9 Symphonies (8 Lps)

BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER KARAJAN

I bought this particular Von Karajan set (there is a later recording by the Maestro of the 9 symphonies) because it was recorded when Deutsche Gramophone Gesellschaft (DGG) was using Mittel-Side (MS) miking to yield TRUE STEREO recordings in the late 50's and early 60's. The later recordings were mike using a forest of microphones which are merely multi-channel monaural, and I hate that. Sure, multi-miked, multi-channel recordings give one a sense of right-to left (because the instruments were PLACED in their right-to-left positions by the recording engineers not by the natural sound of a real orchestra playing in a real space. Such multi-miked/multi-channel (up to 48 channels in some instances) cannot convey the depth of the orchestra. Remember Stereo is a Greek word meaning "solid". As in three dimensional. That is width, depth, and height. Multi-miked/multi-channel gives one only width. As far as the performances are concerned, Von Karajan, was one of the greatest interpreters of Beethoven in the 20th century (along with Bruno Walter with the New York Philharmonic and Georg Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra). Karajan's performances are first rate on these 5 discs, and are at least the equal of the later re-recording by Karajan 20 years later.

Price: $372.98