Tannhauser was indeed produced by Ray Minshull. (I just checked in Discogs to make sure).
I would just like to add that it is superb. Listened to it yesterday on Qobuz and am now on a hunt for a ‘MINT’ vinyl copy.
1 Like
I have the Kubelik Mahler as a 24/96 download. And by the way, I have the Grumiaux Quintet playing Mozart. Paid full price for three CDs way back when.
You can get a high res (96 kHz 24 bit) download on Presto for about £20. But perhaps you already did that!
1 Like
Watched these two laserdiscs, the 3rd Symphony yesterday evening and the Violin Concerto at lunchtime today:
Played them back on my Pioneer CLD925 LD player, which is connected to my Supernait 3 via my Naim DAC. Sound excellent.
1 Like
I hope that you enjoyed them, Dutus. I have never seen them and, as I have no means to replay those discs, I don’t suppose that I ever shall.
I also happen to think that Karajan’s recordings became ever less interesting with the passing of the years. As a young man, he made a superb set of all the Beethoven Symphonies for EMI in London (Kingsway Hall on Holborn, I imagine) with Walter Legge’s newly-formed Philharmonia, of which he and Klemperer were de facto principal lead conductors. I have that set on very early Japanese-pressed CDs.
His best Beethoven cycle was probably his second, made for DGG in/around 1963, shortly after he had achieved his life’s aim, principal conductorship of the Berlin Philharmonic after Furtwængler’s death, which flits in and out of the catalogues over the years.
(For completeness, he then made another DGG/Berlin PO set in 1977, for no obvious reason, as it didn’t change much from the 1963 set. He (inevitably) made another new set in 1983/4 using digital recording techniques to mark the arrival of the Compact Disc (“All else is gaslight” was his famous comment), but the recordings were empty, soulless affairs, ironically not very well recorded. Finally, not long before his terminal falling out with his Berliners and his own death, Sony released a last (fifth!) set recorded to highlight some even newer technology, LaserDisc (I think), which are those pictured.
(Here endeth the lesson!)
1 Like
It occurs to me that the Karajan/Berlin 1963 DGG cycle, which I have just been discussing, came out at the perfect time in the post-WWII British consumer boom. It was as much part of the typical, aspirational middle class household as The Beatles’ ‘Hard Days Night’ and Help!’ films and soundtrack albums, the Morphy Richards automatic kettle, central heating and ‘I’m Backing Britain’ (does anyone else remember that?). (Maybe even wife-swapping parties as well, but I was too young at the time to witness any of that for myself!)
1 Like
Need a copy for my LP12, all streaming is courtesy of Qobuz🙂
1 Like
I heard about parties where you threw your car keys in a big bowl at the front door when you arrived and then later waited to see who showed up at your car with the keys for it.
But I never seemed to get invited to one of those!
Yes, I have heard of (but never attended) such parties. Not much point in my going to one these days, as I decided no longer to have a car when I moved out of London to Brighton just over a decade ago. I miss having one far less than I thought that I would, and I really don’t need one in Brighton at all any more.
Just a minor point but that early Karajan DGG Beethoven cycle is ‘61/‘62, not 1963. I have a first pressing numbered subscriber’s edition (even before they affixed the Grand Prix du Disque sticker on the cover). The insert lists all the recording dates as Dec. ‘61 - Oct. ‘62. The year of recording is also stamped in the deadwax, as are a lot of the 60s/70s DGG/DG pressings.
This is a great set. The second DG recordings of the ‘70s were also good, but not as good as the first DGG ones.
Thanks for the correction, JDP. I’ve been away from home for over a year now (but may be going back soon), so am relying on ageing brain cells!
2 Likes
Hi graham55
Yes I did thanks. I have the 1st & 8th symphonies on order. They’re probably available on DVD, but the sound on the laserdiscs is likely to be better.
You have a point about Karajan’s later recordings, although I wouldn’t agree 100%. That EMI Beethoven set with the Philharmonia is indeed excellent, and there are many who think that the 1963 set is the best of the DG ones. The 1977 set has its good points and I particularly like the “Eroica”. As regards the 1983/4 digital set, I think the one that comes off the best is the 8th.
I have the 1977 set remastered on two Blu-Ray audio discs and it sounds all the better for it. I also have the '63 set on Blu-Ray audio.
The nice thing about the 1982 “Eroica” on the laserdisc is that it’s a recording of a live performance.
Towards the end of his life, Karajan’s hearing deteriorated and evidently he had the DG engineers tweak his recordings (he always liked to get “involved”) when they were being mastered to improve the treble. However, DG kept the “unimproved” recordings, which they can now release.
I was fortunate to see Karajan live with the B.P.O. in London on the occasion of his last visit. They played Schoenberg’s “Verklarte Nacht” and Brahms’ 1st symphony.
Hello, Dutus, I never had the pleasure of seeing Karajan conduct live, but probably not many Forum members got to see the unmatchable Carlos Kleiber, as I did on one single treasured occasion, the second of two concerts (Milan and London) when he conducted his chum Claudio Abbado’s London Symphony Orchestra. One of the highlights of my life.
I’ve been on a classical bender this evening so took a moment to divert to this Jeff Buckley album. I’m listening on QOBUZ high res. Good grief! Good grief! How have I never heard this before?
You lucky bugger!
Kleiber is indeed unmatchable. I love his recording of Weber’s “Der Freischutz” and have just acquired his 1989 V.P.O. New Year’s Day concert on 2 CDs and have ordered his 1992 one on laserdisc (which has yet to arrive).
I also have the set of his complete DG recordings (which of course includes the aforementioned Weber).
I have been saying this for so long now, that I’ve stopped bothering. Best rock album (if that’s the correct definition for something so ‘one off’)) ever made. A true genius, and his drowning is one of the saddest events in by lifetime. The six times I saw him in concert (mostly small clubs) were amongst the highlights of my life.
I have also been singing the praises of Carlos Kleiber (whom I only got to see the once, on his only ever orchestral concert in London). You might want to listen to some of his records.
1 Like
If you want to get all Carlos Kleiber’s recordings (sadly, nowhere near as long a list as it should be), you need to find his only ever EMI release, on which he conducts Sviatoslav Richter in Dvorak’s seldom played Piano Concerto. Not easy to find, but I saw it not long ago on the German Amazon site.
That was intended as the first in a long list of recordings for EMI, which sadly never happened.
I shall keep a look out for it - cheers!
I looked for the Kleiber/Richter thingy on the German Amazon site just now. There are two copies shown as not available, but on the fourth or fifth page, there is a CD shown as available.
1 Like