Celebrating 120 Years of Deutsche Grammophon the yellow label presents a landmark in the history of recorded music: This special edition of Herbert von Karajan’s 1963 Beethoven Symphony Cycle is a particularly thrilling part of the DG120 celebrations as only 120 of this 8LP super deluxe art set will be manufactured, presented in a luxury black linen box with artwork specially commissioned from artist Gregor Hildebrandt.
The Berlin based artist is known for his use of cassette tape and vinyl as raw material in the creative process. Pressed on 180gsm vinyl by OPTIMAL and mastered from original ATP files, this set also includes, for the first time a download code for the complete repertoire in 24bit/96kHz.

• Limited-Edition of 120 numbered 8LP sets of Karajan’s famous 1963 Beethoven Symphony Cycle presented in a luxury black linen set newly designed by artist Gregor Hildebrandt. The top of the lift-off lid box functions as a piece of art, when mounted to a wall.
• Limited to 120 sets worldwide; each set is signed by artist Gregor Hildebrandt.
• Includes 9 Leporellos presenting reproductions of original art specially commissioned for this set from Gregor Hildebrandt, where the artist has created a visual representation of each symphony.
• A portrait of Karajan: based on a picture - by Siegfried Lauterwasser - Gregor Hildebrandt has created a unique piece of art for each set using cassette tape as his choice of media.
• One art print with special artistic intervention.
• 24-page facsimile booklet of the original release with new cover art by Hildebrandt.
• Additional liner notes by Richard Osborne.
• Mastered from original ATP files and pressed on eight 180gsm heavyweight vinyl at OPTIMAL.
• Engraving in the final groove of the final disc: wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
• Download Voucher which allows consumers to download the symphonies as mp3 files or in 24bit/96kHz for free.

THE FAMOUS 1963 KARAJAN BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES
Karajan recorded the Complete Symphonies of Beethoven no fewer than 4 times for DG, but his first recording, made in 1963, was financially the most daring, artistically the most radical, and commercially the most successful.
It was estimated that over 100,000 boxes would have to be sold if Deutsche Grammophon’s gargantuan 1.5 million Deutschmark investment was to be recouped. The head of a rival company predicted that Deutsche Grammophon was heading for “a colossal financial catastrophe”.

By 1973 nearly one million sets had been sold, ten times the original breakeven estimate. 50 years on from its original launch, the set remains the best-selling Beethoven cycle of all time.
The 1963 Berlin set dazzled like no other, aided in no small measure by the clean, clear, daringly “lit” recordings made in Berlin’s Jesus-Christus-Kirche by the young Günter Hermanns whose debut as Karajan’s principal recording engineer this was.
Critics and the record-buying public were enthused above all by the urgency and beauty of the music-making and by a fierce sense of joy which reached its apogee in a thrillingly played and eloquently sung account of the finale of the epic Ninth Symphony.

LP1 SYMPHONY NO.1 IN C, OP.21
A1 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
A2 2. Andante cantabile con moto
A3 3. Menuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)
A4 4. Finale (Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace)
SYMPHONY NO.2 IN D, OP.36
B1 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
B2 2. Larghetto
B3 3. Scherzo (Allegro)
B4 4. Allegro molto
LP2 SYMPHONY NO.3 IN E FLAT, OP.55 -"EROICA"
A1 1. Allegro con brio
A2 2. Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)
B1 3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
B2 4. Finale (Allegro molto)
LP3 SYMPHONY NO.4 IN B FLAT, OP.60
A1 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace
A2 2. Adagio
B1 3. Allegro vivace
B2 4. Allegro ma non troppo
LP4 SYMPHONY NO.5 IN C MINOR, OP.67
A1 1. Allegro con brio
A2 2. Andante con moto
B1 3. Allegro
B2 4. Allegro
LP5 SYMPHONY NO.6 IN F, OP.68 -"PASTORAL"
A1 1. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande: Allegro ma non troppo
A2 2. Szene am Bach: (Andante molto mosso)
B1 3. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Allegro)
B2 4. Gewitter, Sturm (Allegro)
B3 5. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm: Allegretto
LP6 SYMPHONY NO.7 IN A, OP.92
A1 1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
A2 2. Allegretto
B1 3. Presto - Assai meno presto
B2 4. Allegro con brio
LP7 Symphony No.8 In F, Op.93
A1 1. Allegro vivace e con brio
A2 2. Allegretto scherzando
A3 3. Tempo di menuetto
A4 4. Allegro vivace
SYMPHONY NO.9 IN D MINOR, OP.125 - "CHORAL" BEGINNING
B1 1. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
LP8 SYMPHONY NO.9 IN D MINOR, OP.125 - "CHORAL" CONCLUSION
A1 2. Molto vivace
A2 3. Adagio molto e cantabile
B1 4. Presto -
B2 5. Presto - "O Freunde nicht diese Töne"
Gundula Janowitz · Hilde Rössel Majdan · Waldemar Kmentt · Walter Berry
Wiener Singverein · Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan