“Karajan Digital Library” Vol. 4 about Richard Strauss ++ Dvořák’s “New World Symphony” for free

“I know of no other piece of music, nor any performance, which moves me quite like this.”
David Bowie about ‘Four last songs’ with Gundula Janowitz

Volume 4 of Deutsche Grammophon’s brand new “Karajan Digital Library” is about one of the mainstays of Karajan’s repertoire. Richard Strauss, the composer of “Ein Heldenleben”, was one of Karajan’s “Helden (heroes)” and Karajan was certainly one of the best-ever Strauss conductors. The set contains two complete recordings of the “Rosenkavalier”, tone poems like “Don Juan”, “Don Quixote”, “Zarathustra” and “Till Eulenspiegel” in up to four different versions, two charming late solo concertos, the famous “Metamorphosen” and vocal works with Gundula Janowitz and Anna Tomowa-Sintow. Have a look here.

“For weeks, night after night, on occasion two or three times per – I’m not exaggerating – I played that disc.”
Glenn Gould about Karajan’s 1969 version of ‘Metamorphosen’

 

Many of Karajan’s Strauss interpretations can now be watched on Deutsche Grammophon’s digital platform STAGE+, for example the 1984 stage production of “Der Rosenkavalier”, valuable concert films of “Don Quixote” (in two versions), “Ein Heldenleben”, “Tod und Verklärung” and “Metamorphosen”. Another special offer is the film of Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic with Dvořák’s “New World Symphony” in 1985 – for free! Watch here.

—  P.R. Jenkins