Von Karajan and The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Faithfully Restored on Esoteric Limited Edition Hybrid SACD! 

This disc captures Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) in full flight—and captured with outstanding fidelity on this hybrid SACD, part of Esoteric’s Deutsche Grammophon Masterpiece Collection.

This SACD features three representative orchestral works of three composers—Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg—taken from the 1975 four-LP box set Second Viennese School (Berg, Webern, Schoenberg)/Karajan and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The disc features Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht,” Webern’s “Passacaglia,” and Berg’s “Three Orchestral Pieces.” This marks the first time that a compilation of these pieces has ever been released.
The Berg piece was recorded at the Jesus Christ Church in Berlin in 1972, while the Schoenberg and Webern pieces were done at the Philharmonic, also in Berlin. Though the Jesus Christ Church had served as Deutsche Grammophon’s principal recording venue for Karajan and the BPO, the decision was made to relocate to the Philharmonic, the BPO’s home concert hall.

The exhaustive efforts put into the mastering of this SACD, and the first-rate quality of the gear involved—Esoteric’s own D-01VU mono DACs, G-0Rb rubidium master clock, and MEXCEL cables—lay bare the sonic differences between the two halls: the Jesus Christ Church’s rich reverberations but poor insulation and the Philharmonic’s first-class acoustics. You’ll swear you’re in the halls watching Karajan whip the BPO into a feverish pitch!