The Karajan Legacy (recordings)

[Renfield]

Where is that 1988 Brahms 1 available? I am curious about that.

And the Japanese release Drasko was referring to is this one:





Re Karajan and the Beethoven 9th, perhaps the most musically successful recording of the piece in the post-Philharmonia incarnation of his (Karajan's) reading is the live 1979 Tokyo 9th on DG Japan, now OOP. It's exhilarating, and aurally untampered with, if slightly harsh.

[Brian]

To enlighten you on his Beethoven 5th.   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhcR1ZS2hVo
This is exactly the tempo Beethoven wrote for it.  It is not too fucking fast.  There are few conductors who have got it right.  Klemperer built musical Cathederals beautifully, but he was too fucking slow. 

I can't say I've ever heard the symphony in that key before! Has the distortion moved it a whole-step up? Sounds like D minor to me.

[Renfield]

I can't say I've ever heard the symphony in that key before! Has the distortion moved it a whole-step up? Sounds like D minor to me.

Are you sure it's not the HIP recordings doing the damage?

(Kidding! There is some distortion, obviously.)

[Brian]

Are you sure it's not the HIP recordings doing the damage?

(Kidding! There is some distortion, obviously.)

*Some* distortion ... it's fascinating! I've never heard the symphony at all like this before ... it's so ... weird.

Beethoven: Symphony No 5 in D minor. Sweet! Thank heavens for tape distortion.

[MishaK]

And the Japanese release Drasko was referring to is this one:

Thanks. I just checked HMV Japan, they sell the latter for $29.60. Ouch! And Testament is never cheap.

[Wilhelm Richard]

A copy of this should be in every home!
http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/webseries/?ID=karajan2008

Mine arrived a few days ago, and I have quickly decided that it is one of the finest investments I have ever made.

[Tapkaara]

A great Sibelius conductor.

[George]

A copy of this should be in every home!
http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/webseries/?ID=karajan2008

Mine arrived a few days ago, and I have quickly decided that it is one of the finest investments I have ever made.

The link brought me to the individual releases, I assume you mean the big thick white box that contains all of them? 

[Wilhelm Richard]

The link brought me to the individual releases, I assume you mean the big thick white box that contains all of them? 

Yes!

[George]

Yes!

Grabbed that for a song Symphony recently and have barely made a dent yet.

[Brian]

Grabbed that for a song Symphony recently and have barely made a dent yet.

Hmm, wonder what that song was? Amazon Marketplace and Barnes and Noble have it for $73...

[George]

Hmm, wonder what that song was? Amazon Marketplace and Barnes and Noble have it for $73...

28 pounds, and at the time the exchange rate was good for the US, so it was about half the current price. I heard about the deal from this site, actually.

[Coopmv]

Hmm, wonder what that song was? Amazon Marketplace and Barnes and Noble have it for $73...

Brian, You missed the boat.  I bought this set from Amazon UK right around the same time George bought his.  Mine came to around $48 with airmail from the UK.  BTW, I also have not played a single CD from that set yet ...

[Coopmv]

Thanks. I just checked HMV Japan, they sell the latter for $29.60. Ouch! And Testament is never cheap.

The Japanese adore Karajan and they would gladly pay $50 for his CD's.

[Renfield]

 

The Japanese adore Karajan and they would gladly pay $50 for his CD's.

Quite!

And BTW, Brian, the offer on that Karajan box (which I think I posted about on GMG to begin with), I even bought an extra one for myself despite owning the new releases (not to mention the old releases) of the cycles separately!

If I hadn't given it away already, I'd have sent it your way.

[Coopmv]

Quite!

And BTW, Brian, the offer on that Karajan box (which I think I posted about on GMG to begin with), I even bought an extra one for myself despite owning the new releases (not to mention the old releases) of the cycles separately!

If I hadn't given it away already, I'd have sent it your way.

There is something about these box sets.  I bought the Glenn Gould 80-CD set for $109 at Amazon when it was first released and it turned out to be a great catch.  The set is no longer widely available and costs a few hundred dollars on Amazon now.

[Wilhelm Richard]

Does anybody know how the bells were created in Karajan's studio recording of Parsifal?  I swear I remember reading somewhere that they were "exact" digital reproductions of what the original Bayreuth bells sounded like, but I cannot track that version of the story.

[Brahmsian]

Last night, for our final music appreciation class on Tchaikovsky, we watched a DVD of the '74 performance of the 6th Symphony, w/ Karajan and Berlin PO.

I have a question - Did Karajan always conduct with his eyes closed?

[Harry]

Last night, for our final music appreciation class on Tchaikovsky, we watched a DVD of the '74 performance of the 6th Symphony, w/ Karajan and Berlin PO.

I have a question - Did Karajan always conduct with his eyes closed?

Most of the time he has his eyes closed, sort of a trademark with Karajan.

[Renfield]

Last night, for our final music appreciation class on Tchaikovsky, we watched a DVD of the '74 performance of the 6th Symphony, w/ Karajan and Berlin PO.

I have a question - Did Karajan always conduct with his eyes closed?

To my knowledge, he generally conducted with his eyes closed, unless he was conducting a choir. That is, until the early 80s. From then on, I think I recall reading that the pain in his back was too much for him to concentrate in this manner.