Furtwängler's discographies include the ‘Magnetofonkonzet’ recorded on 19–20 December 1944 in Vienna.
Furtwängler recorded Beethoven's First Symphony and the ‘Eroica’ for the microphone, without an audience. The latter is well known to us: the surviving tape has given rise to numerous publications, starting with the now famous release by Urania. Some consider it the pinnacle of all Furtwängler's interpretations of this symphony.
But what about the First Symphony? Nothing remained of it, and it did not seem to have been broadcast on German radio. In fact, it did not even appear on the famous list compiled by Henning Smidth and updated over twenty years ago! People even wondered: had it really been recorded?
The answer is yes. After considerable research, a member of the SWF tracked down the broadcast of this recording. Two local newspapers announced it on 17 March 1945: on Sunday 18 March 1945, all radio transmitters (still available...) would broadcast Beethoven's First Symphony, as well as the Leonore III overture, the latter taken from the Magnetofonkonzert of 2-3 June 1944.
This is undoubtedly the last broadcast of a Furtwängler concert before the very end. It was about time...
