Karajan 100 – More Big Box Sets

Karajan 100 – Opera, Vocal: Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon FR

Karajan 100 – Orchestral: Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon FR

Karajan Legendary Decca Recordings: Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon FR

2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert von Karajan, the great, charismatic conductor. As always, the music industry is celebrating with box sets: in this case, there is no lack of material, and his complete EMI recordings make up two boxes of 88 and 72 discs, respectively. One contains all the opera and vocal works he recorded, and the other the orchestral works.

Prices for these box sets are pretty high (currently, before release, Amazon.com shows them at $228 and $325), but they are very nicely priced at Amazon.fr: only EUR 93 each. With shipping, that would be less than $150 each to the US. (Note that the EMI boxes are not all of Karajan recordings; there is also a box of 9 CDs on Decca, linked above.)

I’m not a fan of the “big” orchestral style of Karajan, but not knowing his recordings very well, I may be tempted by the orchestral set. There’s plenty of great music there, many of his recordings being considered among the best available. These sets come out in a month; I’ll see if I feel the need for yet another big box by then.