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No-one less than Gustav Mahler recommended Otto Klemperer to the Hamburg Opera, Hans Pfitzner fetched the conductor to Strasbourg, Klemperer conducted the premiere performance of Korngold's The Dead City as Cologne's general director ofmusic – and as director of the Kroll Opera in Berlin he was responsible for the house's revolutionary programme. During the emigration years he studied composition in the United States with Arnold Schönberg. Otto Klemperer (1885-1973) was both passionate and reflective and his strict readings of scores turned concerts and recordings into almost monumental documents of his art – first and foremost those recorded in the last two decades of the conductor's life and in particular while interpreting the works of the great symphonists Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner.
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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am old enough to remember Klemperer's performances with the New Philharmomia in the Royal Festival in the early 1970s. Even then, when, sometimes he looked so ill that he would not even get through the piece, and seemed on occasions to be carried through by a loyal orchestra, he was capable of producing unforgettable moments. Of all these the most sublime was his conducting of the long slow movement in Bruckner's 8th symphony. No-one has ever, to my mind, come nearer to reaching the core of this symphony than Klemperer did on that occasion (though that performance was marred by savage cuts to the last movement). Therefore I was extremely interested to buy this box if only for this.
Although this, as most of the other cds in this set, was taken from a radio recording in the 1950s the sound is very clear and faithful; here we get Klemperer's insights and understanding of musical structure in a performance more lithe and flowing than that of his later years but wonderfully balanced as I remembered it, with chamber orchestra like sensitivity between (for example) horns and strings and the harp (an unusual instrument in Bruckner)
The contrast between the quiet end of the slow movement and the blazing start of the finale is particularly successful.
In this box we also get the wonderful performance of Bruckner's 7th with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra which alone sells on another label for £11.75: this famous performance was described by critics of the time as "song-like, full of streaming lyricism and powerfully shaped climaxes; the music sang and flowed in a manner that seemed to relate it to Schubert's symphonies."
Then we get the 1954 Cologne Bruckner 4. Klemperer conducted this on many occasions and recorded it several times. This is generally reckoned by far the finest of his performances of the work that survives: "dynamic, intense, concentrated and with his hallmark grasp of structure." (BBC music magazine).
So this box at under £9 would be a bargain if it only contained these 3 Bruckner symphonies. But also thrown in are all the Beethoven symphonies (which I have not yet listened to) a powerful performance of the Brahms 2nd piano concerto with Geza Anda, and a fascinating performance of Beethoven's 4th with Leon Fleisher, and strong accounts of Brahms symphonies 1 & 3.
So what are the snags? Only 1. There is no booklet of any kind - so there are no notes on the music and no information of the editions used in the Bruckner (I believe Klemperer used the Nowak edition). However, the orchestras and the dates of the performances are clearly marked on the sleeves and the track times are also listed there. The sound is mono but clear and natural, well balanced not only across the various orchestrasbut between the soloists and orchestras on the concerto disc - which in itself is a tribute to a remarkable conductor. If anyone wants to find out why as shrewd an impresario as Walter Legge brought Klemperer to Britain to conduct his Philharmonia and why the orchestra reformed under him when Legge tried to disband it, just let him/her listen to these cds.
Although this, as most of the other cds in this set, was taken from a radio recording in the 1950s the sound is very clear and faithful; here we get Klemperer's insights and understanding of musical structure in a performance more lithe and flowing than that of his later years but wonderfully balanced as I remembered it, with chamber orchestra like sensitivity between (for example) horns and strings and the harp (an unusual instrument in Bruckner)
The contrast between the quiet end of the slow movement and the blazing start of the finale is particularly successful.
In this box we also get the wonderful performance of Bruckner's 7th with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra which alone sells on another label for £11.75: this famous performance was described by critics of the time as "song-like, full of streaming lyricism and powerfully shaped climaxes; the music sang and flowed in a manner that seemed to relate it to Schubert's symphonies."
Then we get the 1954 Cologne Bruckner 4. Klemperer conducted this on many occasions and recorded it several times. This is generally reckoned by far the finest of his performances of the work that survives: "dynamic, intense, concentrated and with his hallmark grasp of structure." (BBC music magazine).
So this box at under £9 would be a bargain if it only contained these 3 Bruckner symphonies. But also thrown in are all the Beethoven symphonies (which I have not yet listened to) a powerful performance of the Brahms 2nd piano concerto with Geza Anda, and a fascinating performance of Beethoven's 4th with Leon Fleisher, and strong accounts of Brahms symphonies 1 & 3.
So what are the snags? Only 1. There is no booklet of any kind - so there are no notes on the music and no information of the editions used in the Bruckner (I believe Klemperer used the Nowak edition). However, the orchestras and the dates of the performances are clearly marked on the sleeves and the track times are also listed there. The sound is mono but clear and natural, well balanced not only across the various orchestrasbut between the soloists and orchestras on the concerto disc - which in itself is a tribute to a remarkable conductor. If anyone wants to find out why as shrewd an impresario as Walter Legge brought Klemperer to Britain to conduct his Philharmonia and why the orchestra reformed under him when Legge tried to disband it, just let him/her listen to these cds.
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
For anyone else fancying this Klemperer there's some very good live/off-air stuff in it but also some EMI material in less good sound than "official" releases.
For me this was worth buying for an extremely uncomprosing Bruckner 8. A sort of anti-Jochum (I love Jochum but the counter view is interesting).
Full content is as follows
Beethoven 1, 2, 6, 8 - Philharmonia live in Vienna (1960)
Beethoven 3, 4, 9 - Cologne RSO live (1954-1958)
Beethoven 5, 7 - Philharmonia 1955 EMI recordings (not the ones from the complete cycle)
Beethoven Egmont - Philharmonia 1957 EMI recording
Brahms 1 - Cologne RSO live (1955)
Brahms 3 - Philharmonia 1959 EMI recording - but see Graham's post below
Bruckner 4, 8 - Cologne RSO live (1954-1957)
Bruckner 7 - Vienna SO live (1958)
Concertos - Cologne RSO live (1954-1956)
For me this was worth buying for an extremely uncomprosing Bruckner 8. A sort of anti-Jochum (I love Jochum but the counter view is interesting).
Full content is as follows
Beethoven 1, 2, 6, 8 - Philharmonia live in Vienna (1960)
Beethoven 3, 4, 9 - Cologne RSO live (1954-1958)
Beethoven 5, 7 - Philharmonia 1955 EMI recordings (not the ones from the complete cycle)
Beethoven Egmont - Philharmonia 1957 EMI recording
Brahms 1 - Cologne RSO live (1955)
Brahms 3 - Philharmonia 1959 EMI recording - but see Graham's post below
Bruckner 4, 8 - Cologne RSO live (1954-1957)
Bruckner 7 - Vienna SO live (1958)
Concertos - Cologne RSO live (1954-1956)
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Otto Klemperer(OK) was one of the last century's greatest conductors,and this box set is a super bargain--in fact,most of the performances here can be bought individually,each one costing more than the total of this 10cd set.Performances are taken from radio broadcasts,but in all cases are very fair sonically(mono,of course)but here we have a younger,faster,more dynamic OK than would be the case in his later years.
The Bruckner 8 alone is worth the price--a recent 3 cd set of OK's Bruckner didn't have an 8,a great pity--and when you consider all of the other material,this is a great buy.Well worth the modest outlay.
The Bruckner 8 alone is worth the price--a recent 3 cd set of OK's Bruckner didn't have an 8,a great pity--and when you consider all of the other material,this is a great buy.Well worth the modest outlay.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Legendary Klemperer performances on CD
I came across this CD-set purely by accident! While I stayed in Vienna last march due to my concerts there. I had some rehearsals near the Maria Hilferstrasse. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Peter Ritzen
Klemperer - The legacy as strong as ever
This wonderful collection of recordings adds strongly to my exisiting collection, in that it shows his mastery of the live concert, despite his physical frailty. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Big Chris
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