Furtwängler The Early Recordings
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Hector Berlioz, Johann Strauss II, Carl Maria von Weber, Felix Mendelssohn, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms
Label: Legacy
Magazine Review Date: 4/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 112
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 37073-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Der) Freischütz, Movement: Overture |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Der) Freischütz, Movement: Entracte |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Invitation to the Dance, 'Aufforderung zum Tanze' |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (A) Midsummer Night's Dream, Movement: Overture, Op. 21 |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (The) Hebrides, 'Fingal's Cave' |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (La) Damnation de Faust, Movement: ~ |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Hector Berlioz, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Lohengrin, Movement: Prelude |
Richard Wagner, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Richard Wagner, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Tristan und Isolde, Movement: Prelude and Liebestod (concert version: arr. Humpe |
Richard Wagner, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Richard Wagner, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Der) Ring des Nibelungen: Part 4, 'Götterdämmerung', Movement: Siegfried's funeral march |
Richard Wagner, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Richard Wagner, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (21) Hungarian Dances, Movement: G minor (orch Brahms) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Johannes Brahms, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (21) Hungarian Dances, Movement: F (orch Brahms) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Johannes Brahms, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Die) Fledermaus, '(The) Bat', Movement: Overture |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Johann Strauss II, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Richard Strauss, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven
Label: Legacy
Magazine Review Date: 4/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 127
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 37059-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (6) Brandenburg Concertos, Movement: No. 3 in G, BWV1048 (stgs: 1711-13) |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (4) Orchestral Suites, Movement: No. 3 in D, BWV1068 (2 oboes, 3 trumpets, strings |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Le) nozze di Figaro, '(The) Marriage of Figaro', Movement: Overture |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| (Die) Entführung aus dem Serail, '(The) Abduction from the Seraglio', Movement: Overture |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern, Movement: Die Zauberharfe, D644 Overture |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Franz Schubert, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern, Movement: No. 5, Entr'acte in B flat after Act 3 |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Franz Schubert, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern, Movement: No. 9, Ballet No. 2 in G |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Franz Schubert, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Egmont, Movement: Overture |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| Symphony No. 5 |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Der) Freischütz, Movement: Overture |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (La) Gazza ladra, '(The) Thieving Magpie', Movement: Overture |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Gioachino Rossini, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
| (Il) Barbiere di Siviglia, '(The) Barber of Seville', Movement: Overture |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Gioachino Rossini, Composer Wilhelm Furtwängler, Conductor |
Author: Richard Osborne
Far be it for me to suggest that you take scissors or blade to the pages of Gramophone, sacred sward that it is. But, be warned, if you purchase either of these sets of early Furtwangler recordings you will need to have the title details printed above readily to hand. The provenance and recording dates of the 32 tracks are matters on which Koch are more or less silent. True, someone there has noticed that the sets include two different recordings of the Overture to Der Freischutz. Those are dated. But everything else is undocumented—or was, until the unsung heroes of Gramophone's scholarly titling department got to work on the project.
I suppose what most obviously marks out these early recordings from many later Furtwangler performances which have found their way on to disc is that these are studio made. By and large, this isn't an advantage. (If you can, compare the limp opening of this 1933 account of the Egmont Overture to the live 1947 Berlin version on either DG or Nuova Era.) That said, after four hours of listening, you get a clearer sense than you might otherwise do of the fundamental clarity and logic of Furtwangler's music-making. There is little on any of these tracks that could reasonably justify the use of the epithet 'wayward'. His stylish reading of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik has often been remarked on in these pages. And that same pedigree tells in the way he and the Berlin Philharmonic play the Overture to Die Fledermaus or either of the Rossini overtures listed here. Switch to Schubert or Weber, though, and this sense of fine breeding is powerfully supplemented by a strong feeling of identification with the romantic spirit. Here, at last, we are on real Furtwangler territory.
I had not previously heard Furtwangler's first, and relatively rare 1926 recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The slow, slightly Prussian tread of the finale is a bit of a surprise but, again, it is the performance's classical directness that is the principal delight. For years conductors monkeyed about with this score; but everything Furtwangler asks for—even the exquisitely prolonged oboe cadenza in the first movement—is finely gauged and integrated. Unfortunately, the recording is very dim. In the hushed transition to the finale the orchestra is virtually inaudible under the surface noise. In most of these early electrical recordings, the engineers give the orchestra a fair amount of space in a rather dry acoustic; but the copies are often noisy and the noise has been deliberately left, explicit and untamed, by the transfer engineer.
In the end, I find both sets rather tiresome, particularly where there are technically better later recordings of the same music under Furtwangler's direction—everything from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung, which many collectors will know from the famous HMV mono recording with Flagstad (12/54—nla). Incidentally, Koch compound their shabby presentation by giving both sets the same name—no question of Vol. 1 and 2—and by neglecting to co-ordinate the design of the two boxes.'
I suppose what most obviously marks out these early recordings from many later Furtwangler performances which have found their way on to disc is that these are studio made. By and large, this isn't an advantage. (If you can, compare the limp opening of this 1933 account of the Egmont Overture to the live 1947 Berlin version on either DG or Nuova Era.) That said, after four hours of listening, you get a clearer sense than you might otherwise do of the fundamental clarity and logic of Furtwangler's music-making. There is little on any of these tracks that could reasonably justify the use of the epithet 'wayward'. His stylish reading of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik has often been remarked on in these pages. And that same pedigree tells in the way he and the Berlin Philharmonic play the Overture to Die Fledermaus or either of the Rossini overtures listed here. Switch to Schubert or Weber, though, and this sense of fine breeding is powerfully supplemented by a strong feeling of identification with the romantic spirit. Here, at last, we are on real Furtwangler territory.
I had not previously heard Furtwangler's first, and relatively rare 1926 recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The slow, slightly Prussian tread of the finale is a bit of a surprise but, again, it is the performance's classical directness that is the principal delight. For years conductors monkeyed about with this score; but everything Furtwangler asks for—even the exquisitely prolonged oboe cadenza in the first movement—is finely gauged and integrated. Unfortunately, the recording is very dim. In the hushed transition to the finale the orchestra is virtually inaudible under the surface noise. In most of these early electrical recordings, the engineers give the orchestra a fair amount of space in a rather dry acoustic; but the copies are often noisy and the noise has been deliberately left, explicit and untamed, by the transfer engineer.
In the end, I find both sets rather tiresome, particularly where there are technically better later recordings of the same music under Furtwangler's direction—everything from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung, which many collectors will know from the famous HMV mono recording with Flagstad (12/54—nla). Incidentally, Koch compound their shabby presentation by giving both sets the same name—no question of Vol. 1 and 2—and by neglecting to co-ordinate the design of the two boxes.'
Furtwángler Early Recordings 1926-1937
Furtwängler The Early Recordings
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