Marking the 90th birthday of Christa Ludwig on 16 March 2018, this box set celebrates her versatile and impressive mezzo-soprano through a selection of opera, oratorio and Lieder recordings, including a powerful Suzuki on Herbert von Karajan’s Madama Butterfly. From Bach to Wagner this edition reflects the broad scope of Ludwig's artistic achievements, whether Mozart with Böhm, Mahler with Karajan, Bernstein with Bernstein or Wagner with Solti.

Ludwig possessed a voice seamlessly joined across three registers, peerless diction and a first-hand knowledge of stagecraft. She has worked with a stellar line-up of conductors … Karajan, Klemperer, Bernstein, Böhm, Kempe, Solti; and her masterclasses are still events as she passes the wisdom of her long and celebrated career to a new generation of singers.

Limited edition 12-CD collection celebrating Christa Ludwig’s 90th birthday, through a selection of her legendary recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Philips of opera and sacred arias, oratorio and Lieder.

Includes recordings with the trinity of great conductors with whom she famously worked: Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.

Also includes the first international release of a witty, endearing German interview conducted by Thomas Voigt (2007) in which Ms Ludwig discusses the conductors – Bernstein and Karajan among them – with whom she collaborated over her long and successful career.

60-page booklet with a new and exclusive interview with Gramophone editor-in-chief James Jolly (English/German) and an English transcript of the interview with Voigt.