Rossini · Ouvertüren · Berliner Philharmoniker · Herbert Von Karajan

Not all the Karajan recorded repertory is severe: not all the Berlin Philharmonic recorded repertory is severe. But even if it were so, amends would now be made by these present issues: how agreeable to hear a first-class orchestra and conductor in such unassuming music. Probably the players enjoyed themselves: certainly they sound as if they did. If in doubt, listen to the principal oboe: he must have been the precise player Rossini had in mind for all the enchanting oboe solos he scattered throughout his overtures (though not in William Tell, always the exception to everything: there the oboe solo, if I may so describe it, is for cor• anglais). But here do not listen only to the oboe: the woodwind throughout are gay, charming, and lyrical, with the strings not far behind. If there were an orchestral query it would be about the sound of the limps: whether due to the instruments themselves or their recording, these have a thin, empty sound suggesting tenor drums (I nearly wrote 'bongos'; but no, that would be overstating the case) rather than the real thing.
M.M. May 1972: Page 67, Gramophone.