The General Meeting of the Société Wilhelm Furtwängler will be held

on Saturday, October 17, 2026, 3 pm
In the room Septembre-Léon (1st floor) – Access codes in the invitation
24, rue du Quatre-Septembre, (F) 75002 PARIS
subway: Quatre septembre ou Bourse (line 3) – Richelieu-Drouot (lines 8 et 9)

Herewith, for members (page ‘Invitations and reports‘):

– the GM notice, including the agenda

– a document to appoint a proxy.
Fully digital, it only takes a few clicks!

We hope to see many of you at this meeting. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please fill in the proxy form, which can be edited until October 16. This is vital to ensure the GM is able to deliberate properly.

A Korean correspondent is offering Melodiya LPs and CDs featuring Furtwängler’s ‘war concerts’, brand new and still in their original cellophane wrappers. The SWF is simply passing on these offers to you.

Attached is a list of these records. The SWF would be remiss if it did not point out that Melodiya has attributed recordings (Glazunov, D’Albert) to Furtwängler that are not his.

The prices are as follows:
Set of 7 LPs: 280 euros
Both sets: 450 euros
1 CD: 15 euros
1 LP: 40 euros

Postage for the 13 CDs: 35 euros
Postage for the 7 LPs: 55 euros

Seven years ago, the SWF published a major study, Furtwängler and Schoenberg, focusing on the premiere of the Variations, Op. 31. In the correspondence between the two musicians, we highlighted a missing link: the conductor’s interest in the work to come.

The Arnold Schönberg Centre (Eike Feß) has sent us ‘THE’ letter that was missing from the jigsaw — a letter which the Centre has just acquired, and the contents of which are set out in the attached newsletter, reserved for our members. This is the true starting point for the composition of the Variations.

Volume 3 of our Polydor complete collection is now available in the shop.

Whilst this series (1930–1932) opens with the romantic agitato of Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave, the rest of the programme is lighter in tone, including the 3rd Brandenburg Concerto, which is very lively and sunny. One would not have expected Furtwängler to tackle Rossini, and yet he proves himself very much at home with it. It is said (?) that even Toscanini would have been won over by this performance of La gazza ladra…

As with the previous volumes, Felix Matus-Echaiz has written an essay that closely follows Furtwängler’s interpretation of these pages.

Content: Mendelssohn Fingal’s Cave (+ rehearsal) – Berlioz Hungarian March – Dvorak Slavonic Op. 46 No. 3 – Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.3 – Rossini La gazza ladra (Ov.) – Brahms Hungarian Dances No. 1 & No. 10 – Weber Invitation to the dance (orch. Berlioz)

Next and final episode: November.