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As announced on 29 May — Back to Wiesbaden — the new release is now available for download (in high definition and CD format): SWF D26 – the BPO concert held on 12 June 1949 in Wiesbaden.

Although Till Eulenspiegel was not preserved, the rest of the concert was captured — and very well at that — by Frankfurt Radio. It was this recording that Christophe Hénault used as his starting point; he reworked the sound somewhat — which was a little muffled — but focused particularly on the dynamics, which varied considerably from one movement to the next.

Thus, Pfitzner’s three Palestrina preludes, which might otherwise have seemed somewhat off-putting, regain a clarity and brilliance that they previously lacked. For many, this will be a ‘first’. Mozart’s 40th, meanwhile, retains its impetuous and sombre character, whilst Brahms’s 4th allows phrases of a plastic beauty superior even to those of the 1943 version to unfold!

The text, penned by Raphaël Fournier, and his podcast reflect his enthusiasm for Pfitzner, a composer to whom Furtwängler remained devoted throughout his life.

The digital booklet (in English) also includes rare documents, including a newspaper article covering the concert.

Suffice to say, we were quite right to label this product ‘Discovery’.

Streaming will begin on 1 July.

On 13 January, we published a study on Furtwängler’s very first concert in Vienna on 26 January 1913 (with the Konzertverein Orchestra). He returned on 9 March for a second performance, the last before he took up his post in 1918.

Here is a facsimile of the front of that second programme.

Rest assured, the SWF is not abandoning the complete Polydor edition, and Volume 3 will indeed be published in the autumn.

However, we thought it would be interesting to include a completely different product in the middle of this series, one that will appeal to those put off by ‘wax discs’. On 12 June, the SWF D26 album will be released, featuring the concert given by the Berliner Philharmoniker in Wiesbaden on 10 June 1949, recorded by Hessischer Rundfunk. Its price will be €15. As usual, in addition to the high-resolution files, you will also find files in ‘CD format’

Alongside Mozart’s 40th Symphony — we don’t have that many! — a monumental 4th Symphony by Brahms, with phrasing that takes your breath away, but above all a set of pieces that were dear to Furtwängler’s heart: the three preludes from Pfitzner’s Palestrina. Included in the programme to pay tribute to the composer who had passed away shortly before, they were by no means a stopgap. Furtwängler had a sincere admiration for this opera, which he had planned to conduct in Salzburg in 1955, and he frequently conducted the preludes to each of the three acts, both in Berlin and on tour. Consequently, there is nothing superficial about this interpretation, which delves deep into the essence of Pfitzner’s mysticism.

This reissue required extensive restoration work, which, as usual, was entrusted to Christophe Hénault. In particular, it was necessary to balance the levels and restore the dynamics of the 2nd Prelude, which had been compressed.

The commentaries were as entrusted to Raphaël Fournier, a great connoisseur of Pfitzner. Very soon, a video podcast will give him the opportunity to discuss the complex, yet ultimately endearing, figure of this composer.

In the meantime, here is an excerpt (mp3) from the first prelude.

For many years admirers of Furtwängler have wondered when the recording of Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, released by DGG with the vague two-year date of 1942-1943, was really made.

We know that the conductor left us two recordings of this work, this one and a live recording made during the concerts of 7 and 8 February 1944: two different interpretations, though made within a short time of each other and with the same orchestra.

“1942-1943” means little more than these 730 days, and doesn’t get us very far.

Then, a team of SWF members set about looking into the matter. The study we are presenting to you, whilst not providing a definitive answer, examines all the possibilities. And you are welcome to share your views…

Furtwängler’s talent as a pianist is well known. Written accounts — far more so than the few recordings that exist — bear witness to this. He began his career as a répétiteur at the opera, then went on to accompany singers in recitals, and performed as a chamber musician in Lübeck and Mannheim. But he also performed as a soloist in his own orchestral concerts. As such he conducted from the keyboard numerous performances of Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto, the Concerto for Three Keyboards by the same composer, and even Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Like Bruno Walter, he also made a name for himself with Mozart. Take, for example, the programme from 4 May 1936: the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor, whilst on tour, stopped off in Stuttgart. And the audience crowded in the Liederhalle would hear Furtwängler’s performance of Mozart’s Concerto in A major (No. 23).

We would have liked to have heard a recording. We’ll have to make do with this facsimile.

Everyone knows that Furtwängler conducted his first concert at the age of twenty, and that the programme featured Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony.

How and why did he come to take the podium at such a young age?

The attached study (PDF) reveals the answer.

Two years ago, the SWF published an online facsimile of the programme for one of Furtwängler’s most famous concerts, from the series held between 27 and 30 June 1943.

The programme, consisting entirely of Beethoven — the 4th Symphony, Coriolan, and the 5th Symphony — was recorded by German radio and has, for over fifty years, been the subject of numerous recordings, ranking among the essential items in the conductor’s discography. There were even two versions of the 4th Symphony available: one recorded live, the other without an audience. As for the exact dates of these recordings..

Thanks to a document originating from a musician of the Berlin Philharmonic, it is finally possible to date all three works. This is revealed in the short study (pdf) available exclusively to our members.

These recordings were originally reissued by Melodiya

Many conductors began their careers as pianists, concert performers or simply as vocal coaches. This was the case with Furtwängler, as it was with Walter, Klemperer, Kleiber and many others.

A few came from the world of strings: Nikisch the violinist, Toscanini the cellist, Monteux the violist, Koussevitzky the double bassist…

Would conductors from the first category be at a disadvantage when conducting an orchestra in which the string section appears to dominate? As for Furtwängler, what did he know about playing the bow?

The brief study we present here will surprise more than a few.

Furtwängler and three violinists from the Vienna Philharmonic (1954):
Willi Boskowsky, Carl Johannis, Fritz Sedlak

Volume 2 of our complete Polydor collection is now available in the shop.

Wagner is honoured with the Prelude and Liebestod, the first in a long series, but above all with a Prelude from Lohengrin, in which the strings of the BPO reveal their incredible flexibility. And let us remember that it was only a year earlier that Furtwängler conducted this opera for the first time!

Furtwängler always knew how to bring out the grandeur — yet with a certain touching naivety — of the overture to Rosamunde, as well as the exuberance, in an impeccable performance, of Till Eulenspiegel.

As with the previous volume, Félix Matus-Echaiz has written an analytical essay, staying as true as possible to the conductor’s intentions.

Content: Wagner Lohengrin: Prelude – Wagner Tristan & Isolde: Prelude, Liebestod – Schubert Rosamunde: Overture – R. Strauss Till Eulenspiegel – Till Eulenspiegel (rehearsal)

Next episode: August/September.

Once again, examining newspapers from the period sheds interesting light on concert programming. An announced concert does not always mean an actual concert, and one date can hide another…

This was the case with the concerts given by Furtwängler in the short series with the BPO, preceding his appointment in 1922 as conductor of the Philharmonic concerts.

On 2 March 1919, an advertisement announced the upcoming concert on the 14th at the Philharmonie: Furtwängler would conduct Beethoven’s Leonore II Overture and Violin Concerto, Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel. And, for the first time, Bronislaw Huberman would be his soloist. The concert did not take place, and we have been unable to ascertain the reason for its cancellation. Huberman and Furtwängler did not appear together for the first time until December 1925, performing Brahms’ Concerto.

Similarly, on 2 November, a BPO concert with Edwin Ficher is announced for the 14th. The programme included Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto in E flat major (presumably No. 22) and the overture to Der Freischütz. However, this concert did not take place. The two musicians would performed together on 13 February, with Brahms’ Second Concerto featuring in the second half of the programme. With Bruckner’s Eighth, it’s a very light menu…

Autumn 1947. It had only been five months since Furtwängler resumed his conducting career. And he had only performed once with his Berlin orchestra, in May, for a series of four concerts featuring an all-Beethoven programme.

In September, he conducts a series of concerts with the BPO. Two at the Titania Palast — on the 14th and 15th — as part of the BPO’s season; one on the 17th in Potsdam; and, in between, a concert in the Radio season, given in the large auditorium of the Radio House, Masurenallee.

The programme is the same: Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphoses, Strauss’ Don Juan, and Brahms’s Second Symphony.

As we know, this has resulted in two superb recordings of works by Hindemith and Strauss. Attached is a facsimile of the concert programme for 16 September.

Our faithful member, Roger Smithson, who is also a specialist on pianist Edwin Fischer, has written a study for us on the legendary recording of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, performed by this great pianist and the Philharmonia conducted by Furtwängler.

Thanks to him, we know more about the recording conditions at Abbey Road Studios and the concert that followed at the Royal Albert Hall.

The study is available in PDF format in two versions, English and French. We remind you that a facsimile of the concert programme is also available on our website.