Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich – “Karajan Digital Library” No 7

“One of the most beautiful experiences of my life was being able to play the Tenth Symphony for Shostakovich when we last visited Moscow.”
Herbert von Karajan in 1989

Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich – Volume 7 of Deutsche Grammophon’s “Karajan Digital Library” brings together some of the finest compositions of the Austrian/German Romanticism and a masterpiece of orchestral music from the Soviet Union. Schubert’s last two symphonies – whether they are called the 7^th and the 8^th, the 8^th and the 9^th or “The Unfinished and “The Great” – are in it as well as Karajan’s only complete account of the symphonies by Schumann and his last studio recording of the piano concerto with Krystian Zimerman. Shostakovich’s tenth symphony, Karajan’s singular and spectacular approach to the music of his contemporary, is presented in two versions. Special tip: Schumann’s neglected “Overture, Scherzo and Finale”!
Read more here.

—  P.R. Jenkins