Re-release of a previous ORFEO bestseller, the present album contains the premiere of the new production of Don Carlo from October 1970 in Vienna. The premiere was surrounded by a great scandal, caused by the Karajan's fans, who expected their idol to conduct the new production. However, Karajan entrusted the conductor Horst Stein with the new production and though Stein had until then been the favourite of the local audience, this time he was greeted with a torrent of 'boos" which were totally unrelated to his artistic performance. The singers, by contrast, were cheered to the rafters. The house had gathered together a cast for this production that was hand-picked right down to the smallest part. The booklet offers detailed information about the scandal and indignation surrounding the premiere together with archive photographs of the stage.

This is a physical only re-issue of a former ORFEO bestseller. Herbert von Karajan's relationship with the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was quite ambivalent, especially in his early years. Later, however, he increasingly turned to these works and conducted Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival in a total of three different productions. This recording from 1970 follows the 1968 production. The top-class cast of singers also remained similar, with only two roles being recast. However, while the Festival audience was impressed, the critical response was mixed. From today's perspective, the live recording from 1970 presents a Don Giovanni which takes it's place among the legendary performances of the Salzburg Festival. The title role is sung by the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, who, between the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Sofia Opera and La Scala in Milanm has grown into a great dramatic singer. His Leporello was the equally strongly outlined Geraint Evans. The Welsh baritone had already proven his extraordinary abilities as a character actor at the Festival in 1962-67 as Mozart's Figaro. As Donna Anna, Gundula Janowitz is at the zenith of her development, which was largely promoted by Karajan. Polish-born Teresa Zylis-Gara, successful as a Mozart singer at Glyndebourne and elsewhere, also fitted perfectly as Dona Elivra into Karajan's concept of the role: sensitive, wavering between her pain and the feelings for Don Giovanni, which surface again and again.

Among the few recordings of Don Carlo, this recording stands out with great authority. Despite being a live performance, it is of the highest quality. It's importance lies above all in the participation of two great performers, Franco Corelli and Gundula Janowitz, who have never recorded Don Carlo in the studio.

This box set comprises all the operas and sacred works Otto Klemperer conducted for EMI Columbia and HMV. Oratorios by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Handel are accompanied by operas of Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner. There are also rehearsals and listening playback sessions for the recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni and a Bonus CD with recollections from artists who sang in Klemperer's opera performances. Otto Klemperer deeply loved both the theatricality of opera and the spirituality of oratorios, and these performances from his great Indian Summer represent the fruits of his lifetime of thought and experience in this repertoire.