What a truly beautiful Pastorale of Beethoven, recorded at a concert of the Berlin Philharmonic in March 1944 in the hall of the Staatsoper (in between a reconstruction and a second destruction).

Benoît Lejay, in an exhaustive comparative study — that we are republishing — has noted how much more agitated it is, less well behaved, less ‘classical’ than the 1952 Vienna recording commercialised by EMI

We had rereleased it, not very well to be true, on CD. Since then, the Berliner Philharmoniker has released it as part of their voluminous collection of the 1939-1945 recordings. This should have been cause for rejoicing as being a ‘definitive’ recording. And yet we must lower our expectations; the release suffers from two pitfalls: pointless artificial stereo that is also clumsy (through phase shifting), and a failure to set the tape at the proper speed. As a result ‘their’ Pastorale is tuned to A at 448 Hz!​

We shall present it in its own ‘juice’, as a mono recording, just as Friedrich Schnapp knew how to do it.

We envisage releasing it as a download (including high definition) for mid May. As always it will be possible, from the version in 16/44, CD format,  to engrave a CD for traditional playback.

Lastly, note that the text of the sleeve note — of top quality as always — was written by the late Harry Halbreich.

Furtwängler was on good terms with his colleagues… with perhaps one exception (have a guess…).

Yet there is one conductor with whom his relationship was particularly cordial: Sir Thomas Beecham. A priori, however, everything seemed as though it would keep them apart: heritage, training, repertory, style, the approach to music. Nonetheless, a complicity was established between them, and Sir Thomas was particularly loyal: when Furtwängler was banned by the Nazis from touring in Great Britain, the baton was offered to Beecham, who refused. And when Furtwängler died, on the other hand, he maintained the presence of the late conductor in a concert, the programme of which was not at all typical of the Englishman’s repertory. Faithfulness…

Here is a rare snapshot taken during Beecham’s first invitation to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, on 29 January 1930. The two conductors stand either side of Sir Horace Rumbold, United Kingdom ambassador to Germany.

We present facsimiles of concert programmes, and of course Berlin and Vienna often appear among them. Here however is a comparative rarity: a programme of Furtwängler in Paris, at the head of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (OSCC).

Several years previously the orchestra had left the “Salle du Conservatoire”, Bergère Street, and they now performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (TCE).

Below is the poster announcing the 1948/49 season, including two Furtwängler concerts (omitting the public dress rehearsal), outside the subscription series.

You can find a lot of chocolate in Geneva, a big water fountain and even a few banks… There is also a very fine concert hall, the Victoria Hall. Despite this, see if you can find any record of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s visit to this city and this concert hall…

Here, actually, is one, one you can see: the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor in a snapshot taken during a concert on 8 May 1933.

Members can see this in large format in the iconography.

A promise is a promise.

The recording of the concert of the 50^th anniversary of the SWF, on 19 October 2019, is now available to our members. Non-members will have to content themselves with this extract.

Quartets by Schubert, Beethoven and Ravel, performed by the Varian Fry Quartet of Berlin, recorded by Frédéric Briant.

There are two ways to access this:

– streaming (available for the next two months), by clicking here.

– downloading (SWF D07), from the shop, as for another reference, yet of course at no cost (the price is zero euro). 2 formats: CD quality (wav 16/44) and high definition (flac 24/96)

A facsimile of the programme can also be downloaded along with a tutorial to help you downloading.

Those who attended the concert will be able to relive these intense moments; everyone else will discover a concert that will leave an important mark in our history.

Our friends of the Wilhelm Furtwängler Centre of Japan have just released a double DVD of 2 concerts of Furtwängler conducting the RAI Orchestra of Rome:
– that of 10 January 1952, with the Pastorale and the 5th Symphony,
– that of the 19th of the same month, with the 4th Concerto played by Pietro Scarpini and the Eroica.

When one says ‘DVD’, one often thinks of images. In this case we have just sound files. On your screen you will see menus, like those of a film. By clicking, you will be able to listen in high definition.

With sound that is very reasonable – yet which cannot compensate for the relative dryness of the Foro Italico concert hall – here are some very interesting performances, dominated by that of the Eroica, in which the orchestra seems more at ease, as if this very ‘modern’ music gave the instrumentalists greater inspiration!

The double DVD is sold on subscription at a price of 35 € – this is the price (+ expenses) determined by the Japanese association.

This subscription is open until 31 May 2020. We shall have the requisite number of DVDs sent over from Japan so that we can then send them on to you.

The order should be placed on our website shop.

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One of our members, Jean-Luc Tardivat, who is always on the qui vive, noticed this Deutsche Grammophon announcement, copied by the excellent site “Furtwaengler Journal”.

The yellow label is releasing a box-set devoted to the Staatskapelle of Berlin for its 450^th anniversary, in other words the Orchestra of the National Opera playing in concert formation. Furtwängler was its conductor before succeeding Nikisch at the BPO.

In order to conjure up Furtwängler’s presence with the Staatskapelle, DG included in its box-set programme the Tristan of October 1947. As is well known, the first act is missing, and our association released a double CD with acts II and III (it can indeed be found on the site mentioned at the head of this article). DG excelled itself by including ONLY act II. Why?

Our double album is still available in our catalogue. Don’t hesitate!

Rehearsal of Tristan in October 1947. On the left: Gottlob Frick (King Marke)

You have not received the CD you ordered from the SWF? This is—if not normal—at least logical.

Everyone will have understood that during this period of confinement, it has not been possible for us to ensure the delivery of your discs or books.

This is an extra reason for thinking of downloading: the coronavirus is not yet attacking internet traffic…

We are grateful for your understanding and urge you to take care!

Everyone knows it! Wilhelm Furtwängler began his American career in January 1925, on Saturday 3 to be precise, this being the start of three successive seasons during which, at the head of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO), he shared the spotlight with Willem Mengelberg, and then also, from 1926, with Arturo Toscanini.​

What we discover from the archives of the New York Philharmonic is that Furtwängler almost appeared at the head of the orchestra as early as January 1924. This anticipated yet missed opportunity emerges from the correspondence preserved in these archives, records that are just as much the reflection of a certain way of doing things at a particular period. Another time…

We have translated these letters. On the other hand, our Anglophone friends, owing to matters of reproduction rights, will have to consult the facsimiles present on the website of the NYPO archives.

Here is this short survey.

The programme whose facsimile we present today is that for the Berlin Philharmonic concerts of 3-5 April 1938.

Nothing extraordinary: an “all Beethoven” event — except for a few details which you can discover by looking inside.

Furtwängler’s operatic repertory is sometimes incorrectly understood, notably because we always have in mind what recordings he was able to bequeath to us.

The brief study to be discovered (for members) has but a single ambition: establish the list of the operas conducted by Furtwängler.

Though Furtwängler and his Berliners appeared, in Paris, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and later at the Opéra Garnier — prestige demanded no less —, the Salle Pleyel, inaugurated in 1927, welcomed them twice, for their first appearance in the French capital in 1928 and above all for the concert that marked one of the German musical contributions to the Exhibition of 1937, on September 7.

Here is a rare witness to this evening. Furtwängler acknowledges the public, with at his left Bruno Kittel, chorus master, and he is then himself hailed by the French President, Albert Lebrun.