Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9

The recording devoted to Beethoven's symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the very first audio testimonies to Karajan's artistry, who at the time had only a few recordings to his credit. After the war, he collaborated intensively with the Wiener, which he left in the early 1950s to join London and the Philharmonia. Fascinating archives remain from this period, including his very first recording with the Viennese orchestra (the Eighth Symphony in September 1946) and the first of his many versions of the Ninth Symphony (December 1947, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf).