I am new in this realm and know very little about specific conductors and the perceived value of their work. I am fascinated by such a massive box set undertaking as this one is, but I have only heard one album that he was a featured conductor on, which was a recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony (DG with rainbow cover), which I like. Can you tell me more about what puts you off regarding either this conductor or this box set project itself?
Re: Maria Callas Live box Anyone know why this 42 CD 3 BLU-ray set is so relatively inexpensive? It's around $100 on AMZ US. I paid $65 on AMZ US on the 14th. I listened to a couple discs and they are pretty good. Packaging is great etc., so why the low price?
Karajan is a polarizing conductor. Personally I am much more selective in what I keep fom him but I'm not anti Karajan. Edit: that is mostly because some of my favorite soloists have played under him.
For me, Karajan was at his best in the 60s. Many great recordings (the non-concerto and non baroque ones) of his to be found in that Era, while his 70s and 80s stuff do very little for me.
I have never liked Karajan, for too many reasons to mention here. I'll leave you with a link (quite the poisonous and very typical Norman Lebrecht) which sums up a lot of it, although it is exaggerated in many parts: Norman Lebrecht: The clapped-out legacy of Karajan that impoverished In the end though, leaving both real-world and orchestra politics aside, Karajan also tended to soak his work in this sugary sound that I simply could not and cannot stand.
Yes, definitely. Not everything Karajan did isn't to my taste (his early Beethoven work was quite spectacular ... and fast!), but I try to keep his name out of any conversation with (musical) friends who explode when they feel I'm attacking someone who, in their eyes, is a god-like figure. There is quite an interesting interview with Nikolaus Harnoncourt (German only, I'm afraid), his nemesis as he was perceived by many, who is quite forgiving. I was surprised when I read that, considering that Karajan, largely due to an older Harnoncourt interview, basically cut him out of his life and attempted to get him banned from performing here and there (especially the Salzburg festival): Klassik: »Er sah mich als Verräter«
John Williams - The Complete Album Collection $89.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UOFCG94/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I think Karajan's interpretations of Mahler are excellent. I also favour his Bruckner symphonies and the early Beethoven symphony cycle is one of the best. As you are 'new in this realm' you may not yet realise that, like other areas of cultural debate, classical music is full of 'politics'. The 70s & 80s saw the growth of a movement in favour of playing classical music on authentic instruments i.e. only using the instruments that existed at the time the composer wrote the work (for instance, only using the harpsichord, not the piano for Bach). A lot of the supporters of this style saw Karajan as their foe - his version of the Brandenburg Concertos being described as "big band style". I find his earlier EMI recordings refreshing and powerful. In some of his later DG recordings I accept the criticism that he had the orchestra take some of the movements excessively slowly - it was a stylistic mannerism he chose to indulge in. Some liked it, others didn't. Pleasure is in the ear of the beholder. But the way that some music critics (like Norman Lebrecht) have rubbished Karajan is iconoclasm at it's worst. Extreme critics are OTT in their attacks because they want the public to pay attention to their jottings. If they said they thought Karajan was "so-so" no one would bat an eyelid - so they say he is appalling, disgusting and other such nonsense. And of course, record companies and musicians which want to profit from interpretations which are different to Karajan's are keen to steer potential buyers away from Karajan (and his DG marketing machine). Karajan has many, many superb recordings to his credit and I am sure the capacity of his work to move and inspire listeners will survive when the names of his critics are long forgotten.
Like so much of Lebrecht this is overblown but not wrong. Karajan had real gifts as an interpreter, although these had ossified by the 1980s (I tend to avoid his digital recordings). And the Nazi stain can't be totally ignored, even if he wasn't quite as culpable as some others (e.g. Karl Böhm).
This has been out for a while now - it's 20 of the top selections from the BBC Legends series. It omits some of the essential recordings from the series though, some of which go for inflated prices (Like Barbirolli's "Live in Studio" Mahler 3).
Nice deal! This is probably close to being out-of-print and will probably approach the price of the Julian Bream set then.
The Mahler 3 I have from that BBC series is Barbirolli's recording at Free Trade Hall on 2 CDs, it's a superb performance.
But especially with Mahler, IMO. Sadly there's no box, but you can cobble together a near-cycle between Pye/Dutton (1st), Great Conductors of the 20th Century (2nd), BBC Legends (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th), & EMI/Warner (5th, 6th, 9th, and songs with Janet Baker). And there are plenty of pirate issues as well. There was a 10-CD issue a few years back, but it was pretty selective. A complete box from Warner would be most welcome (doubly especially if they can license the BBC material and others to be included)
