Everyone knows it! Wilhelm Furtwängler began his American career in January 1925, on Saturday 3 to be precise, this being the start of three successive seasons during which, at the head of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO), he shared the spotlight with Willem Mengelberg, and then also, from 1926, with Arturo Toscanini.
What we discover from the archives of the New York Philharmonic is that Furtwängler almost appeared at the head of the orchestra as early as January 1924. This anticipated yet missed opportunity emerges from the correspondence preserved in these archives, records that are just as much the reflection of a certain way of doing things at a particular period. Another time…
We have translated these letters. On the other hand, our Anglophone friends, owing to matters of reproduction rights, will have to consult the facsimiles present on the website of the NYPO archives.