Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232

This is certainly a rather unusual recording, produced partly in London and partly in Vienna! Karajan and Legge were determined to enlist the services of the Vienna Singverein - then regarded as the premier choral ensemble for this repertoire - so EMI’s team set up sessions at the Musikverein. Rather than transporting the Philharmonia, they recorded the monumental choral sections with the Wiener Symphoniker. The arias and duos, however, were recorded at Abbey Road with EMI’s in-house Philharmonia Orchestra. Far from disrupting the work's unity, this composite approach produced a masterpiece, elevated by musicians and soloists (including Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Nicolai Gedda) at the absolute peak of their art.