I checked on Discogs. There is no version listed that included bonus discs.
You should be able to tell from the numbering on the disc labels if they belong or not. There was a mid-60s mono reissue that included a single stereo sampler disc of catalog excerpts.
My original is an odd duck. The catalog number is SKL 101/7 which implies seven discs, but it really has eight discs, with an note printed in German (in a mono-space font no less) that says something along the lines of (but not exactly), “Dear subscribers. We promised you seven discs but were unable to fit everything so we had to put the symphonies on eight discs. Please forgive our transgression.”
Anyway, the first official [non-limited] release changed the catalog number to SKL101/8 (and KL101/8 for mono).
Maybe one of our German speakers here can translate. I suppose I could scan & Google translate it.
The artists and the art-obliatory technicians of the Germans Grammophon Society are proud of the high degree of completion of this work, for which they have campaigned with all their dedication.
So you will find with surprise that the cassette contains 8 instead of the announced 7 long-playing records, without changing the previously agreed price. This expansion had only proved to be valuable in the course of the last recordings. In this way, an internal unity could be achieved for each side of the plate.
So this comes up often on this forum - is there actually any proof that he ‘meddled’ with his DG recordings and that these otherwise would have sounded better? Not saying he didn’t, but there is so much questionable information about the man floating around. He surely had his megalomanic side, but on the other hand, was very popular with a few people whose opinion I value - for example, Leontyne Price is on record with saying Karajan was one of the kindest persons she ever met.
Massenet’s Hérodiade is one of his grand opéras and covers the story of John the Baptist and Salome. Unlike in Strauss’ Salome of 30 years later, John’s head doesn’t end up in an erotic dance here - he’s merely the catalyst for Salome stabbing herself after failing to kill Herodias for ordering his execution.
EMI’s 1995 recording effectively launched Ben Heppner’s popularity with the wider public and affirmed Cheryl Studer’s ascent to stardom. The recording sounds a bit muted as did many EMI recordings of the era, but listen through that and the performance remains impressive. Sadly, no-expense-spared studio recordings of this kind of repertoire are not likely to return any time soon.
Kindness and arrogance are not mutually exclusive characteristics.
It’s well known that Karajan forced his hand on recording/mastering sessions. Is there proof? I imagine there is in the form os statements from people who knew. But this isn’t just something made up my people talking on forums. Professional journalists have brought it up from time to time as well. Then there’s the part that Karajan’s DG albums from the 70s and on don’t sound very good, compared to similar efforts from other labels like Decca, EMI and Philips.
I’ve never doubted it, just based on how things of his sound in his later career with DG. He pretty much carried the label’s success that last two decades of his life and had a lot of clout with regards to production of his recordings.
OK, but just to add perspective: in the early 70s, DG and EMI moved their recording facilities from the Jesus Christus Kirche to the Philharmonie, which has proven to be a difficult location ever since. Around the same time, DG started experimenting with multimiking, but lacked a tonmeister of Volker Strauss’ quality to make it work. As a result, most of DG’s (and some of EMI’s as production teams were shared) recordings as of that time until the mid 80s took a nosedive in quality. Karajan was reportedly not very happy with some of the output, including the 80s Beethoven cycle. There is some sloppy editing in that cycle as well, which could have been Karajan in the editing room but in my view could just as well have been caused by his absence from it (he was very busy at the time, not in a happy place with the Berliner, and frequently ill as well).
Nevertheless, it’s well known that Karajan interfered in ways that made the tonmeisters unhappy. I don’t have your proof (without searching for it), but have read about it often enough over the years, from people who know better than me.
I broke out my strange subscriber’s copy and gave it a new two-stage cleaning on the Degritter I bought last summer. When I fist acquired this it had a bit of ticks and pops, but with multiple US cleaning those have largely disappeared.
This is a great set of great performances, and well recorded & mastered (with DGG’s all tube setup).
I know this is heretical to some of you, but I have that Karajan set on CD. I bought it a looong time ago. Maybe 1991 or so? Anyway, it was my first Beethoven box set when I was just starting to build a classical CD library. I liked it then and still do. There are more dynamic one-off recordings of some of the symphonies (Kleiber’s No. 5, Bernstein’s No. 9, etc.) but as a set it is incredibly solid IMO. No real weak spots. It serves as a sort of benchmark against which I measure other Beethoven symphony recordings. I’ll have to pull it out for a listen this week. Cheers!
Fair enough. I didn’t say it was the best I have heard, but I have certainly heard much worse! Personally, I’m more of an odd-numbered Beethoven symphony fan, at least if I am just going to sit down and listen. The 7th is my favorite. I am quite opinionated about how the 7th should sound!
Beatrice Rana’s latest CD combines Chopin’s second sonata and Beethoven’s Hammerklavier, op. 106. Charismatic and impressive performances, full of contrast and bravura, and a fantastic weight to the Beethoven.
Christian Gerhaher’s high baritone, eerily reminiscent of Fischer Dieskau at times, is ideally placed for Winterreise. As much as I love the voice, this interpretation isn’t really doing it for me - it sounds spontaneous, but a bit inconsistent and occasionally affected.
Nikolai Lugansky plays transcriptions from Wagner’s operas, using every pianistic trick in the book to simulate voices and a large orchestra, while sounding like this music belongs on the piano. It’s a showcase disc, of course, but great music and performance in its own right.
The 7th is my favorite. I am quite opinionated about how the 7th should sound!
