Search - Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Philharmoniker :: Karajan: Legendary Decca Recordings

Remarkable Standard Set By All Concerned in these Classic De

Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 03/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

A treasury of Karajan and the Vienna Phil. 1959-65

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Decca has kept Karajan's opera recordings in print but been very sketchy wth his orchestral work for their label. Compared with his hundreds of releases for EMI and DG, Karajan made about a dozen hours of symphonic recordings for Decca in a brief span between 1959 and 1965, but they are special because all feature the Vienna Phil. This was Karajan's second orchestra, as it was for Furtwangler before him. But that's not to imply that there was lack of affinity between conductor and musicians: Karajan was an Austrian, after all, and to my mind the stylistic match is perfect. The delicious string tone in the Dvorak 8th, for example, could only be Viennese, and Karajan is isnpired to give a warm, flexible reading -- his best on disc. There are drawbacks, however, as in a Brahms First that seems mushy and mannered, a surprise from this master Brahmsian.



These 9 CDs are offered at super-budget price (cheaper than Naxos!), and each deserves five stars, with the possible exception of the Haydn "Drumroll" and "London" symphonies, which sound overblown and outdated, however elegant Karajan's touch may be. For many the high point will be the Strauss recordings, both Johann and Richard. This famous Zarathustra still sounds magnificent, but so do Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, and the Johann Strauss items. Almost without exception these readings are warmer than those from Berlin, and Karajan's tendency toward glossy surfaces at the expense of meaning is not in evidence. As one would expect from Decca, the sonics are excellent, and I'm glad that the producers didn't scrub out so much tape hiss that the treble was compromised. Strangely, there's no indication of any remastering, even though at least half these performances have previously appeared -- or currently appear -- in updated versions.



The complete listing of works is as follows:



Brahms:

Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.68

Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90

Tragic Overture, Op.81



Haydn:

Symphony No.103 in E flat major, "Drumroll"

Symphony No.104 in D major, "London"



Mozart:

Symphony No.40 in G minor, K550

Symphony No.41 in C major, K551 "Jupiter"



Tchaikovsky:

Romeo and Juliet - Fantasy Overture

Suite from "Swan Lake"

Suite from "The Nutcracker"

Suite from "Sleeping Beauty"



Beethoven:

Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92



Dvorak:

Symphony No.8 in G major, Op.88



Adam:

"Giselle"



Grieg: Excerpts from "Peer Gynt" Op.23



Holst:

The Planets, Op.32



J. Strauss II:

Excerpts from Die Fledermaus

Annen-Polka

Overture (Der Zigeunerbaron)

Auf der Jagd - Polka

Tales from the Vienna Woods



Jospeh Strauss:

Delirien-Walzer



R. Strauss:

Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op.28

Salome - Dance of the Seven Veils

Don Juan, Op.20

Tod und Verklärung, Op.24

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30



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Revelatory Karajan in Vienna

Marc Haegeman | Gent, Belgium | 03/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can only join in the chorus of praise. Among the many re-editions that will mark Karajan's 100th anniversary year this 9-CD box assembling all his recordings with the Wiener Philharmoniker between 1959 and 1965 undoubtedly takes first place. Nothing of the 11 hours here is without interest, most of it is indispensable listening, even when seen in the light of forty or so following years of recording, including Karajan's own. There have been countless releases of Mozart's 40th, Beethoven's 7th symphony or Strauss's "Zarathustra" ever since, on traditional or period instruments, but very few can attain the continuous state of grace that Karajan demonstrates in these Vienna recordings.



Besides the admirable variety in repertory that Karajan took under his caring wings (from his personal favourites like Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss to the less obvious choices like Adolphe Adam, Gustav Holst), perhaps the most pleasant surprise when browsing through this box comes from the overall sound picture which is markedly different from what we would later (in the more numerous and prominent Deutsche Grammophon and EMI discs with the Berliner Philharmoniker) come to recognize, like it or not, as the typical "Karajan sound". Helped by a truly inspired Decca engineering team, these recordings not only amply stand the test of time in presence and dynamics, but more importantly the characteristic colour, refinement and transparency of the Wiener Philharmoniker is miraculously rendered. The silken sound of the strings, the individual colour of the woodwinds and the brass are a constant pleasure. It seems Karajan at this stage of his career and with this particular orchestra was still suggesting rather than dictating, but the result is by any means outstanding.



It's tough with such a box of goodies but if I had to point out a few favourites they would be Mozart's 40th symphony, unequalled by the orchestral balance, the phrasing and pulse (how this Mozart sings!), the quality of the strings; Tchaikovsky's ballet suites, a delight of colour, evocative power and atmosphere; Adam's "Giselle", by any means the most characterful stand-alone recording of this lovely ballet score which Karajan turns into a masterpiece; Richard Strauss's "Death and Transfiguration", a miracle of orchestral transparency, unravelling the multiple layers of sound to perfection and brought with un unfailing sense of drama.



As Doug-Haydn Fan rightly points out this box of "Legendary recordings" is a superb gift. Even if one already possesses several other recordings of the works included here, it might still prove a revelation.



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