Karajan/BPO: Beethoven 9 Symphonies ("Jubilee" Ed) - DG 643 501/508 (8-LP box)

$

115

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This is the 8-LP "Jubilee Edition" box set – a superb collector's copy – from Deutsche Grammophon (643 501/508, German pressing, tulip labels, stereo, oversize cloth box, original inner sleeves and includes the original inset and inner jackets) issued in 1968 and a beautiful special re-issue of Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker's first Beethoven Symphony cycle, recorded in the fabled acoustics of Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin during the winter of 1961/62 – a true landmark in the Beethoven discography and in gramophone lore.

The production values are quite impressive: a heavy cloth box with 8 individual jackets, each with a unique photo cover and with extensive liner notes on the reverse side of the jackets.

Wrote the eminent critic and Karajan biographer Richard Osborne of this cycle in the 1997 Awards issue of The Gramophone:

"Since it was Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic who, as it were, Set the ball rolling in 1913 with their very fine studio recording of the Fifth Symphony, it could be argued that the most important Beethoven Symphony recording in this new Beethoven Edition is not here in Vol. I but in Vol. 20 (reviewed below). Yet the 1961-2 Karajan set has its own historic importance and its inclusion in the new edition ahead of rival DG cycles by Abbado, Bernstein, Böhm, Gardiner and Karajan himself is not surprising.

"This was the first set of the Nine to be planned, recorded and sold as an integral cycle. It was initially released as an eight-LP subscription set, handsomely boxed and annotated. I remember well what a stir that caused. For though the price (£48) was merely a multiplication by eight of the cost of a premium-price LP, the idea of having to buy all nine symphonies at the same time was seen by some as an affront to choice, by others as a lure to insolvency.

"That the cycle would he something remarkable - very different from the somewhat bland and brutish account of the Seventh Symphony Karajan had recently recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic for RCA (10/60 nla) had been flagged in advance by the live concert cycles Karajan and the Berliners had given in Berlin, Paris, London and New York. "Karajan presented the symphonies plus high fidelity", Sir Neville Cardus wrote in one of his London reviews. Though he remained out of love with much that Karajan did and stood for, even he could not withhold a certain gasp of wonder for Beethoven playing of such pith and intensity.

"In fact, the conception itself had, to some extent, been modified. Where Karajan's 1950s Philharmonia Beethoven cycle (EMI, 1/90 - nla) had elements in it that owed a certain amount to the old German school of Beethoven interpretation, the new-found virtuosity of the Berliners allowed him to approach more nearly the fierce beauty and lean-toned fiery manner of Toscanini's Beethoven style as Karajan had first encountered it in its halcyon age in the mid-1930s. Nothing demonstrates this better than the 1962 recording of the Fourth Symphony, fiery and radiant as Karajan's reading had not previously been. and never would be again.

"The old shibboleth among writers and musiclans that the even-numbered symphonies were somehow less dramatic than the odd-numbered ones meant nothing to Karajan. His accounts of the Second. Fourth. Sixth and Eighth Symphonies were every bit as intense as their allegedly sturdier neighbours. Only in the Seventh Symphony's third movement Trio and the Menuetto of the Eighth Symphony where he continued to follow Wagner's idea of this as an essentially stately dance, a kind of surrogate slow movement did he deviate significantly from the Toscanini model.

"And it worked. True, the first movement of the Pastoral Symphony was a touch airless, lacking some of the easy wonderment of Karajan's old Philharmonia recording (4/54 nla). But, then, Toscanini himself had never managed to replicate the unique charm of his pre-war English recording (Biddulph, 5/94) with the BBC SO.

"Edward Greenfield's review of the set in February 1963 entered a number of caveats, some of which still pertain, though it is the lack of certain repeats and the non-antiphonal dispensation of the violins that worries me most nowadays. What so enthused EG was the urgency of the music-making, its vitality and, ultimately, a fierce sense of joy that had its natural point culmination in a thrillingly played and eloquently sung account of the finale of the Ninth.

"The playing of the new rejuvenated Berlin Philharmonic dazzled throughout (it still does), as did the recordings of the young Gunther Hermanns: clean and clear, and daringly (occasionally too daringly) 'lit' with a bright shimmer of reverberation. The recordings have always transferred effortlessly to CD and the present reissue is no exception.

"The new set has been finely annotated. To have essays by H. C. Robbins Landon and Robert Simpson is a considerable privilege and the historical annotations are interesting. The illustrations are all from contemporary sources, though the artists' iconography has been less carefully handled. The photograph of Karajan is that of the coiffured sage of the late-1970s, not the fiercely competitive 53-year-old with a crew-cut who made these remarkable recordings."

Included then are the following works of Beethoven:

Symphony No. 1 in C Major Op. 21 – rec. 27 December 1961

Symphony No. 2 in D Major Op. 36 – rec. 30 December 1961

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major Op. 55 "Eroica" – rec. 11 November 1962

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major Op. 60 – rec. 14 March 1962

Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 67 – rec. 9 March 1962

Symphony No. 6 in F Major Op. 68 "Pastorale" – rec. 13 February 1962

Symphony No. 7 in A Major Op. 92 – rec. 13 March 1962

Symphony No. 8 in F Major Op. 93 – rec. 23 January 1962

Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 "Choral" – rec. 8 October 1962

> with Gundula Janowitz (Soprano), Hilda Rössel-Majdan (Mezzo Soprano), Waldemar Kmentt (Tenor), Walter Berry (Bass Baritone), and the Wiener Singverein (Chorus Master: Reinhold Schmid)

The executive producer for these sessions was Elsa Schiller, the recording supervisor Otto Gerdes, and the engineer Günter Hermanns.

Included is a full-size, double-panel insert with an extensive introduction by H.H. Stuckenschmidt. The 8 individual jackets carry their own liner notes by Joseph Schmidt-Görg – all texts in German only.

PLEASE NOTE:

Even with minimal packaging this set will weigh over 3 kg. This means that outside of Europe the cost for shipping is about $60 USD, and that is just for standard airmail. Certified airmail (with a tracking number) costs $64 USD.

Those in doubt can visit the Spanish postal website (Correos.com), which is available in English. Although this listing states “free” shipping, it is not really free, of course. I have to pay for shipping like everyone else.

Anyway, all this to say that those who feel the price is high need to take the cost of shipping into account, so please keep this in mind when making a “best offer”. If you have any questions or doubts, feel free to write and I will be happy to help. Thank you.

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the heavy cloth box is EXCELLENT. The only real flaw concerns some scuffing to the Grand Prix du Disque sticker on the box front, and other very minor shelfwear. However, there are no seamsplits, corner breaks, owners' markings, bends, or other defects and the whole remains extremely solid, bright, and glossy – a truly fine collector's copy.

The condition of the 8 individual jackets is NM. Really, there are no flaws to speak of – they appear as new.

The condition of the 8 LPs is near-MINT throughout and playback is superb in all 8 – overall, these rate as truly fine collector's copies.

PLEASE NOTE:
This LP has been carefully cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine. All LPs are provided with a new Nagaoka (or Nagaoka-style) inner sleeve. The images I've provided are of the actual item you are potentially bidding on - these are not stock images or images I've taken from other sites. Bid with confidence!

PAYMENT:
Payment by PayPal is greatly preferred. Payment should be made within 5 days.

SHIPPING:
Shipping is free to anywhere in the world; this is true regardless of the number of LPs you buy, be it 1 or a 100. All LPs will be sent via standard airmail (7-10 days delivery). Note: There is no tracking number provided with standard airmail. Should you wish to have your item(s) sent via certified airmail (i.e., with a tracking number), please contact me.

FEEDBACK:
I will promptly leave feedback for all buyers. Please do not leave negative, or even neutral, feedback without first giving me an opportunity to resolve any dissatisfaction you might have with an item or transaction. I do understand that, on occasion, a buyer might believe the item description to be inaccurate or that a buyer may be disappointed in some other way regarding the sale. I promise I will do my very best to resolve any unhappiness you've experienced in your buying experience with me to your complete satisfaction. Thank you.

REFUNDS:
Returns are honored, and any buyer you makes a return will be refunded in full. Please contact me before making a return.

Please see my other classical LP and CD auctions, and feel free to write with any questions, I'll be glad to help.