Otto Klemperer Mozart: Operas (CD BOX SET) VG COND For Sale

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Otto Klemperer\'s death, EMI Classics has released an extensive and luxurious collection of 11 boxsets, paying tribute to the legendary conductor. These affordably-priced sets include two new collections dedicated to operas by Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, available this March. This release offers a comprehensive overview of Klemperer\'s remarkable contributions to classical music, making it a must-have for enthusiasts and collectors alike.

This 11-CD collection features four of Mozart\'s most celebrated operas: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and Die Zauberflöte, all conducted by Otto Klemperer. The recordings boast performances by a host of star performers, including Lucia Popp as Despina, Elisabeth Söderström as Countess Almaviva, and Nicolai Gedda as Tamino. These classic recordings exemplify Klemperer\'s profound understanding of Mozart\'s operatic genius and his ability to bring out the depth and nuance of these timeless works.

One of the notable highlights of Klemperer\'s later recording career was his opportunity to record all three Mozart/Da Ponte operas, along with Die Zauberflöte—a work for which he held a particularly deep affection. He believed Die Zauberflöte to be a \'perfect\' composition, describing it as an inexhaustible work that no single production could fully encompass. Despite conducting productions in Berlin in 1929, Milan in 1950, and London in 1962, he found these performances unsatisfactory in some way. Ultimately, it was through the \'musée imaginaire\' of the gramophone that Klemperer’s vision of this \'perfect\' work could be realized.

Klemperer\'s 1964 recording of Die Zauberflöte is considered a near-ideal interpretation, despite the abridgements he chose to make. For this recording, he assembled a distinguished cast including Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, and Marga Höffgen. Producer Walter Legge famously declared this set to be \'as perfect as the world\'s resources could yield.\' This achievement remains a glorious milestone in Klemperer\'s discography and laid the groundwork for his subsequent recordings of the three Da Ponte operas. His next project was Don Giovanni, an opera with which he had a long-standing association, often described as demonically driven throughout his career.

EMI continued to deliver stellar casts for Klemperer\'s Mozart recordings, with none more notable than the cast for Così fan tutte. The recording of this opera was particularly significant, as it marked the culmination of Klemperer\'s career as a Mozart conductor. His final operatic performance was a concert rendition of Così fan tutte conducted in London on February 21, 1971. This performance served as a fitting conclusion to a career that had begun over half a century earlier in a very different era, highlighting the enduring legacy of Klemperer\'s artistry and his lifelong dedication to Mozart’s Otto Klemperer