The Karajan Official Remastered Edition comprises 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 and 1984, and which are now a jewel of the Warner Classics catalogue.

For many, Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) – hailed early in his career as ‘Das Wunder Karajan’ (The Karajan Miracle) and known in the early 1960s as ‘the music director of Europe’ – remains the ultimate embodiment of the maestro. The release of the Karajan Official Remastered Edition over the first half of 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the conductor’s death in July 1989 at the age of 81.

He was closely associated with EMI for the majority of his recording career (specifically from 1946 to 1960 and then again from 1969 to 1984). EMI’s legendary producer Walter Legge sought him out in Vienna just after World War II and the long relationship that ensued embraced recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philharmonia (the orchestra founded by Legge), the Berlin Philharmonic (of which Karajan became ‘conductor for life’ in 1955), the forces of La Scala, Milan, and the Orchestre de Paris.

The Karajan Official Remastered Edition will feature primarily symphonic and choral music. The entire edition will comprise recordings remastered from the original sources in 24-bit/96kHz at Abbey Road Studios, the world’s most renowned recording studio.

Contents:
CD 1 
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
Dinu Lipatti, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: IV.1948, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London
 
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 in C, K.467
Dinu Lipatti, Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Recorded live Kunsthaus: VIII.1950, Lucerne, Switzerland

CD 2 
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat, Op.73 'Emperor'
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VI.1951, Kingsway Hall, London

CD 3 
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.23 in A, K.488
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VI.1951, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London
 
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VIII.1953, Kingsway Hall, London

CD 4 
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VIII.1953, Kingsway Hall, London
 
Franck: Symphonic Variations in F sharp minor
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VI.1951

CD 5 
Mozart: The 4 Horn Concertos
Dennis Brain, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: XI.1953, Kingsway Hall, London

CD 6 
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante, K.297a
Sidney Sutcliffe, Bernard Walton, Dennis Brain, Cecil James
Recorded: XI.1953, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London
 
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K.622
Bernard Walton, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: VI.1955, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London

CD 7 
Leimer: Piano Concerto in C minor
Leimer: Piano Concerto for the left hand
Kurt Leimer, Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded: XI.1954, Kingsway Hall, London
 
Massenet: Thais – Meditation         
Manoug Parikian
Recorded: 22.VII.1954, Kingsway Hall, London
  
CD 8 
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat, Op.83
Hans Richter-Haaser, Berliner Philharmoniker
Recorded: XI.1958, Grünewaldkirche, Berlin