Herbert von Karajan: Beethoven - Missa Solemnis in D Major, Op. 123;

Conductor, director and artistic supervisor Herbert von Karajan leads the Berlin Philharmonic, the Wiener Singverein and a superb quartet of soloists - Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Ruza Baldani, Eric Tappy and Jose van Dam - in this performance of Beethoven's mass from the Easter Festival in Salzburg in 1979. The complexity of the fugues, the frequent counterpoint between the quartet of soloists, the choir and the different sections of the orchestra, and the sheer length of the piece - over an hour and a half - make it a huge challenge to perform.