Media Type: VINYL x3
Performer: Claudio Abbado, Berliner Philharmoniker
Genre: CLASSICAL
Label: Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings

Limited issue only. Only 1000 copies available world wide.

+ Description

After the highly-praised first release of the concert, the edition is now available as a limited collector’s edition on 3 half-speed mastered LPs.The edition includes a hardcover booklet with many illustrations and extensive accompanying texts and is aimed at the growing community of audiophile vinyl lovers.

Claudio Abbado (1933–2014) was one of the outstanding personalities in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In May 2013, their unique partnership ended with Abbado’s last concert with the orchestra. The programme included two of the most important works of musical Romanticism: Hector Berlioz’s visionary Symphonie fantastique and Felix Mendelssohn’s magical, shimmering music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To mark the second anniversary of Claudio Abbado’s death on 20 January 2016, audio and video recordings of this memorable evening have been released in a hardcover luxury edition. With comprehensive articles, bonus videos and previously unpublished photographs, it documents Abbado’s work with the orchestra whose chief conductor he was from 1990 to 2002.

 The recordings impressively convey the special atmosphere of the evening: the great affection the orchestra and the audience had for Claudio Abbado – and of course the enthusiasm for the musical performances. Renowned not least for his clever concert programming, Abbado combined two works here that deal with the theme of dreams in music in very different ways: Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream conveys the multifaceted magical atmosphere of Shakespeare’s original, while Berlioz uses modern means to tell his delirious tale of fateful love and drug-induced hallucinations. Abbado’s performance brings out the full splendour of these scores. It is – as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote – a “wonder, the freedom and youthful-like spirit with which the soon to be octogenarian expends himself, which he radiates and which he presents to his audience from the conductor’s stand.”

Manufactured by Pallas
Recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonie in May 2013

Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado Conductor

Deborah York Soprano
Stella Doufexis Mezzo-Soprano
Damen des Chors des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Felix Mendelssohn: 
A Midsummer Night's Dream

Hector Berlioz: 
Symphonie fantastique

Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, May 2013

LP 1–3 (180g virgin vinyl)
Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Booklet
Hardcover, 40 pages / German, English

Download Code
For high resolution audio files of 
the entire album (24 bit / up to 48 kHz) 

Digital Concert Hall
7-day ticket for the Berliner Philharmoniker’s video streaming service

+ Tracks

Felix Mendelssohn - Ein Sommernachtstraum Op. 61 - Bühnenmusik Zu William Shakespear
A1 Overture Op. 21: Allegro di Molto - Poco Ritenuto
A2 No. 1 Scherzo: Allegro Vivace
B1 No. 3: Song with Chorus
B2 No. 5: Intermezzo
B3 No. 7: Notturno
C1 No. 9: Wedding March
C2 No. 13: Finale

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique Op. 14
D1 1. Rêveries - Passions: Largo - Allegro Agitato E Appassionato Assai - Religiosamente
E1 2. Un Bal: Allegro Non Troppo
E2 3. Scène Aux Champs: Allegretto Non Troppo
F1 4. Marche Au Supplice: Allegretto Non Troppo
F2 5. Songe D'une Nuit Du Sabbat