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Decca are joining the Karajan Centenary celebrations with a superb 9CD box reissue of the maestro's classic Vienna Philharmonic recordings from the early 1960s.
Karajan's Decca recordings belong to the interim period between the end of his EMI/Philharmonia period and the start of his long reign on Deutsche Grammophon. Between 1959 and 1961 Karajan was virtually an exclusive Decca artist. True, the EMI recordings continued until 1960 but the new Decca contract reduced the flood to a trickle, while the new DG/Berlin Philharmonic axis had only produced an early stereo version of Strauss' 'Ein Heldenleben'. Things would only take off on the yellow label in 1963 with the arrival of Karajan's famous cycle of the Beethoven symphonies. Until then however, Decca had the lion's share of Karajan's dynamic post-war years.
What was it that drew Karajan to Decca in the first place? Part of the answer lies in Decca's pioneering attitude to sound engineering. Spearheaded by the legendary producer John Culshaw, Decca had already produced acclaimed opera recordings of Wagner's 'Das Rheingold' and Britten's 'Peter Grimes' as well as various demonstration-standard discs of orchestral favourites. By contrast, EMI was still recording in mono. Having grasped the huge commercial and technical potential of records, Karajan was anxious to keep up with the latest developments and by the end of the 1950s, Decca were at the cutting edge.
It also happened that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra were Decca's in-house orchestra at the time, and Karajan had recently become music director of the Vienna State Opera, whose orchestra is the VPO by another name. Moreover, this was the orchestra that knew Karajan best. His work with the Philharmonia was just about over, while the peacock throne of Berlin was still at the upholsterers. By contrast the Vienna players were straining at the leash, anxious to make up for lost revenue by way of lucrative recording work. (They'd just recorded Bernard Herrman's music to Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' - a project a major symphony orchestra would only undertake if money was tight).
Karajan made his Decca debut in March, 1959 with one of the most famous classical recordings ever made: Richard Strauss's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'. No expense was spared to realise the dazzling orchestral effects in the Sofiensaal, the famous dance hall that was Decca's preferred recording locale. At one point Culshaw even arranged for a church bell to be carted in. ("And when do you bring in the rest of St.Stephen's?" Karajan enquired).
Nearly 50 years on, Karajan's Decca 'Zarathustra' still holds its own with the best - including his own Berlin remakes for DG. Most people will know the recording from its use in Stanley Kubrick's '2001' where the striking opening is used like a lietmotif at key points in the movie. Karajan himself had not given permission, Decca having licensed the tape to MGM on the understanding that neither Karajan or the orchestra be mentioned in the film's credits - a strange inconsistency given that Karajan's first DG LP of 'The Blue Danube' was openly used and acknowledged.
By all accounts Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic enjoyed working together and that rapport emerges on many of these Decca records. A key quality is a much more flexible approach to tempo compared to competing Karajan recordings from Berlin. His Vienna performances of Haydn's 103rd and 104th Symphonies are both witty and stylish, with lighter textures than his DG remakes while his 1960 recording of Beethoven's Seventh has a more spacious, considered feel than either his Philharmonia or Berlin Philharmonic versions even if it yields to both on grounds of actual intensity. Meanwhile, his interpretations of Brahms' First and Third Symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic are generally warmer and more spontaneous than his numerous DG/Berlin recordings, where architectural mastery is the stoic primary ingredient. A radiant performance of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony is also worth mentioning.
In fact, many collectors will remember these Karajan Decca recording with affection for a number of reasons. During the recession-hit 1970s and '80s Karajan's new DG LPs were considered items of impossible sophistication and ruinous expense- products which, like prized gems, could only be admired in shop windows. The timely reissue of basically the same repertoire from Karajan's Vienna period on the more affordable mid-price Decca 'Jubilee' series of beloved memory suddenly meant young collectors like myself could acquire Karajan recordings without sacrificing a whole week's pocket money - even if they didn't have quite the same kudos as the DG ones. (I once saved a month's worth of school dinner money to buy Karajan's DG Bruckner cycle in its original 11LP format - which I have and rejoice in still!).
While some of these Decca recordings were surpassed on both technical and musical grounds by Karajan during his later DG/Berlin period - Mozart's 40th and 41st being a case in point - others, like Holst's 'The Planets' remain in a class of their own. The Holst sessions were difficult. The players had trouble with the 5/4 rhythms of 'Mars' and 'Neptune', where Karajan's beat was uncertain. There were breakdowns, restarts and long periods when the orchestra was simply all at sea. But out of chaos came order as the hard work paid off: Karajan's unparalleled feel for orchestral sonority realising this magical score to dazzling yet atmospheric effect. The recording was released to critical acclaim and later became a favourite version of Imogen Holst, the composer's daughter. Again, over 40 years later, the power and panache of the performance continues to impress today, despite an overcrowded marketplace which once again includes a DG remake from Karajan himself.
There are other delights in this set worth mentioning - including a performance of ballet music from Adam's 'Giselle'. Pieced together from a ragged assortment of well-worn sheets sent from Paris, Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic simply busked through the parts and the recording was passed off as 'giving some idea of how the ballet must have sounded at its first performance'. Meanwhile, there are some wonderfully phrased and richly recorded orchestral sweetmeats including Tchaikovsky Ballet Suites, Grieg's 'Peer Gynt' Suites and a selection of Waltzes and Polkas by the Strauss Family.
Many of the works included in this repackaged box set would - apart from 'Giselle' - become standard Karajan repertoire where recording was concerned: orchestral favourites which would sell again and again. But many of these famous interpretations began in this Decca collection. Indeed, as Karajan Year generates a host of CD reissues this particular set may prove both a viable - and affordable! - representative cross-section of Karajan's conducting at its very best.
Robert Kenchington.
