Released 1963 (1963) Release date 1963 Genre Classical music | Length 332:05 Label Deutsche Grammophon | |
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Recorded December 1961 (1961-December) – November 1962 (1962-November) Artists Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Classical music albums Elect the Dead Symphony, Days of Future Passed, Dimensions, This England, Ça Ira | ||
Karajan: Beethoven Symphonies (1963) is a set of studio recordings made between 1961 and 1962 by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan. It is the second of four cycles of Beethoven's nine symphonies that von Karajan conducted, and the first of three for the German record label Deutsche Grammophon.
Contents
The complete set was first released in 1962 in Europe, and as a result the cycle of symphonies is not generally known as the 1963 cycle. This distinguishes it from a 1977 cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies made by the same combination of orchestra and conductor for the label Deutsche Grammophon and a subsequent cycle issued using the then-prevailing 16-bit digital recording technology, also for Deutsche Grammophon, in 1984. A fourth audio-visual cycle, issued originally on Laserdisc by Sony Classical, was completed not long before his death in 1989.
The recording
The '1963' cycle of Complete Beethoven Symphonies remains available in the CD and digital download formats, rather than the original release format of the 33rpm LP format. The 8-LP set on release in 1963 in the USA retailed for $47.98, while a weekly average salary in 1963 was $114.
The cycle is usually now presented across 6 CDs. 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 von Karajan as a benchmark in this repertoire.
Recording technology in the sphere of recording 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 Deutschmark 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, Elsa Schiller. 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 location of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin was a venue often used by this label for its studio recordings of this orchestra and conductor during the 1960s until the 1980s.
A figure of 1 million complete sets sold in the first 10 years has been claimed.
Songs
1Symphonie Nr 1 C-dur - op 21: 1 Allegro molto - Allegro con brio9:34
2Symphony No 1 in C major - Op 21: II Andante cantabile con moto5:54
3Symphonie Nr 1 C-dur - op 21: 3 Menuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)3:58