The program page below deserves a ‘wanted’ poster.

It features Furtwängler conducting the Nuremberg ‘Philharmonischer Verein’ orchestra for a concert on April 7, 1922.

– This concert is not listed among all known performances by Furtwängler.;
– It would be his only appearance as conductor of this orchestra;
– This would have been the only time he conducted the 3rd Symphony (‘Västkustbilder’) by Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg.

It is true that Furtwängler was ‘available’ at this precise period (April 1 in Vienna, April 16 in Rome), during which he was appointed in Berlin and Leipzig as Nikisch’s successor. But there is no trace of this concert in his letters, nor in the newspapers of the time.

Disturbing are the notes written with blue ink: ‘Vertreter’ — ‘Schuricht’ — ‘Wiesbaden’.

Could he have replaced Carl Schuricht? Or vice versa? But nothing about that date is mentioned in his eminent colleague’s concert schedule either. That said, it is certain that Schuricht conducted Atterberg’s symphony in his Wiesbaden stronghold in late 1921/early 1922…

It should be noted that the two local orchestras — of the Theater and of the Philharmonic Association —, that year merged to become the Nuremberg Philharmonic Orchestra. No doubt this is the origin of the ‘vereinigten Orchester’, reunited orchestra, which is mentioned on the document.

The hunt is on…

We have just been informed of the sudden death of Philippe Jacquard on 16 November at the age of 76.

Trained as an engineer with expertise in patent registration, he soon became interested in Furtwängler and joined the SWF. For a long time he acted as General Secretary, bringing his rigour to the management of a growing community of members.

He wrote numerous articles for the association — Furtwängler à Francfort, Les Sortilèges de Brangaene, Les Acoustiques du Titania-Palast, Furtwängler et l’enregistrement, and was involved in drafting and writing circulars, as well as sending them out. It’s fair to say that for several years, the SWF relied heavily on his efforts as General Secretary.

From June 1991, he succeeded Serge Dubois as President of the SWF, a position he held for two years.

With his in-depth knowledge of recording techniques, he has long enlightened SWF members with his expertise in sound quality.

We would like to express our deepest sympathy to his family and friends.

His funeral will be held on 28 November at 10.30am in the Notre-Dame church in Vincennes.

The partnership between the Wilhelm Furtwängler Gesellschaft (Berlin), our sister company, and the publisher musicas.de (Hamburg) has resulted in an outstanding product.

A superb hardback box features three blu-ray DVDs and a book.

The three blu-ray DVDs:
– No. 1 (75′): existing films of Furtwängler’s rehearsals and concerts;
– No. 2 (118′): memories and interviews with Claudio Abbado, Yehudi Menuhin, Hans Bastiaan, Carlo Maria Giulini…
– No. 3 (80′) features the documentary made by Florian Furtwängler (the conductor’s nephew) in 1968.

The DVDs have English and Japanese subtitles.

The lavishly presented, bilingual (German and English) book that accompanies the DVDs is written by our friend Helge Grünewald, President of the WFG. It is rich in information, and includes rare iconography.

This beautiful item, available at the end of November, has a retail price of €100. However, it is being sold to SWF members at the special price of €60.00 + shipping. This promotional offer will expire on 31 December 2024.

To benefit from this attractive offer, simply complete the order form — also available in the online shop —, accessible only to SWF members. By submitting it, an email will be sent directly to the publisher. You will later receive notification from the publisher of the total amount to be paid before shipment.

INFORMATION: Please note that the minutes of the GM held on 9 November are available on the following page Invitations and reports of the Association.

Almost two years ago, we reissued the study Furtwängler in Italy. To illustrate and supplement this document, here is a facsimile programme of the Berlin Philharmonic’s concert at the Teatro Adriano in Rome on January 22, 1941. The January 24 concert will be released in a few weeks’ time.

A valuable archive, thanks to the author of the study, Angelo Scottini.

The orchestra, standing, plays the national anthems. Rome, January 22, 1941

Our new product, described in our October 17th news, is now available in our shop.

Our efforts — those of Christophe Hénault! — focused on the sound rendering, and in particular the processing of dynamics, from the archive provided by the Swedish Radio.

This publication is also an opportunity to highlight our extensive catalog of downloadable products. And this publication comes on the day before our GM: we look forward to seeing you there!

As we wrote some time ago: if the traditional conference has become a thing of the past, an alternative means of expression is now available.

Guilhem Chameyrat, SWF member and member of the association’s board, has published a long and well-documented podcast on Furtwängler and Brahms, considering that such a symbiosis between conductor and composer has never been more striking than this one.

This is a deeply personal point of view, but he defends it brilliantly. The podcast is in French, with English and German subtitles. Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/RxxMptircM0?si=u_Eg9GlTEs3PqONG