[Biffo]

My favourite Klemperer/EMI recordings are:

Beethoven: Fidelio & Misss Solemnis
Brahms: Symphonies & German Requiem
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (with Wunderlich & Ludwig) - unsurpassed

I also like his Beethoven symphonies and Mozart/Magic Flute (the lack of dialogue doesn't worry me). The box set 'Romantic Symphonies & Overtures' has some surprises - Berlioz, Franck and Tchaikovsky, the Schumann is a bit mixed.

 

[Biffo]

I have to wonder if OK's slow tempi, in his later recordings, might be directly attributable to the various physical afflictions he suffered?? Perhaps he simply couldn't move any faster??

I thought that but yesterday, prompted by this thread, I listened to some of his EMI recording of Cosi fan tutte. If I remember correctly it was slated when first issued for being way too slow. The overture starts off very portentously but once the quicker section starts Klemperer takes it at a fast pace. There is some virtuoso playing from the Philharmonia winds; I suppose it could be taken quicker but not without risking becoming an incoherent gabble. Once the singing starts it is a different matter - Klemperer seems quite relaxed but not excessively slow. However, I think the effect is cumulative and the slower pace begins to tell. I grew up with Bohm's well-known EMI recording so I am not expecting hipster speeds.

Perhaps it is just how Klemperer wanted it to sound.

 

[Biffo]

As for his Mahler Song of the Earth I wonder what Mahler would have thought of some absurdly slow tempi for the superb Wunderlich. But the singing and playing are glorious and the final song with Ludwig unforgettable.

Absurdly slow? In the first movement, the trickiest for the tenor, Klemperer takes 7'59 - the only conductor in the 25 recordings I have to come in under 8 mins, though Krips (8'00) and Kempe (8'04) run him close. I didn't check the other two movements but as Klemperer takes 63'21 in total I don't think he could have been excessively slow.

Overall, Walter in 1937 is quickest (57'22) and Horenstein with BBC Northern Synphony Orchestra the slowest (69'34). Reiner, Tilson-Thomas and Krips with the Vienna SO have pretty similar times to Klemperer.

Edit: I actually have 26 recordings, I missed out Nott and the Bamberg SO, it was in a pile of unlistened to discs. He takes 61'26 overall and 8'03, 3'06 and 4'15 for the tenor movements compared with 7'59, 3'37 and 4'36 for Klemperer.