IDIS continues in its mission of reviving some of the most extraordinary Karajan recordings made during the Fifties and Sixties with this Karajan Spectacular VI volume. This album presents some extraordinary Beethoven and Wagner works of which Karajan has been an insurmountable interpreter, becoming obligatory point of reference for the two composers’ discography. Beethoven Symphony Overtures recorded by Karajan with D.G. during the Sixties were one of the milestones of their discography; but in the Fifties the great conductor created with EMI records an incredible series with the legendary Philharmonia Orchestra. During the Sixties Wagner’s recordings with the Berliner Philarmoniker were no less valid and culminated with the incredible Tetralogy; after Wagner’s rhetorical and heavy interpretation during the Nazi period, Karajan’s performance and interpretation has been rightly received as a complete rediscovery of a composer used only for propaganda purposes. This is a real do not miss album recorded in high quality.

The combination of Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic playing Mozart and Bruckner drew a “packed and raving audience” according to The Guardian. (ICA Classics)

There is hardly a singer who has sung so many and such varied (main) roles as Walter Berry - both tragic and comic, German and Italian, and with such well-loved singing partners and conductors. All this can be heard in our selection from his fifty-year career at the vienna State Opera.

The history of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem’s interpretation is inextricably bound up with the name of Herbert von Karajan. He conducted the work on countless occasions and in this legendary concert he performed it with some of the greatest singers of that time: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Verdi wrote his Messa da Requiem in 1873/74, between Aida and Otello, for Alessandro Manzoni, a poet whom he much admired. Verdi’s Mass for the Dead is not intended for liturgical use but for the concert hall. In addition to its profound spirituality, this masterpiece brings together the finest qualities from Verdi’s operas: endless melodic lines and captivating musico-dramatic effects.

Based, in part, on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi’s last work for the stage – and only his second comic opera. And yet the humor in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito. In this legendary performance from the Salzburg Festival, Herbert von Karajan is not only leading a stunning cast of singers featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, he too directed the opera, in the amazing set design of Günther Schneider-Siemssen.

Based on Schiller’s play of the same name, Don Carlo is Verdi’s most ambitious work, written for the Paris Opéra in 1865–66 in the tradition of a French grand opera. This legendary production from the Salzburg Easter Festival is directed by Herbert von Karajan. With its extraordinary vocal cast, the wonderful set design and costumes it is truly one of the most memorable opera performances.

When Herbert von Karajan conducted Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival in 1987 featuring an outstanding cast of singers, the fantastic Wiener Philharmoniker and staged by Michael Hampe, it became a legendary performance of the highest artistic level. Samuel Ramey stars as the title character Don Giovanni, alongside Gosta Winbergh as Don Ottavio and Anna Tomowa-Sintow as Donna Anna. This dream of artistic collaboration made it one of the best opera performances, which now is available for the first time on Blu-ray.

Géza Anda performed regularly at the Lucerne International Music Festival from 1955-1969. Only from this period three recordings have survived, which are published here for the first time in their entirety. These are the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra BWV 1061 by Johann Sebastian Bach from the festival year 1955 and the 3rd Piano Concerto by Béla Bartók from 1965. Clara Haskil and Herbert von Karajan were Anda's partners for Bach, and Ernest Ansermet for Bartók, who was heard here for the last time in Lucerne. Also featured is Bartók's 2nd Piano Concerto, which Anda played with his favorite conductor Ferenc Fricsay before an enthusiastic audience. audite presents this important gap in the Anda discography in cooperation with the Géza Anda Foundation Zurich, Swiss Radio and Television (SRF), Salzburg's Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute, and Lucerne Festival.

The combination of Herbert von Karajan and the revered Romanian pianist Clara Haskil (1895-1960) was an ideal partnership. Karajan had an extraordinary rapport with her, describing her career as ‘a long and often sorrowful march to glory’ due to Haskil’s well documented ill-health. Since she and Karajan were contracted to different companies, they never recorded together which makes this live Salzburg performance to mark Mozart’s bicentenary in 1956 especially valuable. Haskil, notoriously self-critical wrote: “The concert tour with Karajan was unique and unforgettable.” Karajan’s reading of Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 is characteristically fleet-footed with great tension, a rare example of a live recording featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra and the conductor in concert together.

Among the various recordings of H.v. Karajan of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Mozart's Requiem (no less than 4 for each of them), the 1958 and 1961 recordings stand out among critics as perhaps his most important interpretations of this repertoire. The Missa, never released by EMI, was made available by Testament more than 20 years ago. It has not been available on the market for some time. It is actually one of the most extraordinary interpretations of Beethoven's religious masterpiece, also due to the extraordinary sound quality achieved by the Columbia technicians of the time. Mozart's Requiem was Karajan's first recording of this work. Even this production, which has always been available in the DG catalogue, is currently very difficult to find.