Symphonies Nos.2 & 7 (Rec 1957)

"A Second Symphony that is thrilling - urgent but with a superb rhythmic control, especially in the outter movements...The orchestra is on magnificent form; this is a superb Beethoven disc, capturing Klemperer's earliest years with the Philharmonia with stunning immediacy."
(International Record Review July/Aug 2007)

On 30 November 1954 Wilhem Furtwängler died at aclinic in Germany. In the evening of that day Otto Klemperer conducted a Philharmonia Orchestra concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and led a tribute to his eminent colleague. Klemperer was then 69 years old, and could not have foreseen that Furtwängler's death would have a major effect on his own career over the years to come.

The first consequence was a near certainty that Herbert von Karajan would succeed Furtwängler as musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1946 Karajan had been an EMI artist and was now chief conductor of the Philharmonia in all but name, but Walter Legge, the orchestra's founder, musical director and a senior EMI producer, now knew that it would only be a matter of time before Karajan transferred his allegiance from the London-based orchestra and record company to Berlin and to Deutsche Grammophon.

Karajan was then being used by Legge as the principal
conductor of Austro-German repertoire on EMI's Columbia label. Furtwängler's legacy of similar material was being released on EMI's other main label, HMV, which also published recordings originally made by Arturo Toscanini for RCA Victor. But Toscanini had retired, and there were intimations that RCA would soon terminate its longstanding arrangement with EMI and issue recordings on its own label through a new European branch. Thus Legge and his colleagues were faced with the need to find major new conducting talent. The young Guido Cantelli, Toscanini's protégé, had already made some highly successful recordings for HMV, and promised to be a worthy successor for years to come, but there was no heir apparent on Columbia.