Karajan: Legendary Decca Recordings

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These are all wonderful performances from the peak of Karajan's career, and fabulous Decca recorded sound that has rarely if ever been surpassed in almost 50 years since. I even enjoyed the two Brahms symphonies more than some other reviewers seem to have.

I was, however, disappointed in the accompanying booklet, which did not seem very complete or adequate for a box like this. There's a general essay about Karajan's career, but nothing about the circumstances of these particular recordings. The booklet also omits specific recording dates and production credits -- certainly not up to the standards of DG's "Originals" series or other historical reissues. Nevertheless, if you know any of these recordings or are just wondering what all the fuss is about on the 100th anniversary of Karajan's birth, grab this before it disappears!

Guest

Karajan: Legendary Decca Recordings

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As one of the earlier reviewers noted, this set is being offered at less than the price of Naxos discs and it has music-making far beyond what might be expected from a budget reissue.
I got the UK issue of this set a couple of years ago when most of these recordings were not available in the US. I've gotten so much pleasure from them since that I wish I had thought to buy them earlier.
The sound is very present and very accurate. It's always a pleasure. The VPO playing is also a constant joy. This set catches that orchestra in transition from its more traditional older sound that you can hear on recordings going back to before World War II and the more up-to-date sound that it later took on. Back when Karajan was making these recordings, the orchestra was still using valve trombones and its own distinctive tubas. It may still have been using wooden flutes, at least for some of the recordings.
There are sounds on these discs that are like nothing else on record: The almost vocal quality of the horns and strings at the end of the Brahms 3 - you could almost mistake them for a wordless chorus; the sheer mindless brutality of Mars; the gutty tug of the double basses in the slow movement of the Haydn Drumroll.
I don't think that the Beethoven 7 is Karajan's best recording of the piece, but it's far from shabby. The two Haydn symphonies, on the other hand, are far more compelling than his remakes in Berlin later in his career.
The Giselle - beautiful and elegant here - is also the subject of a famous story. It appears that the decision to record it was a spur-of-the-moment inspiration and the orchestral parts had to be shipped in. For some reason, they could not be sent as a unit and so appeared movement (or section) by movement with conductor and orchestra having the time of their lives essentially sight-reading the music with the mikes on. The joy and freshness of that experience lives on in the recording here.
9 discs at a time is a bit of a big gulp, but in this uncertain age, recordings don't stay in print long. This is a leap worth taking and one that brings with it hours and hours of musical rewards.

Guest

Karajan: Legendary Decca Recordings

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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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