autumnal tone for these elegaic-laced works.

The Grieg was also a Karajan ‘Specialitie de la Maison’, and receives a fine ambient recording in a style Decca would develop and carry over in their excellent sounding Sibelius recordings made a few years later with the Vienna under Maazel.

Karajan’s first major phase as a recording artist begins with his time with the Philharmonia and EMI during the fifties. Many of those fine performances are currently available. This Decca nine CD set capturing the complete second major stage of Karajan’s recording career with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Decca’s legendary engineers gives us another look at the legacy of this dominating figure from the second half of the 20th century’s classical music scene.

I was delighted to find this listing and send this set out as a present – it’s makes a superb gift!