Wilhelm Furtwangler - the Decca Recordings - Eloquence: ELQ4828537 - 3 CDs or download

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Release Date: 24th Sep 2021
Catalogue No: ELQ4828537
Label: Eloquence
Length: 3 hours 10 minutes

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Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Work length9:14

$1.10

$1.50

Wiener Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded: 1951-10-29
Recording Venue: Kongreßhalle, Deutsches Museum, Munich

Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Work length41:39

$4.40

$6.00

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded: 1948-03-25
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

1. Allegro non troppo

Track length15:21

$1.10

$1.50

2. Adagio non troppo - L'istesso tempo, ma grazioso

Track length10:57

$1.10

$1.50

3. Allegretto grazioso. Quasi andantino - Presto ma non assai

Track length6:16

$1.10

$1.50

4. Allegro con spirito

Track length9:05

$1.10

$1.50

Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 'Spring'

Work length33:39

$4.40

$6.00

Wiener Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded: 1951-10
Recording Venue: Kongreßhalle, Deutsches Museum, Munich

I. Andante un poco maestoso - Allegro molto vivace

Track length10:57

$1.10

$1.50

II. Larghetto

Track length6:40

$1.10

$1.50

III. Scherzo. Molto vivace

Track length6:20

$1.10

$1.50

IV. Allegro animato e grazioso

Track length9:42

$1.10

$1.50

Franck, C: Symphony in D minor

Work length39:31

$3.30

$4.50

Wiener Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded: 1953-12
Recording Venue: Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Wien

1. Lento - Allegro ma non troppo - Allegro

Track length18:14

$1.10

$1.50

2. Allegretto

Track length10:35

$1.10

$1.50

3. Allegro non troppo

Track length10:42

$1.10

$1.50

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major 'Romantic'

Work length1:05:59

$4.40

$6.00

Wiener Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded: 1951-10
Recording Venue: Kongreßhalle, Deutsches Museum, Munich

1. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell

Track length17:44

$1.10

$1.50

2. Andante quasi allegretto

Track length18:18

$1.10

$1.50

3. Scherzo. Bewegt - Trio. Nicht zu schnell. Keinesfalls schleppend

Track length10:16

$1.10

$1.50

4. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell

Track length19:41

$1.10

$1.50

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Two legendary studio recordings and a 1951 concert from Munich: the small but precious Decca legacy of the 20th centurys greatest recreative conductor, Wilhelm Furtwangler. While the performances of Wilhelm Furtwangler issued by Decca have been made available in small and large compilations, they have never been issued in this convenient format. They include a 1948 studio account of Brahmss Second Symphony with the London Philharmonic, a Vienna Philharmonic studio recording of Francks Symphony from 1951, and finally a complete concert which the VPO gave with Furtwangler in Munich on tour, playing Beethovens Coriolan Overture, Schumanns First and Bruckners Fourth Symphonies.

Each recording is precious in its way. First issued by Decca in its Eclipse LP series, the Bruckner makes a fascinating comparison with a performance given by the VPO and Furtwangler a week earlier in Stuttgart, widely available, but the Schumann First is unique within the conductors discography: majestic and superbly built, as one would expect, but not without the fiery impetus belonging to a work which the composer had written in less than a week.

While Furtwangler was more at home in concert than the studio, he knew and appreciated the value of recordings, and cultivated good relationships with broadcast engineers in Berlin. The Decca team found him harder to deal with, but the Brahms Second from Kingsway Hall remains a characteristic example of his art, more muted than his other readings but flowing and lyrical throughout. The Franck, meanwhile, is even more marked by inspirational rubato, a quality now appreciated once again in performances of late-Romantic music.

With a new essay by Rob Cowan on the context and qualities of these superb interpretations, this new Eloquence set is a definitive collection of Furtwanglers Decca legacy. Meditation, philosophy, the interior life, a quieter tonal fire and a milder, smaller flame than we sometimes feel these are the qualities in the performance and recording which can best be felt and enjoyed. Gramophone, January 1952 (Brahms)

A stately ceremonial whose jubilation is massive and startling in the Furtwangler conception of a symphony we consider light in a more customary presentation. High Fidelity, Summer 1952 (Brahms)

Furtwangler lives, obviously, in a different time-scale from the rest of us Technically faultless, this disc has depth, clarity and brilliance over and above that of the competing versions listeners whose time-scale coincides with Furtwanglers will certainly prefer it to any other. Gramophone, April 1954 (Franck)

Wilhelm Furtwangler - the Decca Recordings

3 CDs

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