As a conductor, Sergiu Celibidache influenced as no other the musical life of Berlin, a metropolis still scarred by the war. The sound documents of this edition, most of which have not been previously released, for the first time paint a comprehensive picture of the conductor during the period between 1945 and 1957. These historic documents, providing new impressions of the legendary conductor, were revealed after intensive research.

Unlike in the elegiac, lyrical interpretations of Celibidache’s mature period, he also reveals a youthful, boisterous side in these recordings. However, his later development is already also perceptible, as for instance in the Chopin recording with Raoul Koczalsky. The conductor’s stamping and singing in the incomplete studio recording of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, on the other hand, clearly demonstrates his fiery and passionate temperament. This recording is added as a bonus disc.

This edition is exclusively based on certified sound documents, i.e. original tapes preserved today in the archives of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) and the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Babelsberg (DRA). Fragments and tapes whose technical condition does not allow publication were not considered. Also not considered were non-licensed on-air copies from the grey market (as for instance Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony). The booklet contains extensive editorial comments, including those concerning partially missing bars or movements on the original tapes.