❖ One of five box-sets exploring Hans Knappertsbusch’s high-risk strategy in which he relies upon the ‘magic of the moment’ to reveal previously undiscovered musical insights
❖ His interpretations of composers’ works lead to pleasing new discoveries, even within well-known scores
❖ Knappertsbusch disliked rehearsals intensely believing that they were an inhibiting influence. He firmly believed in the inspiration of the moment being central to every performance, taking on Wagner’s idea of spontaneity and tempo modification
❖ His courageous artistry is clearly demonstrated in each of the five sets in this collection

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3, Orchestral Suite No.3
Beethoven: Symphonies No.3 “Eroica” & No.7 Leonore III Overture, Coriolan Overture
Berger: Rondino giocoso
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture, Tragic Overture, Alto Rhapsody, Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 3
Bruckner: Symphonies No.7, No.3 “Wagner”, No.4 “Romantic”, No.5, No.8
Haydn: Symphony No.88
Komzák II: Bad’ner Mad’ln
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro Overture, Serenade No.13 “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”, Symphony No.40, No.41 “Jupiter”
Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor Overture
Reger: Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Mozart
Schmidt: Variationen über ein Husarenlied
Schubert: Military March, Symphony No. 9 "The Great"
Schumann: Symphony No.4
Johann Strauß II: Accelerationen Walzer, Leichtes Blut, Tales from the Vienna woods, Annen Polka, Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Radetzky March
Josef Strauß: Pizzicato Polka
Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op.71a
Verdi: Aida: Marcia trionfale
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll, Tristan und Isolde Prelude, Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, Siegfried’s Funeral Music, Tannhäuser Overture and Venusberg Music, Rienzi Overture, Parsifal Prelude to Act 1 Transformation scene from Act 1, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Prélude to Act 1 & to Act 3, The Ride of the Valkyries, Der Fliegende Holländer Overture, Götterdämmerung Trauermarsch
von Weber: Invitation to the Dance
Ziehrer: Wiener Bürger Waltz, Weaner Mad’ln
Lucretia West, contralto
Männerstimmen des Wiener Akademiechor
Karl Jancik, Zither
Recordings: 1938 – 1964