Herbert von Karajan - The Early Lucerne Years

$20.99
Label
Audite Musikproduktion
Release Date
September 15, 2023
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Arthur Honegger, Wolfgang Amadeus Moza
    • PERFORMER
      Robert Casadesus, Nathan Milstein, Geza Anda, Clara Haskil, Schweizerisches Festspielorchester, Phil
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      September 15, 2023
    • UPC
      4022143214645
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      ADT21464
    • LABEL
      Audite Musikproduktion
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      3
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro vivace e con brio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    2. II. Allegretto scherzando

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    3. III. Tempo di menuetto

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    4. IV. Allegro vivace

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    5. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Casadesus

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    6. II. Larghetto

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Casadesus

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    7. III. Allegretto

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Casadesus

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    8. I. [Allegro]

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Géza Anda, Clara Haskil

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    9. II. Adagio ovvero Largo

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Géza Anda, Clara Haskil

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    10. III. Fuga

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Géza Anda, Clara Haskil

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    11. I. Awakening of Cheerful Feelings Upon Arrival in the Country: Allegro ma non troppo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    12. II. Scene by the Brook: Andante molto mosso

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    13. III. Merry Gathering of Country Folk: Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    14. IV. Thunderstorm: Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    15. V. Shepherd's Song: Happy and Thankful Feelings after the Storm: Allegretto

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    16. I. Allegro non troppo

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    17. II. Andante moderato

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    18. III. Allegro giocoso - Poco meno presto

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    19. IV. Allegro energico e passionato - Più allegro

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    20. I. Allegro non troppo

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Nathan Milstein

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    21. II. Adagio

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Nathan Milstein

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    22. III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Performer: Nathan Milstein

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    23. I. Dies Irae: Allegro marcato

      Composer: Arthur Honegger

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    24. II. De profundis clamavi: Adagio

      Composer: Arthur Honegger

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    25. III. Dona nobis pacem: Andante

      Composer: Arthur Honegger

      Ensemble: Swiss Festival Orchestra

      Conductor: Herbert von Karajan


For the first time; this edition makes available Herbert von Karajan's previously unpublished early live recordings from the Lucerne Music Festival - made in a decade in which Karajan was rebuilding his career. Included are legendary soloists such as Clara Haskil and Géza Anda; Robert Casadesus and Nathan Milstein. The Lucerne International Music Festival (today's Lucerne Festival) was the first organiser outside Austria to engage Herbert von Karajan after his ban from performing and denazification proceedings; thus enabling him to return to the international podiums. "I will never forget that," Karajan later confessed. For almost four decades; from 1948 to 1988; he was to make his mark on Lucerne Festival. His annual guest appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic (from 1958) enjoyed cult status. But already in the decade before; which this edition documents; Karajan thrilled audiences and critics alike in Lucerne and quickly rose to become the defining artistic personality alongside Wilhelm Furtwängler: with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra; but above all on the podium of the Swiss Festival Orchestra; which he held in high esteem and which he conducted in a total of nine concerts.

The preserved Lucerne live recordings range from Bach's C major Concerto for Two Keyboard Instruments BWV 1061 (with Clara Haskil and Géza Anda) to Arthur Honegger's Symphonie liturgique. The exciting; rhythmically tightly formed interpretations show Karajan to be an extremely form-conscious; textually faithful conductor of great expressive power. He spurs his orchestras on to top performances; but also acts as a sensitive and at the same time extremely present accompanist - for example in Brahms' Violin Concerto with Nathan Milstein or in Mozart's dramatically pointed C minor Concerto K. 491 with Robert Casadesus. As a digital bonus; the edition includes Bach's Mass in B minor; which Karajan celebrated at the end of the 1951 festival with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra; the Vienna Singverein and a top-class quartet of soloists (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Elsa Cavelti; Ernst Haefliger and Hans Braun): a stylistically distant; but nevertheless fascinating audio document due to Karajan's very personal approach. The sound of the live recordings on the 3-CD box set has been carefully restored. The 62-page; trilingual booklet contains essays by Wolfgang Rathert and Erich Singer on Karajan's new career start in the post-war years and on his special relationship with Lucerne Festival. It contains numerous previously unpublished photos.

REVIEW:

Included among the contents of this set are quite a few gems. Most unexpected but welcome is Brahms’s Violin Concerto with Nathan Milstein. Karajan and his Swiss Festival Orchestra are fully ablaze, Milstein’s tone typically lean and sinewy. Overall, this is an intriguing batch of musically worthwhile live Karajan discoveries, very well transferred from clean analogue sources.

— Gramophone