Rome, Spain, St Moritz – volume 9 of Deutsche Grammophon’s “Karajan Digital Library”

Ravel, Respighi, Rossini – Coincidentally, volume 9 of Deutsche Grammophon’s “Karajan Digital Library” features three composers we were talking about recently. The set includes Karajan’s favourite Ravel works, “Boléro” and “Daphnis et Chloë” suite No 2 in two versions, plus the “Pavane pour une infante défunte” and “Rapsodie espagnole”. Respighi is in it with the opulent “Fontane di Roma” and “Pini di Roma” (Karajan never recorded the third part of the Roman trilogy “Feste Romane”), Rossini with six favourite overtures. Another Respighi is “Antiche danze ed arie Suite No. 3”, recorded at the relaxed St Moritz chamber orchestra sessions with the Berlin Philharmonic as was the case with Rossini’s String Sonatas 1 – 3 and 6. A one-off is Karajan’s only recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s resplendent “Sheherazade”.
Read more here.

—  P.R. Jenkins