Karajan Official Remastered Edition - 1946-1949

The Karajan Official Remastered Edition comprises 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 and 1984, which are now a jewel of the Warner Classics catalog. This 10-CD box unites orchestral, choral, and operatic performances recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when Karajan's talent was first nurtured by EMI's legendary producer Walter Legge. Gramophone has said that these recordings 'vividly capture their troubled times and transcend them.'

For many, Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) - hailed early in his career as 'Das Wunder Karajan' (The Karajan Miracle) and known in the early 1960s as 'the music director of Europe' - remains the ultimate embodiment of the maestro. The release of the Karajan Official Remastered Edition over the first half of 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the conductor's death in July 1989 at the age of 81.

He was closely associated with EMI for the majority of his recording career (specifically from 1946 to 1960 and then again from 1969 to 1984). EMI's legendary producer Walter Legge sought him out in Vienna just after World War II and the long relationship that ensued embraced recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philharmonia (the orchestra founded by Legge), the Berlin Philharmonic (of which Karajan became 'conductor for life' in 1955), La Scala, Milan, and the Orchestre de Paris.

CD Listing:

CD 1: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro-Overture; Eine kleine Nachtmusik; Clarinet Concerto; Symphony No. 39

CD 2: Mozart: Adagio & Fugue; Adagio from Divertimento No. 17; Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8

CD 3: Mozart: Three German Dances, K. 605, No. 3 in C, Die Schlittenfahrt; Six German Dances, K.600, No. 5 in G, Der Kanarienvogel; Symphony No. 33 in B flat, K. 319; Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C, D. 944 'The Great'

CD 4: Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73; Mozart: Masonic Funeral Music, K. 477; R. Strauss: Metamorphosen

CD 5: J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus-Overture; An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314; Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437; Perpetuum mobile, Op. 257; Künstlerleben-Walzer, Op. 316; Wien, Wieb und Gesang, Op.333; Unter Donner und Blitz Polka, Op. 324; Der Zigeunerbaron Overture; Josef Strauss: Sphärenklange-Walzer, Op. 235

CD 6: Reznicek: Donna Diana Overture; J. Strauss II: Wienerblut-Walzer, Op. 354; Leichtes Blut Polka, Op. 319; Pizzicato Polka; Trisch-Trasch Polka, Op. 214; Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald, Op. 325; Josef Strauss: Transaktionen-Walzer, Op. 184; Delirien-Walzer, Op. 212

CD 7: Chabrier: España - Rhapsody; Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet-Fantasy Overture; Symphony No.6 in B minor; Op. 74 'Pathétique'

CD 8: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 (Choral)

CD 9: Mozart: Extracts from Don Giovanni & Le nozze di Figaro; Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana Intermezzo; Puccini: Manon Lescaut-Intermezzo; Mozart: Extracts from Die Zauberflöte & Die Entführung aus dem Serail; J. Strauss II: Extract from Der Zigeunerbaron Maria Cebotari; Smetana: Extract from The Bartered Bride Hilde Konetzni; Strauss: Extract from Ariadne auf Naxos Maria Cebotari

CD 10: Wagner Extracts from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin, Der fliegende Holländer & Tannhäuser; Strauss Extracts from Der Rosenkavalier & Salome