This is a very special facsimile of a programme that we are featuring here: the concerts given by the Berliner Philharmoniker and Furtwängler on 19, 20 and 21 November 1939.

It featured one of the rare appearances of the great baritone Hans Hotter with Furtwängler, but above all it announced the premiere of Hans Pfitzner’s Kleine Sinfonie op. 44. A Pfitzner in the spotlight, as the symphony was accompanied by two arias sung by Hotter.

And there was nothing obvious about this programme. Despite what one might think of the person, Pfitzner was far from being among the favourites of the regime in power. Furtwängler had to intervene more than once to ensure that the old man was regarded with respect.

There are several Wilhelm Furtwängler discographies, more or less recent, more or less accessible, more or less relevant.

The small study here attached provides a fairly comprehensive inventory of what exists.

The newspapers announced it well in advance: on 16 February 1939, Furtwängler was to take part in a chamber music concert at the Conventgarten in Hamburg. That evening, he was to be the pianist partner of violinist Erika Besserer — a pupil of Joachim, born in 1887 and who died in 1951 — for a performance of the composer-conductor’s Sonata in D minor. The programme also was to feature works for two violins and piano, performed by Besserer and Georg von Staehr, violins, and Reiner Zipperling, piano. The Sonata had been premiered a year earlier by Hugo Kolberg, Konzertmeister of the BPO, with Furtwängler playing the piano.

But the daily newspapers of 14 February informed their readers that on 11 and 12 February, during the concerts in Vienna, Furtwängler had contracted a severe case of flu. He would not in fact return to conducting again until two months afterwards.

The chamber music concert was therefore cancelled. Postponed to a later date, the newspapers seem to suggest, but there is no sign of any reprogramming…

Vienna, November 1943. Furtwängler devised a rather curious programme. While it is by no means unusual to associate Mozart with Richard Strauss — the latter having been an unconditional admirer of the former — it is far more unusual to include two symphonic poems by the illustrious Bavarian composer on the same programme: Till Eulenspiegel and Also sprach Zarathustra.

It should be noted that this is one of the last performances of Zarathustra. Furtwängler only performed the work again once, at the Colon in Buenos-Aires, seven years later.

Here you will find the facsimile of the programme, plus a facsimile of the ticket!

Photo probably taken at the concert. Published in the Wiener Illustrierte Zeitung in April 1944

On 14 June, we published an announcement for a missing concert — a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic with Furtwängler in Prague, announced for 18 February 1929, which was mysteriously cancelled. The VPO archives were unable to shed any light on the reasons for the cancellation.

Czech Jiry Chromcak has come to the rescue by carrying out research, the results of which solve this mystery.

A cold snap — continental arctic air from Russia — hit Czechoslovakia in the winter of 1929, and on 11 February the thermometer dropped to -42.2°C (-44°F), an all-time record! The decision to cancel had been taken earlier, when the temperature was already -20°C (-4°F), anticipating the difficulties of travelling. In March, it was announced that the concert would still take place, without any indication of the date (the tickets were still valid), but the orchestra’s schedule no doubt no longer made it possible to travel for such a short time.

Many thanks to Jiry Chromcak.

Below is the Lidové noviny (‘People’s Daily’) of 18 February 1929, which covers the subject as a humorous comic strip…

The Wilhelm Furtwängler Centre of Japan releases a 5-CD album : WFHC-063/67.

It focuses on Beethoven’s 7th and 8th symphonies, programmed together. Here we find the Stockholm concert of 13 November 1948, the Berlin concert of April 1953 and, finally, the Salzburg Festival concert of 30 August 1954.

It also includes the works that complemented these programmes: Leonore III (and rehearsal) in Stockholm, Till Eulenspiegel in Berlin, the Grand Fugue in Salzburg, also the Leonore III from a Magnetofonkonzert in Vienna (2 June 1944) as an extra.

As with the other products of this association — see the shop —, it has to be ordered directly from the WFCJ, as a member, at the price of 8000 yens (±€50) + postage (for shipping outside Japan).

We take advantage of this news to wish you a happy new year!

Just over a month ago, Philippe Jacquard passed away.

In 1988, he wrote a very comprehensive study, Furtwängler in Leipzig, of the conductor’s activities as head of the Gewandhaus from 1922 to 1928. Today, we’re reissuing it in line with our new graphic charter. For financial reasons, it is only available in French.

The original ‘paper’ study was previously published on the old SWF website, unfortunately without certain appendices and iconography. For this reissue, we had to start from this base, adding new illustrations. As for the list of concerts with the Gewandhaus, it seemed unnecessary to rewrite it, since these concerts are included in the extensive list accessible on this site.

We previously announced it. Our new SWF D17 product is now available on the shop at a price of €15.

Here’s a reminder of its content:
– Swedish and Austrian national anthems
– Haydn: Symphony No 94
– Sibelius: En Saga
– R. Strauss: Don Juan
– Beethoven : Symphony No 5

The radio announcements are also fully translated into English and French in the booklets. The cover photo was taken during the dress rehearsal (Don Juan).

This is a great moment in music, each work being performed to a rare perfection, but also with a very active reading. Furtwängler was in top form. And while many recordings of the Fifth do exist, or of Don Juan, there is only one other version of En Saga and Haydn’s symphony.

The files — in high definition — are sourced from the Swedish Radio, and sound particularly good, with more depth and definition than on our old compact disc.

The podcast, available on this site, presents the product with sound excerpts.

Everything you need for a merry Christmas!

A conference by Chris Walton at the Cercle Wagner.

On Sunday 8 December, in Paris, the Cercle National Richard Wagner hosted a conference by Chris Walton, a specialist in the Germanic repertoire and a great connoisseur of Furtwängler’s art.

The title sums up the speaker’s point. Guilhem Chameyrat and our President, Félix Matus-Echaiz, attended the event. The attached pdf document — written by Guilhem Chameyrat — is a report of the conference.

Guilhem Chameyrat, Chris Walton and Félix Matus-Echaiz

The programme we are releasing as a facsimilé contrasts with the usual publications: it accompanies a chamber music session rather than an orchestral concert.

Furtwängler — playing the piano — and violinist Georg Kulenkampff perform Furtwängler’s Second Sonata in D major, on 5 December (and not 8 as indicated in the booklet). But not just anywhere.

Not only are they performing in the great hall of the Musikverein — over 1700 seats! — but, as the promotional sidebar states, the concert is ‘Ausverkauft’! It is sold out, and the ticket desk should be closed on the evening…

The same performers premiered the work in February of the same year — in Bielefeld — ‘toured’ it then, and performed it again in December, notably in Munich and Prague.

So many chamber musicians would be envious!

SWF D17 : Wiener Philharmoniker, Stockholm, 25 September 1950

Rarely can we present an entire concert to our members.

A few years ago, we produced a compact disc — our last CD! — featuring the first part of the concert performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker in Stockholm on 25 September 1950. However, we only had second-hand material.

On 20 December, you will be able to listen to the entire concert in high definition, just as if you were listening to the radio broadcast. You will even enjoy the announcer’s announcements and the opening national anthems!

To do this, we had the chance to work with the best source, the Swedish Radio, which provided us with the sound files in high definition. Christophe Hénault, our regular sound engineer, had to correct a few things. Dynamics are quite exceptional, and the sound palette is very rich. However, it should not be forgotten that the footage was recorded on tape, which was then transferred to disc for archiving. The background noise is affected by this, but more drastic processing would have resulted in a loss of definition.

As for the content: Haydn Symphony No. 94, a wonderful alternative to the HMV disc, Sibelius’ En Saga, with its subtle hues, a Don Juan by Strauss, as crepuscular as Lenau’s character, and a Beethoven Fifth of the best days!

The booklet includes Marc Vignal’s text, written for the 2017 CD, as well as transcriptions of the radio announcements. 

Here’s an extract from En Saga (in mp3) to whet your appetite.

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…