Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K551 'Jupiter'

Celebrated as an outstanding conductor in an era of great conducting, Walter favored the Austro-German repertory all well-represented in this collection. While he championed the works of Mahler and actively sought new music for much of his life his fame lay in his exquisite recordings of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

This collection includes 8CDs of his finest recordings and a new 60 minute audio documentary recounting the great conductor and aspects of his life.

Treating his players as colleagues, he drew a sensuous tone from the orchestra, employing rubato with consummate skill, juxtaposing fierce drama and warm lyricism. He sought to penetrate ‘to the core’ of a composition and, detesting ‘routine’ performances, continually endeavored to present a piece ‘as if it were receiving its world première’.

BRUNO WALTER – THE MASTERY BEHIND THE MAGIC

(60 minute audio documentary)

Bruno Walter stands in history as one of the few conductors who is almost unfailingly described as inspirational by those who performed with him. Often it has been said that he cast a magic spell over musicians, in a different way but to a similar extent as Wilhelm Furtwangler, Sir Thomas Beecham and, nearer our own time, Carlos Kleiber. But there was far more than just magic behind the acclaimed results he achieved, as is borne out by the contributors to this feature who from their personal experiences recall the mastery as well as the inspiration behind Bruno Walter’s music making. There are memories from former members of the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with recollections stretching as far back as 1929, and there is music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Mahler.

5 April 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert von Karajan, the legendary Austrian-born conductor who achieved a position of musical supremacy as director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra that made him one of the most famous and celebrated conductors of the second half of the twentieth century.

While the majority of his symphonic recordings were made for Deutsche Grammophon, von Karajan also recorded for Decca and EMI during the 1950s and 1960s. This set is reissued to mark this momentous anniversary and contains all of his orchestral recordings made with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca during the late 1950s/early 1960s.

One of the most celebrated of these – and a composer he was closely identified with, is Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra – a recording heard by countless people around the globe as the opening was used on the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There can be few, if any, musicians who have singlehandedly done so much in the establishment of resources for musical performance than Sir Thomas Beecham.

During WWI he conducted and supported financially both the Hallé and London Symphony Orchestras and the Royal Philharmonic Society. In 1915 he formed the Beecham Opera Company which trained many young British singers in this field. Eight years later this became the British National Opera Company and was absorbed into Covent Garden in 1932 when Beecham returned to be its Musical Director.

To quote David Cairns “We are nationally and individually a more musically aware people because of him and what he gave us”. A forceful statement, true, but whose life could ever challenge it?

Dissatisfied by conditions and practices, notably the supply of deputies for rehearsals, prevalent in British orchestras, he formed the London Philharmonic Orchestra that same year. Beecham was now able to be at the fulcrum of all developments in music in Britain. WWII put an end to this halcyon period. With Covent Garden shut he travelled, primarily in America, and did not return to Britain until 1944. The London Philharmonic had now become a self-governing body so Beecham, then aged 67, launched the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This was the orchestra with which he committed to disc so many classic recordings with which EMI Classics marks the 50th anniversary of his passing.

It is true that Beecham had particular favourites in composers – Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz, Bizet and Puccini spring immediately to mind; also his love for Handel – even though his performances were always BIG-scale! He was an early champion of Richard Strauss and became a most effective exponent of Sibelius. His name will always be inextricably linked with that of Delius whose music Beecham seemed to know better even than the composer and it is appropriate that they are buried not far apart in the graveyard at St. Peter’s Parish Church, Limpsfield, Surrey.

He was knighted in 1916, the year he succeeded to his father’s baronetcy, and made a Companion of Honour in 1957.This affable, brilliant, usually charming, ever-communicative, quick-witted – even, at times, to the point of cruelty, dedicated conductor was also the most gifted executive musician England has ever produced.

He was fortunate that his grandfather, a chemist, had created the highly successful pharmaceutical manufacturing business which bore his name. His father, who had started in the company whilst still a teenager, was also fond of music so he was prepared to fund his son’s enthusiastic appetite to attend operas and concerts both here and abroad.

Born on 29th April 1879 in St. Helens, he attended public school at Rossall where his talent at the piano became a legend (the only boy ever to have been allowed a grand piano in his study!). From there he briefly attended Oxford (Wadham) but the composition classes, with Charles Wood in London and Moszkowski in Paris, were funded privately. As a conductor he was purely self-taught.

He formed an orchestra in his home town and deputised for Richter at a Hallé concert when his father was mayor. His career path was clear: he would use his financial resources to support the art which he enjoyed with the aim of bringing it to as many as possible.

At the age of 30 he launched the Beecham Symphony Orchestra, all young and carefully chosen. They would tour, play for opera and ballet and give concerts of adventurous music. London duly welcomed him for a season of intensive opera performances and over the next three years introduced many new ones to British audiences, including by Strauss, Delius and the Russians. He also brought Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes starring Nijinsky and Karsavina to the British stage.

Herbert von Karajan, the legend! Spectacular 10 CD Classic-Box! He was one of the most significant and well-known orchestra leaders of the 20th century.

He was working with big and famous symphonic orchestras in all well-known operas all over the world. This Box contains a representative profile of his creation.

On this budget-priced 10-CD set, the legendary Austrian conductor Bruno Walter performs major works by Mahler, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. The recordings cover the years between 1935 and 1960, and they feature the Columbia Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras. Amongst the soloists are some of the greatest artists of their time, including Kathleen Ferrier, Lauritz Melchior, Rudolf Serkin, and Nathan Milstein.

Cultivated, sensitive and technically brilliant, Bruno Walter the musician may be reckoned among the most influential conductors in musical history, particularly in view of his definitive interpretations of works by Mozart and Mahler. But his readings of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner and Mendelssohn also provide evidence that the Berlin-born Walter was an outstanding craftsman in sound.