We are going to release — on 20 September — an outstanding item that will be a major first for the SWF!

Furtwängler rarely annotated his scores. Except for one: Schumann’s 4th Symphony, whose orchestration he reworked (and lightened), as many other conductors did. From 20 September you will be able to download an extensive set of material related to this symphony that extends beyond the recording itself.

The pack — SWF D15 — includes:

— The 1953 DG recording, with the approval of Universal Music, but in high definition audio like you’ve never heard before. For many of you, this will be a rediscovery! The dynamics are superlative, and the finesse of the timbres owes much to the high-definition quality. Let us underline the fact that only the SWF is proposing this monument restored to its original splendour!

– the facsimile of the score (Breitkopf & Härtel), with Furtwängler’s annotations, scanned for the SWF in high resolution by the Zentralbibliothek, Zürich, which is its depositary.

– a study about this revision, published in 2016, and signed by the young conductor Jan Moritz Onken, who agreed to let us translate his work into French and English. This study will allow you to trace and understand Furtwängler’s approach to this work.

We would like to thank Andreas Furtwängler, Universal Music, the Zentralbibliothek in Zürich, Jan Moritz Onken and Mark Trautmann, our regular translator, who all responded favourably to our requests, thus contributing invaluably to a greater understanding of Furtwängler.

The bundle will be priced at €15.00, the higher-than-usual price being explained by the cost of the various licences.

Under the terms of our agreement with Universal, this addition to our catalogue will extend over 3 years, and audio files are excluded from streaming. So get the most out of this unique download straight away!

To take inflation into account, the price of digital products will increase – very slightly! — starting September 1.

– Items previously priced at €9 are now €10
– Those at €13 or €14: now €15
– Those at €5: now €6

As usual, we would like to inform you of the latest publication from the Wilhelm Furtwängler Centre of Japan.

This is a boxed set of 4 CDs — ref.: WFHC 059/62 — featuring all the concerts by the Philharmonic in Berlin on 10 February 1952 and 18 May 1953.

These discs are only available to members of the WFCJ. Here is the link to the website: http://furt-centre.com/index.htm.