Brahms, Johannes/Beethoven, Ludwig van/Strauss, Richard: Karajan conducts... (Naxos Historical Audio CD)

Concertgebouw Orchestra,Amsterdam
Herbert von Karajan, conductor


All tracks recorded between 6th and 17th September, 1943 in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Karajan’s war-time recordings took him to Berlin, Dresden and Turin and, in 1943, to Amsterdam to work with the highly renowned Concertgebouw Orchestra, a great orchestra then as now.

This exciting account of Brahms’s First Symphony, with its impeccable ensemble and intense, singing engagement with the music’s linearity, more than holds its own in the light of Karajan’s four later recordings, made in London, Vienna and twice in Berlin.

It is here coupled with a potent Leonore Overture No. 3, notable for its off-the-leash impetuosity, and a seductive and tension-filled excerpt from Salome.

“Mark Obert-Thorn’s work seems to have the edge in transparency: try the second movement, around the five minute mark, to hear just what the Karajan of 1947 could achieve texturally...One really receives the impression of Brahmsian vastness…..This performance is forever recommended. That Naxos has provided a transfer at such price and quality zooms the recommendation in on this issue.”
MusicWeb International on 8.111038