The Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan: 1953–1969 live in Berlin

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Star conductor Herbert von Karajan is best known today for his studio recordings. However, although as a media pioneer he recognised the technical possibilities for creating recordings, he always considered the live concert to be the ideal. The radio recordings with the Berliner Philharmoniker, which were made in Berlin between 1953 and 1969 and which we present to you in this edition – mostly as first releases – represent an exciting paradox in this respect: they are snapshots that capture the spontaneity of the live performance, the magic of the unique musical moment. Never before has it been possible to experience Karajan the live artist and his joint work with the Berliner Philharmoniker as vividly as in this comprehensive edition.

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Berliner Philharmoniker concerts were regularly recorded by radio stations such as RIAS and SFB. They were originally intended for radio broadcast only, not for subsequent release. As a result, very few of these recordings have yet been made available to the general public. So we are all the more delighted to be able to present these exclusive and comprehensive insights into the orchestra’s work together with its former chief conductor.

Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings has had the original tapes of the recordings digitalised in high resolution to meet today’s standards. The repertoire of the edition is wide-ranging and features Karajan – with soloists he held in high esteem – in works from the most diverse periods and genres: from Baroque concertos, German-Austrian Classicism and Romanticism, to Impressionism and Modernism. Arranged in the form of interrelated concerts, this edition also offers a revealing insight into Karajan’s dramaturgical approach.

The hardcover edition, designed by painter and sculptor Thomas Scheibitz, includes the recordings on 24 CD/SACD (hybrid) and an accompanying book with numerous photos and in-depth essays by Karajan biographer Peter Uehlung, music publicist James Jolly, and others. Following the release of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s 1939–1945 radio recordings, this is the second major historical edition of Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings, and a further milestone in the documentation of the orchestra’s media history.

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Johann Sebastian Bach

Magnificat in D major, BWV 243

 

Béla Bartók

Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz 106

 

Ludwig van Beethoven

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 “Eroica”

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Elisabeth Grümmer, Marga Höffgen, Ernst Haefliger, Gottlob Frick, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale)

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Gundula Janowitz, Sieglinde Wagner, Luigi Alva, Otto Wiener, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, RIAS Kammerchor)

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas, Walter Berry, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin)

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 (Glenn Gould)

 

Richard Rodney Bennett 

Aubade for Orchestra

 

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 (Géza Anda)

 

Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 4 in E flat major “Romantic” (2nd version)

Symphony No. 8 in C minor (2nd version)

 

Claude Debussy

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

 

Antonín Dvořák 

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”

 

Georg Friedrich Händel

Concerto grosso in D major, Op. 6 No. 5, HWV 323

Concerto grosso in C minor, Op. 6 No. 8 HWV 326

 

Rolf Liebermann 

Capriccio for Soprano, Violin and Orchestra (Irmgard Seefried, Wolfgang Schneiderhan)

 

György Ligeti

Atmosphères

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 “Jupiter”

Divertimento in B flat major, K. 287 “Lodron Serenade No. 2”

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, K. 466 (Wilhelm Kempff)

Concerto for 3 Pianos and Orchestra in F major, K. 242 (Jörg Demus, Christoph Eschenbach, Herbert von Karajan)

 

Sergei Prokofiev

Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100

 

Maurice Ravel

Daphnis et Chloé, Orchestral Suite No. 2

 

Arnold Schoenberg

Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31

 

Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 8 in C major, D 944 “The Great”

 

Robert Schumann

Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120

 

Jean Sibelius

Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82

 

Richard Strauss

Ariadne auf Naxos: »Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist« (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf) Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D major (Lothar Koch)

Four Last Songs (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf) 

A Hero’s Life, Op. 40

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Op. 30

Don Quixote, Op. 35 (Pierre Fournier, Giusto Cappone)

 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

 

Ralph Vaughan Williams 

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

 

Richard Wagner

Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod

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    The Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan: 1953–1969 live in Berlin

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    24 Hybrid SACD/CD

    Accompanying book
    Hardcover, 128 pages

    US$ 291.35
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