Description
Joseph Keilberth (1908–1968) belongs to that generation of conductors who continued after Furtwängler's death to hold the musical heritage of German and Austrian composers in particularly high regard...It is to that predilection of his that we owe a number of outstanding recordings released here for the first time in this 10-CD box set. Keilberth began his career at the age of seventeen in his native city of Karlsruhe as a rehearsal pianist at the municipal theatre, going on to be conductor. In 1940 he assumed the direction of the German Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague. After 1945 he successfully applied himself in Dresden – under the most arduous of conditions – to renewing the great musical tradition of this war-ravaged city...Keilberth went to Hamburg in 1951 as head of the Hanseatic city's Philharmonic State Orchestra, with which he remained closely associated for many years. It was at this time that he joined former members of his Prague orchestra in founding the Bamberger Symphoniker, remaining that orchestra's principal conductor until his death. (Excerpts from the booklet)
