Should I be excited about this release? Life can be so stressful, I never know when I can allow myself the luxury of being excited.
That’s a good question and (at the risk of revealing my Bruckner obsession) one that I can’t resist answering ….
Short answer: yes, absolutely!
In my very humble, amateur opinion, Karajan is the master when it comes to Bruckner symphonies. Of course, there are many other conductors who understand and perform Bruckner beautifully, too, and some wonderful recordings of individual symphonies — but if I had to choose a single cycle, it would be Karajan’s, without a shadow of a doubt. The fact that these albums date from the period when the BPO was arguably at its absolute peak doesn’t hurt, either.
In any event, and assuming that I manage to obtain the set when it’s available, I shall be glad to have the Karajan recordings on LPs that aren’t just a little bit worn …
Andrew
PS. Given where your question appeared in this thread, I’m assuming that you were referring to the prematurely announced Karajan set. If you weren’t, my apologies.