Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Die Zauberharfe, melodrama, D. 644: Rosamunde Overture
2. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485: 1. Allegro
3. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485: 2. Andante con moto
4. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485: 3. Menuetto e Trio: Allegro molto
5. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485: 4. Allegro vivace
6. Symphony No. 6 in C major ('Little C Major'), D. 589: 1. Adagio - Allegretto
7. Symphony No. 6 in C major ('Little C Major'), D. 589: 2. Andante
8. Symphony No. 6 in C major ('Little C Major'), D. 589: 3. Scherzo: Presto - Trio: Pi� lento
9. Symphony No. 6 in C major ('Little C Major'), D. 589: 4. Allegro moderato

Disc 2:

1. Symphony No. 8 in B minor ('Unfinished'), D. 759: 1. Allegro moderato
2. Symphony No. 8 in B minor ('Unfinished'), D. 759: 2. Andante con moto
3. Symphony No. 9 in C major ('The Great'), D. 944: 1. Andante - Allegro ma non troppo
4. Symphony No. 9 in C major ('The Great'), D. 944: 2. Andante con moto
5. Symphony No. 9 in C major ('The Great'), D. 944: 3. Scherzo e Trio: Allegro vivace
6. Symphony No. 9 in C major ('The Great'), D. 944: 4. Finale: Allegro vivace

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24660 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-15
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Customer Reviews

Sterling 9th
You know, maybe there is just something to a composers Symphony No. 9. Beethoven, Bruckner and Schubert all had amazing 9th Symphonies, but I digress. This CD is worth the money (which isn't very much) just to hear "The Great" C Major Symphony. I haven't found a better recording of it anywhere. Once again, Karajan turns out a gem.

Karajan's Schubert Cycle Reissued for Cheap!
EMI's new "Gemini" series is a breath of fresh air amidst all the smoke being put forth recently by the major classical labels. While Sony is deleting most of their classical budget discs, BMG is raising theirs to mid-price and UNI is convinced that 3CDs are always better than one, EMI decides to start a two-fer line that sells for significantly less than the competition, not to mention their own "Double Forte" series. It might not be as cheap as the old "Seraphim" series, but they could certainly be charging more for quality recordings such as these.

Herbert von Karajan's Schubert Symphony Cycle, made between 1975-78 for EMI with the Berlin Philharmonic, has been available previously on CD in the "Karajan Edition." However, those discs, released as four single titles with two Symphonies each, were twice the price of these new reissues. These performances of Symphonies 5, 6, 8 & 9 plus the Rosamunde Overture are certainly solid, but Karajan was never celebrated as a conductor of Schubert. One wonders if that is why DG had a young Lorin Maazel record the Schubert Symphonies with the Berliners instead of Herbie at the dawn of the stereo age, and that ultimately EMI had him record this Cycle because it was something he hadn't yet done for DG. In any event, I would certainly recommend the Bohm boxed set on DG or the Kertesz on London/Decca (see my review of the latter) ahead of these performances. But considering how cheap these two double discs are, maybe picking up an extra Schubert Cycle is worth it after all.

Schubert Symphonies
You can never go wrong adding a Karajan recording to a collection. Especially in the Schubert 9 the orchestral playing under Karajan's direction brings a great transparency to the architecture and development to one of my favourite works.