Deutsche Grammophon are making Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s 175th birthday with a mammoth 44CD box set of music. The set includes many of the most well-known albums released by the orchestra, from Viennese waltzes to grand operas over the period 1951-2004.
Among the most notable performances are Leonard Bernstein leading the orchestra through Beethoven’s Symphony no 5 and Symphony no 6; the 2003 New Year’s Concert with Nikolaus Harnoncourt; and Herbert von Karajan’s final recording of Brahms’s A German Requiem.
Other featured conductors include Claudio Abbado, Karl Böhm, Pierre Boulez, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Carlo Maria Giulini, Hans Knappertsbusch, James Levine, André Previn, Christian Thielemann and Bruno Walter.
The orchestra, which was formed by conductor Otto Nicolai and members of the Imperial Court Opera Orchestra in 1842, has released more than 400 recordings. Vienna Phil has turned Nicolai’s home into a museum, which will open on 28 March.
The box set is available to pre-order for €104 and will be released on 17 March.