Release Date: 09/09/2008
Run Time: 91:25

Originally taped as part of an intended film on the conductor's life, this two-disc set contains Otto Klemperer's entire final concert given with the New Philharmonia in London on September 26, 1971. Klemperer was then in his 87th year, and these performances are, as one might imagine, immensely slow. His Beethoven's King Stephen Overture, normally one of the composer's most ebullient works, never shifts out of second, and his Brahms' Third Symphony is measured with each beat bearing its full and deliberate weight. Yet these are by no means sloppy performances. Klemperer's hand is steady and his technique is firm, and these are lucid, detailed, and insightful accounts of familiar works. The New Philharmonia plays with a rich, warm tone and a relaxed but attentive ensemble, and the performances seem full of enthusiasm for the scores and affection for the conductor. The piano soloist in Beethoven's Fourth Concerto is the then 20-year-old Daniel Adni making his concerto debut. Unfortunately his nerves show in the work's flashier passage when his fingers sometimes run away with themselves. Still, Klemperer holds up his end and elicits a performance as firm as iron from the London musicians. Though the monaural sound is antique and full of hiss, this Testament set will be required listening for all fans of the great German conductor. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide

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Release Date: 09/09/2008
Run Time: 91:25