Before he was appointed music director for life of the Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan was closely associated with the Philharmonia in its early years, although he never held an official title with the orchestra. The founder of the Philharmonia and legendary EMI producer, Walter Legge, was against appointing an official principal conductor but it was Karajan who built the orchestra into one of the finest ensembles in the world, and made numerous recordings for EMI, including all the Beethoven symphonies and stereo gems like this Sibelius recording. Recorded on September 20, 21 and 23, 1960, (Symphony No.5) and January 5 and 6, 1959, (Finlandia) at London's famous Kingsway Hall venue. Produced by Walter Legge and Engineered by Douglas Larter (Harold Davidson - Finlandia). 180-gram audiophile vinyl cut from original EMI master tapes at EMI's Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo analog master tapes with the Neumann VMS80 lathe fed analog precut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional playback head.

Track Listing
Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82
First Movement: Tempo molto moderato - Allegro moderato – Presto
Second Movement: Andante mosso, quasi allegretto

Symphony No.5 in E flat major, Op.82, (cont.)
Third Movement: Allegro molto

Tone Poem
Finlandia, Op.26