EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Unboxing and Preview of Herbert von Karajan's Legendary Complete Bruckner Symphonies on Original Source Vinyl

A First Look at this Groundbreaking Deluxe AAA Reissue Mastered and Cut Directly from 8-Track Masters - An Industry First

Recorded in the late 1970s/early 80s by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in their own concert hall, with their legendary Music Director Herbert von Karajan conducting, this cycle of Anton Bruckner's 9 Symphonies set new standards in this repertoire and remains a benchmark in the catalogue.

However, the digital recordings in the series (Symphonies 1- 3) always suffered sonically in comparison to the rest of the cycle, which were recorded all-analogue. In addition, the original LP releases were compromised by DG's manufacturing processes of the time.

As part of their celebrations of the Bicentenary of the great Austrian composer, Deutsche Grammophon decided to revisit this set and restore it to ultimate sonic glory. To achieve this they turned to the engineering masterminds at Emil Berliner Studios who are behind the incredibly successful Original Source Series of AAA vinyl reissues. Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer were able to do something no-one has ever done before. By designing and building unique equipment, they have mastered and cut this set DIRECTLY from the 8-track masters, and in the case of the digital recordings have used modern tools to improve the sound.

The set is due to be released in early August, but here we offer a sneak peak at this deluxe box set, and place it in the context of Karajan's earlier Bruckner recordings and the original release of these records.

For more detailed background, check out my earlier article on this set here.

And stay tuned to Tracking Angle for an upcoming video discussion of the release with Johannes Gleim from DG, Rainer Maillard and Sidney Meyer from Emil Berliner Studios, plus myself and the editor of Tracking Angle, Michael Fremer. This video will include the premiere of an in-depth film about the project created by Emil Berliner Studios.

Comments

2024-07-20 03:12:55 PM

Josquin des Prez wrote:

BTW: the release date for the U.S. isn't until August 30 (according to preorders at Elusive Disc and Acoustic Sounds) and it's an eye-watering $500, about a 60% markup over the €300 price in Europe. More wacky pricing games from DG Classics. Phooey!
- 2024-07-20 03:22:40 PM
  
  Come on wrote:
  
  That’s a hint on what markup is paid in Europe for 90% of all the other releases discussed here ;-)
- 2024-07-20 04:28:52 PM
  
  Will wrote:
  
  Further to Come on's comment : I think you are lucky - at $500 it is only about 40% up from the price in the UK, whereas we easily see 60% mark up on AP's - and that is not considering the weight element....
  - 2024-07-20 08:29:18 PM
    
    Josquin des Prez wrote:
    
    I think you're mixing concerns. UMG has international distribution channels and doesn't need to mark up U.S. domestic releases by 60%. They haven't for other things, including other TOS releases. If they didn't need to mark up the other releases 60% then why this one?
    
    AP is a rather different situation. They don't have infrastructure for international distribution like UMG does. If you are paying domestic retailers in the UK 60% more it's them marking it up, not AP, probably to cover import shipping costs. And If I remember correctly, AP recently made some changes/deals to lower international shipping costs earlier this year. I don't know the details and how beneficial it is, but I remember reading something about it.
    - 2024-07-21 08:52:11 AM
      
      Will wrote:
      
      My observation is that often, vinyl releases are noticeably more costly in the UK than US. Not just AP, who as you rightly point out have taken steps to help but still you pay c£75 for a $60 release from a shop. Rhino or Craft/Concord for example, often 30% up or more (£=$ plus). Whereas The Original Source, when looking a while ago appeared to be cheaper in the US than Germany or the UK 🤷🏻‍♂️Maybe a “loss leader” . Maybe being changed now?
    - 2024-07-21 08:52:15 AM
      
      Will wrote:
      
      My observation is that often, vinyl releases are noticeably more costly in the UK than US. Not just AP, who as you rightly point out have taken steps to help but still you pay c£75 for a $60 release from a shop. Rhino or Craft/Concord for example, often 30% up or more (£=$ plus). Whereas The Original Source, when looking a while ago appeared to be cheaper in the US than Germany or the UK 🤷🏻‍♂️Maybe a “loss leader” . Maybe being changed now?
      - 2024-07-21 08:53:35 PM
        
        Josquin des Prez wrote:
        
        I could handle a 25% increase over the €300 retail price in Europe, but $500 is an eye-watering 60+% markup. No matter how anyone argues it, that amount of increase just doesn't add up to anything sensible. $200 extra? For what reason?
        
        2024-07-21 10:11:20 PM
        
        Bryan M. wrote:
        
        I agree. 300 euros = $327 USD right now. UMG has plenty of ways to get those here without gouging US consumers $200. With tax in a lot of places, we would be paying close to $550. That's just absurd. I am looking forward to Mark's review because I enjoy reading / watching him. But I have to wonder if even he would shell out $550 for recordings he already owns on LP (according to the video) just to hear the new masterings if it was his own money and he weren't getting free review copies.
        
        2024-07-22 12:34:15 AM
        
        Mark Ward wrote:
        
        I agree that the mark-up is somewhat unfathomable. For the record, I would absolutely buy this set with my own money (although I would hunt around for a better price). I've loved these performances since they were first released (except for the harsh digital releases of 1, 2, and 3). All the previous Original Source releases have been game changers for the DG catalogue, completely smoking earlier vinyl and CD releases. In the case of this Bruckner cycle, I have symphonies 7 - 9 on the EBS remixed/remastered SACD set, which already represented a huge improvement in sound. From what I've listened to of the new set, no-one remotely interested in this cycle should hesitate - and that includes the digital recordings which are the biggest surprise of all in their new incarnation. This set now stands as one of the crown jewels in the Karajan discography, and might well win over his doubters.
2024-07-20 05:53:29 PM

Jennnifer Martin wrote:

Can't wait!
2024-07-20 06:54:00 PM

Zaphod wrote:

Heck, I plan on buy hundreds of these and then marking them up 10 thousand percent!

No, no, no, I am just kidding, I cannot even afford to buy one of these for myself.
2024-07-22 08:08:14 AM

Adrian Galpin wrote:

I too am disappointed and annoyed about how much more US releases cost in the UK, and cannot account for it...it was never thus in the past, then they seemed to be about 10-20% more, not the nearly 50% we struggle with now.
2024-07-22 02:05:06 PM

Alastair McClean wrote:

Comparing UK and US prices is like comparing apples and pears. Uk retailers must add 20% VAT (sales tax) to US imports. And then there is the shipping across the Pond. I don’t know what AP and others wholesale prices are but retailers will look for at least 40% gross revenue on sales. It all adds up…..
2024-07-22 02:05:08 PM

Alastair McClean wrote:

Comparing UK and US prices is like comparing apples and pears. Uk retailers must add 20% VAT (sales tax) to US imports. And then there is the shipping across the Pond. I don’t know what AP and others wholesale prices are but retailers will look for at least 40% gross revenue on sales. It all adds up…..
2024-07-23 03:38:31 PM

Thomas Ream wrote:

On a more positive note, DG is really doing a fine job of supporting this Bruckner year - the Barenboim 4th, the Giulini box of 7, 8 and 9, and now this. Very much looking forward to receiving my copy, and looking forward to Mark's review. I am very interested in hearing how the sound has turned out, especially with those digital recordings (DG's work on the Giulini box was impressive - those records are now actually listenable), and I was intrigued by Mark's comments in the unboxing video about Symphony 5. This one is not my favorite Bruckner but I am hoping to be convinced one day.
2024-07-25 02:19:01 AM

It’s a trap wrote:

Not sure where this 500mis coming from. I ordered these direct on the DG site for 337 euro including shipping. Expensive yes, worth it, well, yes, at least to me to have these in the library. I usually order these original source direct from DGs site. It takes a few weeks to get here but usually is here well before the US release. It’s neat getting europost packages from DHl or whomever. I did have a bad copy Karl Bohm’s No. 6 and I contacted their customer support directly and a few days later they gave me tracking on a new one free of charge and no requirement to return the existing one. Was quite surprised, usually it’s a pain even with our stateside companies. I’ll only go direct at this point. Anyway, there’s my experience.
- 2024-07-25 08:01:38 AM
  
  Mark Ward wrote:
  
  I am very happy to hear you had such a good experience with a faulty copy. This topic came up in our soon-to-be released video discussion with DG and EBS, and Herr Gleim at DG made a point of talking about how they are trying to address QC issues, and hopefully improving. Sounds like they are. It's going to be a great discussion, btw, with a terrific behind-the-scenes video shot by EBS. Stay tuned...