Vienna Philharmonic Archive
MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 in c minor “Resurrection” – Vienna Philharmonic/ Zubin Mehta/ Ilena Cotrubas, sop./ Christa Ludwig, contralto – Decca audio-only Blu-ray
Another spectacular Mahler Second, this time in hi-res stereo on Blu-ray.
Audio News for April 22, 2014
Opera and Symphony Ouches; Blaupunkt Adds Multimedia Head Unit with Navigation; New Record in Recycling; Sony Picks Up Hi-Res Audio Efforts
Daniel Barenboim New Year’s Concert 2014 = Music by the STRAUSS family; also HELLMESBERGER: Viellebchen Polka; R. STRAUSS: Mondscheinmusik aus Capriccio; LANNER: Die Romantiker Walzer; DELIBES: Pizzicati from Sylvia – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Daniel Barenboim – Sony Classical (2 CDs)
The high spirits and the excellent ensemble sparkle at the 2014 New Year’s Concert, which has everything but the actual champagne.
Audio News for March 4, 2014
PS Audio New DirectStream DAC; Classical Music News; Sony Sells Off Buildings
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in c; Symphony No. 7 in A – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Carlos Kleiber – DGG audio-only Blu-ray
It’s hard to complain about this magnificent reissue, no matter what format it comes in.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor; Symphony No. 7 – Geza Anda, piano/ Cologne Radio-Sym. Orch./ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Hans Knappertsbusch – Tahra
An opportunity to hear the late Geza Anda in concert with Hans Knappertsbusch in 1962.
Huberman: Complete BACH and MOZART Recordings = BACH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor; Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major; MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major; Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major – Bronislaw Huberman, v./ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Issay Dobrowen/ NY Philharmonic/ Bruno Walter (K. 218) – Pristine Audio
The “controversial” but ever-exciting violinist Bronislaw Huberman has his Bach and Mozart inscriptions collected and remastered in a most ingratiating collection.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Bruno Walter – Pristine Audio
Andrew Rose breathes even another life into the classic 1938 Bruno Walter performance of Mahler’s last-completed symphony, itself a paean to dying man and a beleaguered vision of civilization.
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C Major; BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Herbert von Karajan – ICA Classics (2 CDs)
Herbert von Karajan leads the Vienna Philharmonic in London, 1962, a concert that critics at the time applauded for its “Noble Height” in Bruckner.
Audio News for March 15, 2013
Settlement With Google for Violating Privacy Rights; New FCC Rules Make It Difficult to Get Cable Channels Without a Cable Box; Vienna Philharmonic to Disclose Its Nazi Past
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 – Hilde Güden, sop./ Rosette Anday, mezzo-soprano/ Julius Patzak, tenor/ Alfred Poell, bass/ Vienna Philharmonic and Singakademie/ Wilhelm Furtwängler – Tahra
One of four famous Furtwängler traversals of this work, remastered for SACD.
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor – Vienna Philharmonic/ Sergiu Celibidache – Wiener Symphoniker
A rare document from the Vienna Symphony archives, a reading by a still-developing Sergiu Celibidache in the Brahms C Minor Symphony, a reading of more persuasion than sheer epic power.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C Major; Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Leonore Ov. No. 3 in C Major – Berlin Philharmonic Orch. (Op. 21)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Wilhelm Furtwangler – Pristine Audio
The restored Beethoven Second under Furtwaengler from London warrants our admiration and devotion, a most conscientious application of technology to musical history.
New Year's Concert 2012, Blu-ray (2012)
Sumptuous videography and excellent lossless 5.1 surround make this New Year’s musical experience a winner.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 “Choral” – Dame Joan Sutherland, sop./ Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano/ James King, tenor/ Martti Talvela, bass/Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Vienna State Opera Chorus/ Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt – HDTT
Transferred from a London 4-track commercial tape, the HDTT remastering of the 1965 Beethoven Ninth from Vienna evinces heroic power in every movement.
Salzburg Festival Opening Concert 2012, Blu-ray
We’ve come a long way to get an opening Festival concert like this.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, “Scottish” – Vienna Philharmonic/ Gustavo Dudamel – vinyl
VIVA vinyl!
R. STRAUSS: Alpine Symphony; Songs, Blu-ray (2011)
Astounding beautiful reading of the Alpine Symphony, and Fleming is a rarified bonus.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major “Eroica” – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Wilhelm Furtwängler – Tahra
The CD layer is a slight improvement but the SACD layer is unlistenable.
Hans Knappertsbusch conducts the Vienna Philharmonic = Works of TCHAIKOVSKY, WEBER, SCHUBERT, J. STRAUSS & Others – Guild
The great Wagnerian and Brucknerian dons a light waistcoat and takes on an extended New Year’s program in flamboyant colors.
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1; Variations on a Theme by Haydn; Three Hungarian Dances – Vienna Phil. Orch./ Wilhelm Furtwangler – Pristine Audio
Excellent restoration of an important Furtwangler recording. (Even available in ambient stereo if you want.)
BRUCKNER: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 – Vienna Philharmonic/ Carl Schuricht – EMI Classics Signature Series (2 discs)
Another exceptional 96/24 remastering of historic recordings to stereo SACD.