Karl Bohm The Unreleased Berlin Recordings 1962 (2 LP)

180-gram gatefold double LP!
Limited numbered edition!
Previously unreleased!
Karl Böhm was 68 years old when, on October 29, 1962, he took up the baton in the legendary Saal 1 (Studio 1) of the broadcasting corporation on Kaiserdamm Strasse in Berlin to conduct the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester. The program comprised Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms and Tod und Verklärung ("Death and Transfiguration"), a tone poem by Richard Strauss. For decades, Böhm had finely worked each melodic line, each harmony, each tempo.
Born in 1894 in Graz, Austria, Karl Böhm lived through most of the twentieth century, leaving us an oeuvre which honours both the traditions of German music and the outstanding treasures of the finest musical aesthetics of his century. Böhm began his musical studies at the conservatoire of Graz before going on to Vienna to study under Eusebius Mandyczevski, a composer, musicologist and close friend of Brahms. In 1921, under the guidance of Bruno Walter, his career truly took off when he entered the Munich Opera. With his volatile temperament, irascibility, and a perfectionism that left him perpetually dissatisfied, he tended to terrify the musicians, who nicknamed him "Herr Doktor."
His encounter with Richard Strauss in 1931 in Hamburg heralded the start of an artistic collaboration — one as rare as it was prolific — that continued until Strauss died in 1949. Perhaps it was thanks to this relationship in particular that Böhm gained his unique mastery of tempo, balance and colours. Christa Ludwig, the great mezzo soprano, threw light on this aspect when she said, "With him, we could always detect the value of the notes..."
Brahms's Symphony No.4 is one of the German composer's most colourful works and can be regarded as the final symbol of the Romantic symphony, in which he assigns an important role to the woodwinds and horns, especially in the second movement. In order to faithfully reproduce the warmth of this outstanding performance, which came to light again after more than sixty years, the team at The Lost Recordings relied on the talent of Berlin's original sound engineers as well as several weeks of restoration work by their own teams. The first and second movements were deliberately cut on two different sides in order to optimize the sound reproduction.
"Death and Transfiguration", on the other hand, is one of Richard Strauss's first tone poems on this release, a genre created by Liszt a few years earlier to give an orchestral work a historical or ideological significance. His real aim was to free himself from the formal constraints of the symphony by drawing inspiration from a non-musical theme. In this case, these are the last hours of a dying artist, whose thoughts wander back and forth between memories, suffering, joy and hope.
This double vinyl release of Karl Böhm — The Unreleased Berlin Recordings 1962 not only pays homage to a legendary conductor but also offers listeners a chance to experience an adventure into sound and metaphysics with a supremely masterful guide at its helm.
The stereo recording was made between 29 September and 1 October 1962 in Hall 1 of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

Selections:

Side A
1. Johannes Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98
Side B
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Andante moderato
Side C
1. Johannes Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98
2. Allegro giocoso
3. Allegro energico et passionato
Side D
1. Richard Strauss
2. Death and Transfiguration, Op.24