Karajan: Beethoven Symphonies (1963)

Background#

The 1963 complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies remains available in the vinyl, CD and digital download formats. The eight-LP set on release in 1963 in the U.S. retailed for $47.98, The cycle is usually now presented across five CDs. It is available in 24-bit/96 kHz high definition sound on six hybrid Super Audio CDs or one Blu-ray audio disc, the latter two also containing a rehearsal session for the ninth symphony. The 1962 cycle has been cited for the particular commitment and driven energy of the playing by the orchestra, which was considered to mark high new standards among European orchestras. Critics cited the interpretation of Karajan as a benchmark in this repertoire. Recording technology in the genre of orchestral and concerto repertoire had also seen numerous advances in the preceding years, with the advent of tape from the mid-1950s as the medium for recorded music, which facilitated better fidelity and easier editing, together with advances in microphone technology and superior playback technology. Richard Osborne, music critic and biographer to Herbert von Karajan, cites “astronomical” recording costs in the venture, with a figure of 1.5 million Deutsche Mark expended to make the recordings. Estimates at the time indicate a requirement to sell 100,000 LP boxed sets to recoup the costs. The head of a rival classical music recording company, EMI, suggested that Deutsche Grammophon was “heading for a colossal financial catastrophe”. The executive producer of the set was Deutsche Grammophon’s head of artists and repertoire, . Each recording in the cycle was engineered by Günter Hermanns, with production by Otto Gerdes (Nos. 1, 2, 8) and Otto Ernst Wohlert (Nos. 3–7, 9). The in Berlin Dahlem was often used by this label for its studio recordings of this orchestra and conductor during the 1960s until the 1980s. A figure of one million complete sets sold in the first ten years has been claimed.

External links#

• “Karajan: Beethoven Symphonies (1963) – remastered at 24 bit / 96 kHz