Karajan 70s

A great opportunity to obtain the works of a master conductor. The documentation does not have an index of the recordings by composer, hence this list to help explore the contents.Composer Piece Venue CD#~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~Bach Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6 Philharmonie CD 79-80Bach Magnificat Philharmonie CD 54Bach Mass in B minor Philharmonie CD 35-36Bach St. Matthew Passion Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 24-26Beethoven Symphony No. 1 Philharmonie CD 57Beethoven Symphony No. 2 Philharmonie CD 57Beethoven Symphony No. 3 Philharmonie CD 58Beethoven Symphony No. 4 Philharmonie CD 59Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Philharmonie CD 59Beethoven Symphony No. 6 Philharmonie CD 60Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Philharmonie CD 60Beethoven Symphony No. 8 Philharmonie CD 61Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Philharmonie CD 62Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (4th mvnt from 1960s) Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 13Beethoven Triple Concerto Philharmonie CD 75Beethoven Violin Concerto Philharmonie CD 74Berg 3 Orchesterstücke Op. 6 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 31Berg 3 pieces from Lyrische Suite Philharmonie CD 31Berlioz Faust: Ballet des sylphes; Menuet Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 12Berlioz Symphonie fantastique Philharmonie CD 37Bizet Carmen-Suite No. 1 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 4Bizet L'Arlésienne-Suites Nos. 1 & 2 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 4Borodin Prince Igor: Polovitsian Dances Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 10Brahms Symphony No. 1 Philharmonie CD 64Brahms Symphony No. 2 Philharmonie CD 65Brahms Symphony No. 3 Philharmonie CD 65Brahms Symphony No. 4 Philharmonie CD 66Brahms Tragic Overture Philharmonie CD 64Bruckner Symphony No. 4 Philharmonie CD 42Bruckner Symphony No. 5 Philharmonie CD 50-51Bruckner Symphony No. 6 Philharmonie CD 78Bruckner Symphony No. 7 Philharmonie CD 63Bruckner Symphony No. 8 Philharmonie CD 38-39Bruckner Symphony No. 9 Philharmonie CD 49Bruckner Te Deum Philharmonie CD 46Corelli Christmas Concerto Op.6 No.8 St. Moritz CD 1Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso Op. 66 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 12Gounod Faust: Ballet Music; La Valse Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 9Grieg Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 11Grieg Sigurd Jorsalfar Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 11Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 4 & 5 Philharmonie CD 44Liszt Tasso: Symph Poem #2 Philharmonie CD 44Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 12Locatelli Christmas Concerto Op.1 No.8 St. Moritz CD 1Mahler Das Lied von der Erde Philharmonie CD 21Mahler Kindertotenlieder Philharmonie CD 72Mahler Rückert-Lieder Philharmonie CD 72Mahler Symphony No. 4 Philharmonie CD 73Mahler Symphony No. 5 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 20Mahler Symphony No. 6 Philharmonie CD 40-41Mahler Symphony No. 9 Philharmonie CD 81-82Manfredini Christmas Concerto Op.3 No.12 St. Moritz CD 1Mendelssohn Hebrides (Fingals Cave) Overture Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 3Mendelssohn Symphony No. 1 Philharmonie CD 22Mendelssohn Symphony No. 2 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 23Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 3Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 27Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 27Mozart Coronation Mass K 317 Philharmonie CD 46Mozart Requiem Philharmonie CD 47Mozart Symphony No. 32 (Overture) K318 Philharmonie CD 67Mozart Symphony No. 35 Haffner Philharmonie CD 67Mozart Symphony No. 36 Linz Philharmonie CD 67Mozart Symphony No. 38 Prague Philharmonie CD 68Mozart Symphony No. 39 Philharmonie CD 68Mozart Symphony No. 40 Philharmonie CD 69Mozart Symphony No. 41 Philharmonie CD 69Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 Philharmonie CD 55Offenbach Gaité Parisienne (Excerpts) Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 9Orff De Temporum Fine Comoedia Leverkusen-Wiesdorf CD 28Ponchielli La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 10Resphigi Fontane di Roma; Pini di Roma Philharmonie CD 56Rossini Overtures Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 5Schoenberg Pelléas und Mélisande Op. 5 Philharmonie CD 30Schoenberg Variationen für Orchester Op 31 Philharmonie CD 31Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht Op. 4 Philharmonie CD 30Schumann Overture, Scherzo & Finale Op. 52 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 7Schumann Symphony No. 1 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 6Schumann Symphony No. 2 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 7Schumann Symphony No. 3 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 29Schumann Symphony No. 4 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 6Smetana Bartered Bride: Polka, Furiant, Dance Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 12Strauss, R Also sprach Zarathustra Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 19Strauss, R Don Juan Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 18Strauss, R Salome - Dance of the 7 Veils Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 18Strauss, R Till Eulenspiegels Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 18Strauss, R Tod und Verklärung Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 18Strauss, R Vier letzte Lieder Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 19Stravinsky Le sacre du printemps Philharmonie CD 53Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms Philharmonie CD 54Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin: Polonaise; Waltz Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 10Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Philharmonie CD 43Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty Suite Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 8Tchaikovsky Swan LakeSuite Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 8Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 Philharmonie CD 76Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 Philharmonie CD 76Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 Philharmonie CD 77Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 Philharmonie CD 52Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 Philharmonie CD 45Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 Philharmonie CD 48Torelli Christmas Concerto Op.8 No.6 St. Moritz CD 1Verdi Aida: Dances; Ballet Music Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 10Verdi Otello: Ballet Music Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 10Verdi Overtures & Preludes Philharmonie CD 70-71Verdi Requiem Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 14-15Vivaldi Four Seasons St. Moritz CD 16Vivaldi Concerti 4 violins op. 3: Nos. 7 & 8 St. Moritz CD 16Vivaldi String Concertos; Sinfonia b minor St. Moritz CD 2Wagner Siegfried-Idyll Philharmonie CD 51Weber Overtures Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 17Weber Invitation to the Dance Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 12Webern 5 Sätze op. 5 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 32Webern 6 Stücke für Orchester op.6 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 32Webern Passacaglia für Orchester Op. 1 Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 32Webern Symphony op. 21 Philharmonie CD 32misc. National Anthems Jesus-Christus-Kirk CD 13misc. Prussian and Austrian Marches - Wind Orchestra Philharmonie CD 33-34

Karajan as a conductor always focused on beautiful sound, first, and only then on interpretation. That gives his recordings some stunning sound, particularly in climaxes where he invariably would hit it as late as possible, but also left him open to accusations of being shallow. But, actually, as I have gotten older I find I tend to prefer great playing and beautifully judged "vertical" or harmonic moments as opposed to hard driving interpretations that also may have well calculated climaxes (Furtwangler, Celibidache) but tend to get messy.While his interpretations may have been middle of the road, the playing he got from his orchestras -- usually the Berliners in the stereo age -- was always stunning. The playing in the climaxes of the Tchaikovsky cycle -- try the finale to #3 or #4 or the middle of the first movement of #6 (Pathetique) still makes me laugh out loud because it is so good and so controlled.This box set contains all of Karajan's recordings from the 1970's on DG (no operas) and they all seem to be remastered. There is a greater depth in the recordings and less congestion in the climaxes. Inner detail is strong but not as strong as in the '80's box. There are complete Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky cycles, along with half a dozen of the best symphonies from the respective Bruckner and Mahler symphonies. Also, 3 discs of Second Viennese School that are great in their own way.There are also some oddities. The discs of Prussian and Austrian marches are wonderfully done, the Orff, which I had only on LP is an oddity, but the best that can be done for it, the recording of national anthems is just strange. Favorites from the old days include his traversal of the 4 Last Songs with Gundula Janowitz (better than ever), the Respighi disc (the trombones at the climax of Pines will take your breath away), the Mozart discs (big band, but stunning), The Bruckner #5, #7, and #8 -- never better. One piece that K never seemed to be able to master was the Farandole by Bizet, his version here is at least better than the 1980's version with an absurdly overmiked tambourine, but Szell still wins this piece.Karajan in the '70's seemed disappointingly thick back in the '70's on the original LP releases. All the recordings sound better this time around. Anyone interested in great orchestral playing should not hesitate.

I looked forward to this box with anticipation. In general, I am very pleased with the set. The presentation is what you would expect from DG: perfect. The quality of the discs themselves leaves a lot to be desired. I have to this date played nos 1 thru 14 and five discs are unplayable, or will only play after I put them in the player again and again. No 14, Verdi's Requiem, skips all over the place and will not continue at a certain point. The discs that are good are wonderful. The sound is excellent, the re-mastering beautifully done. I just wish that DG's quality control would match their recordings. This set will have to be returned after I listen to more discs to see which ones I have to replace. I will try to re-write this after I get a good copy of this set, which I certainly will like to keep.A few days later:I have arrived at CD 30 and no more problems have developed. However, the gentleman who suggested my player was broken, is wrong. I took the offending CDs to a different player and the same thing happened; in one case the player simply stated :"No disc". Furthermore, I have no problems with any of my 3500+ other CDs.A few comments:The Mendelssohn and Schumann symphonies CDs are absolutely wonderful. I always liked the performances, but the new remastered discs sound so much better. The wall behind the speakers light up in warm, spacious sound. The Richard Strauss symphonic poems also profit from the new compilation, as do most of the ballet discs. All in all, a wonderful addition to my library.

Es un lujo poder tener en un solo cofre las grabaciones de Karajan de los años 70 con el sello Deutsche Grammophon, una década donde la inmensa mayoría de los críticos coinciden en asegurar que el director austriaco realizó sus mejores grabaciones, estando en pleno apogeo vital y con la Orquesta Filarmónica de Berlín en estado de gracia. Por poner una serie de ejemplos en una inmensa lista de grabaciones destacar la insuperable interpretación de la Cuarta Sinfonía de Tchaikovsky, las sinfonías de Brahms, la Cuarta y Quinta Sinfonías de Sibelius, ...

カラヤンが終身常任指揮者の就任していた頃の60年代から70年代はまさに黄金期であり、特に70年代は最盛期であったのだろう。　自分は高尚な芸術性や崇高なる精神性をそこまで求めていない素人リスナーであるからアンチカラヤンの人達の意見については分からない。けれど、完璧な造形美を追求したカラヤンの演奏は素人リスナーには分かり易く染み渡りやすい響きだと感じるものだと思える。少なくとも自分はそう感じた。　カラヤンの音楽スタイルが如実に分かる曲と言えば、ヴィヴァルディの四季を始めとするバロック時代の名曲の演奏だろう。最近のバロック音楽の演奏と言えば小編成のオリジナル楽器によるシャープでライトな演奏が主流であるが、カラヤンはフルオーケストラによる弦楽器の音の絨毯で豪勢に奏でている。室内楽的な小品を大編成で大げさに演奏するのはカラヤンぐらいであろう。とにかくオーケストラは迫力満点の大仰な響きであるというイメージを持っている古楽器主流以前のモダン楽器至上リスナーにとってはドンピシャの演奏スタイルである。　このボックスは前作のモーツァルト等の室内楽的小品が大幅に占めていた60年代と比較してフルオーケストラを活かした大曲系の作品が多く揃っている。反面、ブルックナーやマーラーと言ったクラシック入門とほど遠い上級クラスの難曲も揃っていることから親しみやすい名曲が揃っている60年代とは評価が分かれることだろう。しかし、モーツァルト、ベートーヴェン、メンデルスゾーン、シューマン、チャイコフスキー等と親しみやすい定番の作曲家の作品もあることから曲目の充実度でいえば問題は無い。ともあれ70年代はカラヤンスタイルの完成形であり、カラヤン節を余すこと無く詰め込んだ時代である。カラヤンの黄金時代を音楽を通して堪能してみるのもいいだろう。

DG released this set of Karajan's 1970s recordings a little while ago as part of a set that joins with the 1930-1970 recordings, the 1980 recordings, and the opera recordings boxed. Like the others in the set, this is a well-produced, attractive box. Mine came in a strong, foam padded outer box that protected the inner box. Inside there's 82 discs arranged in four sections (chronologically, for the most part, it appears) as well as some additional booklet content that highlights Karajan's works in this decade for DG. Apart from the opera recordings, this box represents all the music released on DG with Karajan, probably at the height of both his output (about 8 discs a year on average) and his interpretive skills. You can argue that in the 1980s he played things a bit safer, and the 1970s showed his considerable skills across a wide swath of music.Back in the 1970s and 1980s if it was DG and Karajan, you knew you had a solid disc. Engineering was always great (pre-digital 1980s), music was widely varied, and Karajan (teamed with the BPO or VPO) was consistently one of the better interpretations of the music. Karajan was never know for how flamboyant or radical interpretations; they were always serving the composer in the best way possible (sometimes with a heavy Teutonic flavour!). In those two decades I was buying new LPs every week, and I don't recall ever being disappointed by a DG/Karajan recording. Sure, there were some interpretations I like better (Kleiber Beethoven 5, for example) but the Karajan was never a distant runner, always close to the top. Consistency was a byword for this conductor and label.Looking through the discs in this box (I won't go through all the contents as other reviewers have done that), I have practically every disc on at least LP or CD, and many on both. That alone is a tribute to the high regard to most of the classical music collectors held Karajan/BPO/VPO, and working through these discs, looking at those covers that seemed so attractive as a late teen or early twenties adult, rehearing music I may not have heard for decades, was a trip down memory lane: a very pleasant trip. I remember sitting raptly in my living room, reading the notes on the back of the LP jacket to learn more about the composer and the music (this was before Internet and before I could afford a set of Groves, of course), and the wave of nostalgia was pleasant. Many of my exposures to composers came through these discs: hearing music from lesser-knowns for the first time; hearing "modern" music for the first time! Karajan brought a whole world to my living room, and I was a rapt fan!The mastering on these discs is solid; the dynamics and clarity of the work shows how good DG engineers were in the analog and the early digital years. The performances are all solid, with nary a bad one in here. This isn't a cheap box, by any means, but it may be one of the most significant in my collection, reminding me of when I started collecting LPs (now numbering over 10,000 LPs and 10,000 CDs), when each acquisition was studied and analyzed and loved. And, when budget was tight, Karajan was the go-to for a solid recording of whatever piece I had heard on the radio and wanted to buy.I probably owe a lot of my love of classical music, and much of my early classical music education to HvK, and these discs bring back a wonderful time. Even now, I sit listening almost every evening, enjoying the mix of music, performance, and memory. A superb box set for anyone who wants to hear the master in his prime, and build a great collection of music.

By 1970, the year this collection begins, the position with Karajan in terms of the musical panorama was –with apologies to the late Frank Loesser-“Whatever Herbert wants, Herbert gets!”It had not always been so, and it had been a struggle along the way to put it mildly.After the struggles of the early 1930s, there followed a period of contentious success under the Nazi regime which involved his enforced membership of the party in 1935 (membership was officially closed in 1933 so as to benefit only “true believers” but there was an established process for those with the right connections to create false backdated applications, a practice which was rife and of which certain so-called historians and so called musicologists should have been aware!) but which ended with Karajan in disgrace for having married a wife who was half Jewish and continuing to programme proscribed works such as the St. Matthew Passion which made far too much reference to Jesus being a Jew!Thus the end of the war found Karajan as a fugitive from the Nazis, then under deep suspicion by the liberating Allies for his party membership.It is fair to state that Walter Legge was his salvation when he found him impoverished in a garret in Vienna, and Legge’s promotion of him revived his fortunes, and by 1956 he was both Lifetime Music Director of the BPO and Intendant of the Vienna State Opera.Still, all was not well with the Karajan project as recording was a major element in his artistic belief and EMI were not treating him with the respect he felt he was due, recording other conductors with the BPO and holding him to his contract to record with the Philharmonia.Walter Legge overplayed his hand through hubris, and made a series of misjudgements that meant EMI were very late entering the stereo recording scene, lost the loyalty of Karajan and ultimately, after the fiasco of his unilaterally disbanding the Philharmonia (or so he thought!) cost him his job and ended his career as a producer, other than for recordings by his wife Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, whose Manager and Agent he was.The flashpoint with Karajan was EMI’s insistence that he record Scheherazade, a piece he had never performed and with which he had no sympathy. This was the final straw in his refusal to enter into new contract negotiations-and EMI management were unbending in their position, with the result that he left-for DGG. Of course, by the time he left had not only entered into negotiations but had actually recorded for them, so how much of this was merely tactical politics of which Karajan was generally a master we can but surmise!!In the immediate post war era, “The German Gramophone Company” had been sold to Polydor, itself part of Siemens Holdings, and was something of a bit player in the cast that featured EMI, Decca, Columbia (CBS), RCA and Philips in the leading roles.The company that had once been owned by EMI and had used the HMV Nipper logo on its recordings now had no first division conductors and orchestras on its roster, though exclusive artists like Fricsay and Jochum were held in great esteem by the cognoscenti, and the radio orchestras that they had founded and led were first rate. Occasional opportunities to record Bohm and Konwitschny in East Germany were occasional and typical DGG releases featured conductors such as Ferdinand Leitner, Leopold Ludwig, Rosbaud, Hans Lowlein, Walter Born, Otmar Suitner and Carl Schuricht –fine artists all, and much admired today but they were not names to turn a recording into a bestseller!Their most successful releases were in fact legacies from the pre-war days-LP releases of remastered 78 releases by Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch with the BPO and VPO to for which they still had licences.New management at DGG in the late 1950s had bigger ambitions-an early ambitious release with a young up and coming conductor Lorin Maazel, with the BPO secured with Karajan’s gracious permission (I wonder why?). This Mono release ushered in a 40 year relationship with that great artist, but the transition came with the exclusive signing of the Karajan/BPO pairing-Karajan still recorded for Decca with the VPO of course.Karajan was daring from the outset and dragged an often reluctant DGG along on his coat-tails –there was real trepidation over the release in 1963 of the first ever complete Beethoven Symphonies set in a single box set, but Karajan’s judgement was entirely correct and it was a smash success-and recording after recording shared the same success so that by 1965 DGG was part of the leading Triumvirate along with EMI and Decca, certainly in Europe.The wheels fell of the wagon in late 1965 when Karajan’s ambitious Salzburg Ring project, complete with dedicated Festival, did not enthuse the management of DGG who unbeknown to Karajan had already contracted to record Bohm live in 1966 &67 in Bayreuth.I have recounted the background to this in some depth in my review of the eventual Karajan recording, but here it is only necessary to recount that Karajan felt betrayed and let it be known that he was open to approaches!It was Peter Andry of EMI who seized the opportunity, and negotiations took place wherein Karajan was basically promised free reign and limitless budget (within reason) by EMI.DGG had to respond, and in 1970 Karajan signed new “exclusive” contracts with both EMI and DGG, soon to become just DG with the formation of Polygram.We who have the temerity to express our opinions often refer to the Decca Sound or the Culshaw Sound in my case for he was the architect of the Decca recording philosophy.However, there is a very definite “Karajan Sound”-which as contemporary live recordings show is very different from what took place in the concert hall or opera pit.Karajan embraced recording with same viewpoint as Culshaw-he regarded it as a separate artistic form not in any way designed to replicate the concert experience, but in his case was the method of reproducing an idealised orchestral sound which was just not possible to achieve in live performance. I’m not referring to technical perfection-in fact Karajan was less concerned with this than one might think, as countless anecdotes from his associates confirm-but the balance of the orchestral sound, which I think of as “svelte.”The Karajan Sound was led by the cellos and violas, horns and trombones were restrained and subsumed into an integrated palette, trumpets sounded proudly, timps and percussion such as the tam-tam were there to subtly add weight, not to dominate, woodwind were forward and prominent, violin tone was homogenous (no Viennese “ dirty tone”) and huge!In a recorded performance, spontaneous gestures were eschewed in favour of a “reference “performance-the artistic ideal free from momentary influence!Throughout his career, Karajan was rarely persuaded to allow a live performance to be released-even filmed concerts had the “soundtrack” pre-recorded and what you hear is not what was being played at the concert that you are watching-this even applies to the DVD release of the 1987 New Year Concert.If anyone is left reading, I now turn to this set. From 1970 to 75 Karajan had his finest and happiest hours-he could perform and record whatever he wanted, with his own hand picked recording teams at both DG and EMI.In 1975 he suffered the critical back condition from which he never recovered and from then on was a martyr to constant pain-which if anything spurred him on to greater heights.The 82 Discs in this set replicate LPs which formed the original releases and covers are beautifully reproduced. The discs have all been re-mastered at 24Bits/96kHz-DG’s process which sets out to extract and enhance the original balance and sonics of the LP releases, and further balance adjustments have not been made. This is what DG refers to as “Original Image Bit Enhancement”-this is a mission statement not the description of a specific technical process.The recorded sound is vivid, rich and detailed as never before, backgrounds are generally silent throughout and any balance issues are the same as on the first release.In that sense, the recordings have not been improved; rather the reproduced sound has been enhanced.There are surprises aplenty-the Baroque recordings are far less unidiomatic than the HIP Police would have as believe and Karajan did employ smaller forces, the Beethoven Cycle is superb-arguably his best-I love his Mozart and always will, and we have the complete symphonies of Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann as well as ample Tchaikovsky and the popular classics by Bizet, Grieg & Rossini in which Karajan was a peerless interpreter.There are surprises-all the Verdi Overtures, a somewhat abstruse work by Orff which would benefit from a text inclusion (I can’t help feeling Karajan is regretting the whole undertaking throughout-with good reason!) , Austro-German Marches from pre-1914 including the Nibelungen March (a riot!) and the legendary Berg, Schoenberg and Webern recordings- which are sublime.Then there is Richard Strauss, Bruckner Symphonies including the only recorded 6th and Ninth and the only stereo 5th, none of which need any further recommendation-and the entire studio Mahler recordings, with the last discs of the set being the Ninth which I prefer marginally to the later live recording.Finally the Das Lied von der Erde receives the re-mastering it deserves, the sound clean and detailed and the original LP balance restored so that the glorious orchestra is not as distant as on the poor effort available all these years on Galleria!If one considers the contemporary EMI and Decca recordings and the complete opera recordings made during this decade, the effort and energy is preparing such a colossal body of work defies credibility-the average was over releases per year.In the present climate there will hardly be 10 new releases in a decade, on CD at least, though the Digital Concert Hall does provide a valuable platform-Karajan would have loved it for sure!Not everything on this set is ideal, even to the ears of his committed admirers, but the power, beauty and authority of the overwhelming majority of the discs in this compendium is of a level we can only dream of today. A genuine treasure trove! Stewart Crowe.

Bonjour à tous, veuillez excuser mon intervention, car je viens ici écrire non pas sur le coffret Karajan 1970 (qui est une pure merveille !), mais plutôt sur l’envoi effectué par Amazon.fr. En effet, mon coffret est arrivé dans un colis passablement malmené par La Poste, et à l’intérieur, mon coffret avait un coin enfoncé. J’ai donc retourné l’ensemble.Le coffret est juste « calé » par du papier froissé et il n’est pas suffisamment maintenu dans le colis. Le carton n’est pas assez solide non plus !Voilà, en effectuant une réclamation pour que les colis soient renforcés et que ma mésaventure serve à d’autres, on m’a gentiment indiqué qu’on ne pouvait pas faire autrement et que si je souhaitais le remplacement de mon coffret abîmé par un neuf, il arriverait très probablement dans le même état.Bref on m’a poliment demandé d’aller voir ailleurs, ce que j’ai fait !Avis aux amateurs, mais vous aurez peut-être plus de chance que moi. :-(Post-scriptum : Je mets 5 étoiles pour la qualité du coffret tant au niveau musical que technique. Les remasterisations sont excellentes.