Since the early 1960s, all Furtwängler enthusiasts have known that Bruckner's Ninth was recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic on 7 October 1944 in the Beethovensaal. And — despite what was stated on all Deutsche Grammophon LPs and CDs — this was not a live recording, but a ‘Magnetofonkonzert’, with the radio microphone as its only audience.
And yet doubts remained about this date, raised in particular by reading the booklet accompanying the voluminous CD edition of the ‘war concerts’ by the BPO a few years ago.
It is credit to the SWF that, after some complicated research, it is now able to reveal the exact dates of the recording sessions for this Ninth Symphony. You will find the explanations in the newsletter (pdf) available to our members.
Research is now focusing on Mozart's 39th, which has been labelled for over fifty years as 1942/1943... And why not 1926/1954?…
