A Glaring Omission In Karajan Discography

[Homo Aestheticus]

I have always wondered why Karajan never recorded Mendelssohn's Overture To  A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Just imagine if he had done it in 1971 when he completed the superb Mendelssohn symphony cycle and the  Hebrides  Overture.

Truly inexplicable... 

[imperfection]

If he lived 10 years longer, he probably would have finished a Mahler cycle, then he would be the absolute FAVORITE conductor of mine. Excelling at Wagner, dominating in Bruckner, mastering Mahler...what else could one ask for in a conductor? 

[The new erato]

Excelling at Wagner, dominating in Bruckner, mastering Mahler...what else could one ask for in a conductor? 

I can think of lots.

[imperfection]

I can think of lots.

That's you 

[M forever]

If he lived 10 years longer, he probably would have finished a Mahler cycle

No, he wouldn't. He contemplated doing the 8th at some point, but according to Osborne, gave up that idea after he heard Maazel conduct the piece in London; however, Osborne doesn't say for what reason. But he apparently never even planned conducting any of the other symphonies.

Neither did he conduct Mendelssohn all that much. He only did the 3rd symphony, the violin concerto, and the Hebrides overture in concert, never any other pieces. He only conducted some of the other works for recordings.

[scarpia]

I don't understand why he avoided Sibelius 3, which would have completed the cycle.  (I'm also disappointed he didn't include 7 in the final set of recordings with Berlin in the late 70's, the other recordings from that series have become favorites of mine).

[MISHUGINA]

Karajan kicks bloody ass conducting works of 2nd Viennese school and I thought Berg's Lulu suite or the whole opera would've benefited Karajan's conducting.

[MDL]

No, he wouldn't. He contemplated doing the 8th at some point, but according to Osborne, gave up that idea after he heard Maazel conduct the piece in London; however, Osborne doesn't say for what reason. But he apparently never even planned conducting any of the other symphonies.

Didn't he conduct Mahler's Second in concert? I thought I read that somewhere. Maybe I dreamt it.

[M forever]

Didn't he conduct Mahler's Second in concert? I thought I read that somewhere. Maybe I dreamt it.

You can check the list of his performances and recordings on karajan.org. Obviously, there is no absolute guarantee that the lists are really complete, but in the case of this particular composer, Osborne also discusses specifically which of the symphonies he conducted in live performances (4,5,6,9,DLvdE). He also mentions that Karajan never conducted Sibelius' 3rd because he felt he couldn't get access to the piece. Why not, I don't know. But there are other surprising gaps as well. For instance, he never conducted Schumann's 3rd in concert (although he did he record the symphony for DG). Then there are other works he was interested in, but didn't get to. As busy as he was, he sometimes only did certain pieces when he could combine performances with recording sessions. He suggested to EMI that he might record Shostakovich' 8, but they didn't want that. They wanted him to record Carmina burana instead. Which he turned down. So there is no recording of either piece with him.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

That's you 

And me.

[imperfection]

No, he wouldn't. He contemplated doing the 8th at some point, but according to Osborne, gave up that idea after he heard Maazel conduct the piece in London; however, Osborne doesn't say for what reason. But he apparently never even planned conducting any of the other symphonies.

Neither did he conduct Mendelssohn all that much. He only did the 3rd symphony, the violin concerto, and the Hebrides overture in concert, never any other pieces. He only conducted some of the other works for recordings.

I see.

[Homo Aestheticus]

I also read that in 1979 (?) Karajan came very close to recording Schoenberg's  'Songs of Gurre'  under a contract with CBS.

That would have been so very special...   

   

[M forever]

I don't think Karajan ever made any recordings for CBS, so it would suprise me if that is true. He did, however, conduct the Gurrelieder once, in 1967. It would have been interesting to have that as a recording, although there are a number of very good recordings of this piece and the way many Karajan discs were recorded might not have made this a great sonic pleasure anyway.

[sound67]

Some of the recording projects Karajan was considering in his final years included Vaughan Williams 4+6, music by Carl Nielsen and the Elgar symphonies.

Thomas