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Here is a concert we are all familiar with: this “all-Beethoven” program has been handed down to posterity thanks to the magnetic tapes recorded on the occasion of the concerts — we use the words “on the occasion”, because there is every reason to believe that the tape recorders were also used for a recording in the empty hall.

Whatever the case, Furtwängler performed a hardly relaxed Fourth, a madcap Fifth and — in the middle of all this — a Coriolan overture, the dramatic climax of the evening.

Was there any reason for him to be so passionate and gloomy? Just consider the dates: while the Second World War was certainly at its most intense (and after the turning point of “Stalingrad”), the situation was quite a paradox for the conductor: during the course of rehearsals, he had a short ceremony in Potsdam with a certain Elisabeth Albert, widow of Ackermann. Furtwängler had just married.

The booklet features two of Furtwängler’s “close friends”. Walter Riezler, art historian and writer of a book about Beethoven, was a young pupil of the archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler, who employed him — along with Alfred Curtius — as tutor to his son Wilhelm. His article on Beethoven’s 4th, starting on page 4, continues after the middle section. As for publicist Karla Höcker, we are already familiar with her, as she wrote extensively about her encounters with the conductor, particularly when accompanying him on tour.

This was the very last time Furtwängler conducted a Concerto by Chopin, and the very last time he performed with Eduard Erdmann (1). He was a great admirer of Chopin, often envying pianists the privilege of having such a corpus at their disposal, and even saying: “Bach is the Old Testament, Beethoven the New… otherwise there’s only Chopin.”

The Symphony in C major, Op. 46, is the last of Hans Pfitzner’s three symphonies. It is a three-movement work with a relatively “light” orchestration. This is undoubtedly one of Pfitzner’s most frequently performed orchestral pages. Furtwängler, who premiered it in Berlin, performed it several times, most recently at the Salzburg Festival in 1949. A disc of this performance exists, alongside the historic recordings by Pfitzner (Berlin 1940) and Böhm (Dresden 1941).

Furtwängler never lost his affinity for Pfitzner, despite the terrible, acrimonious temperament of the man who had been his boss in Strasbourg in 1910. He conducted his operas — Palestrina, Der arme Heinrich, Christelflein, Das Herz —, symphonies, concertos, and the cantatas Von deutscher Seele and Das dunkle Reich, and premiered many of them. And he was present, a baton in his hand, for the inauguration of the Pfitzner Gesellschaft in 1938.

(1) Erdmann is mentioned in connection with the concert of 30 January 1922 in Berlin.

There is not much to say about this concert. 1932 was the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Philharmonic. Festivities and, above all, a major tour in the spring celebrated the event. But right from the Winter tour — North Germany, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands — the Orchestra was determined to demonstrate its worth. In fact, its very survival was at stake, as its very existence was under threat in these times of crisis.

From this concert remain a series of snapshots, taken by the talented Erich Salomon.

How to evoke this programme without falling into the commonplace: Certainly one of the greatest Ninth by Furtwängler! Everything was written on the swept-away, exalted, sometimes furious side of the conductor’s commitment, alongside with truly upsetting moments, especially in the slow movement.

And then images come to mind; those of the news reels, made on the occasion of the celebration of Hitler’s birthday a few weeks later, so that sound and images collide when they should not: the soundtrack comes from the March concert (the voice of Anders and not of Rosvaenge!), while the shots date — at least for the most part (?) — from April 19. An often random synchronization has undoubtedly facilitated this somewhat monstrous mix between a chilling ceremony and a festive event. 

In this series, the concert of March 24 also marked a great anniversary, but of a different kind: the 125th performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony by the Bruno Kittel Choir, founded in 1902. Bruno Kittel adhered to the ideals of the new Germany and to the party that supported it. Did he hope for more prestige? He was badly rewarded: shortly after this concert, his idol ordered to rename the choir ‘Deutscher Philharmonischer Chor (Bruno-Kittel-Chor)’. It is not said that the old musician appreciated the honor that was given to him…

The booklet itself does not lack interest.

An overview of Beethoven’s dwellings in Vienna is divided between the 3rd and 9th pages.
A reflection on the Finale of the Symphony is signed by art historian Walter Riezler, who was — forty years earlier, and with Ludwig Curtius — the tutor of the young Wilhelm.
And in the news, on the penultimate page, a friendly greeting to retired member of the orchestra, an iconic figure, the solo bassist Leberecht Goedecke (1872-1947). Recognized as one of the masters of his instrument, this strong and gentle giant played it as if he was lightly handling a Stradivarius. Really? Take a look at the video of Weber’s Ouverture d’Oberon, performed by the Berliners and Bruno Walter: around two-thirds you will see several shots that will enlighten you.

The photographic portrait of Furtwängler is by Curt Ullmann. Very present in the world of the show, we owe him photos of musicians, especially at the request of Deutsche Grammophon.

The booklet does not list the detailed programmes. However, we will make up for this, at least for the essentials.

First of all, the concert by the BPO and Furtwängler on 27 June at the Konzerthaus:
– Bach: Suite No. 2, with Albert Harzer, solo flute;
– Bach: Concerto for three pianos in D major BWV 1064, with Edwin Fischer, Eduard Erdmann and Furtwängler;
– Mozart : Symphony No. 40.

Edwin Fischer performed the full Six Brandenburg Concertos over three days, on 21, 24 and 26 June, combined with other works, including cantatas sung by Ria Ginster and Helene Fahrni.

The BPO, in a scaled-down formation and under the baton of Hans von Benda, played two ‘baroque’ concerts, while Karl Landgrebe, ‘Kantor’ of Sansouci’s Friedenkirche (from 1936 to 1957) conducted Mozart’s Requiem with local musicians.

Furtwängler and his orchestra returned to Potsdam year after year until the Summer of 1944, except in 1941 when the conductor was unable to perform after a serious accident in February.

On 4 April 1948 Furtwängler wrote to Ludwig Curtius that he had just “come back into contact with the Anglo-Saxon world under conditions which were outwardly far from adequate”. Adequate or not, the circumstances were certainly extraordinary. He was the first non-exiled German conductor to perform in Britain after the Second World War (the Austrian Clemens Krauss had visited in 1947 with the Vienna State Opera). In 1948 he made four visits, giving 21 concerts with four different orchestras, of which eight were broadcast by the BBC in whole or part. He also conducted the only complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies that he ever gave, with the Eroica even being televised; had a lengthy radio discussion with the left-wing journalist H N Brailsford; and recorded for both HMV and Decca.

In 1938 Furtwängler told Fred Gaisberg that his recent experience with the London Philharmonic had convinced him that he could obtain playing from them comparable with that of the Berlin Philharmonic. But during this first visit of 1948, lasting four weeks, he conducted a London Philharmonic which had lost its founder Beecham and had not yet had its fortunes revived by Boult. More positively, however, any concerns he might have felt about his reception, in what had so recently been an enemy country, must have been dispelled when the orchestra spontaneously stood and applauded on his arrival [i].

The rehearsal demands would have been considerable. The programmes for their ten concerts encompassed all four Brahms symphonies and Beethoven’s Seventh and Ninth, plus thirteen other works, most of which were played only once during the series. The first concert included Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a theme of Tallis (which he had given in Germany in the 1920s), while, as the programme shows, Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony and Sibelius’s En Saga were given in a benefit concert for the LPO pension fund. In addition to all this he recorded Brahms’s Second Symphony with the LPO and, in his first encounter with the Philharmonia, the Immolation scene from Götterdämmerung with Flagstad.

The visit included concerts in Birmingham and Leicester, and — perhaps more surprisingly — the London suburbs of Watford and Wimbledon, which would be lucky to see a star conductor today. Many different types of music were played at Watford Town Hall, but today it is remembered mainly as the scene of numerous classical studio recordings.  The programme was a characteristic combination of established German masterpieces and more recent and challenging works. Furtwängler had little enthusiasm for Mahler, but championed a composer whose work was then little known in Britain; many in the Watford audience would have heard Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (billed under its standard English title “Songs of a Wayfarer”) for the first time. Eugenia Zareska was soon to appear at Covent Garden, later settling in London and taking British citizenship.

The (mostly anonymous) reviews compiled by John Squire in his 1985 study Furtwängler and Great Britain [ii] make no mention of the recent war; one’s impression is that the musical establishment was just relieved to return to peacetime conditions and looking to the future. Musically, Furtwängler divided opinions in 1948 much as he had always done in Britain, where some saw him as excessively subjective. But the Music Review was on his side, finding that “his chief characteristic… remains unchanged: his power of seeing a piece of music whole as a microcosm of human experience — though his executive abilities were not always equal to inducing the London Philharmonic to give full effect to his ideas”.

Eugenia Zareska

[i] Recounted by Robert Meyer (1920-2016), double-bassist in the LPO and later the Philharmonia, in his “Musical Reminiscences”.
See: https://robertmeyer.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/wilhem-furtwangler-conductor
[ii] Wilhelm Furtwängler Society UK, 1985

Two major highlights in this programme: Bruckner’s 6th Symphony, and Pierre Fournier.

A few weeks earlier, in Vienna, Furtwängler had given his first performance of this work by Bruckner, which would not appear in his programmes thereafter. A pity. On the occasion of this Berlin performance, he confessed to Karla Höcker: “I had to wait to be 57 to conduct this symphony. Isn’t that a beautiful thing to experience… at the age of 57?” Karla Höcker is featured in the printed programme for an interview with the conductor.

This was the first time Furtwängler performed with French cellist Pierre Fournier. Following Cortot, he was the second French artist (at least from the musical world…) to make the trip to Berlin. Some people held this against him… He only met Furtwängler again in Paris in 1952, for Brahms’ Double Concerto with Joseph Szigeti.

As we know, the German radio recording of the concert is incomplete. The first movement of Bruckner’s 6th Symphony and a good part of Schumann’s Concerto are missing. A pity once again…

Let’s add a few details.
From the beginning of this season, printed programmes no longer had a hardback cover, undoubtedly as a restriction measure. The last page of the programme announces upcoming concerts. Don’t be fooled! The 2nd Knapperstbusch concert had been postponed to 17 December. As for the 3rd concert of the philharmonic season, Vittorio Gui handed over the baton to Karl Böhm, who… would not conduct, the concert having been cancelled because of bombings… And don’t be surprised by the name of the choir performing the St Matthew on 21 November: the Deutscher Philharmonischer Chor is the new name of the Bruno Kittel Chor, a decision taken by the authorities… But besides that, everything’s fine.

Furtwängler’s programme was fairly conventional, although it did include a performance of Max Reger’s Mozart Variations, a work he was familiar with at the time.

The list of musicians on page 10 includes a number of names from outside the orchestra, in fact extra musicians hired for the tour.

It is worth noting that Maria Ivogün (pictured below) was accompanied by the eminent teacher and musician Rudolf Volkmann, the same person who had trained the 500 choir members for the Deutsches Requiem the previous year.

One last detail: the hotel “Zum schwarzen Bären”, where the audience was welcomed “informally” after the concert, still exists. This is where Furtwängler stayed.

The programme for this concert is quite unusual: alongside Gluck’s Overture to Alcestis are Serge Bortkiewicz’s First Piano Concerto and Mahler’s First Symphony.

This is the only time Furtwängler performed Bortkiewicz (1877-1952), a Ukrainian-born composer of late Romanticism.

Our conductor has never been an advocate of Malher. And although he conducted the first four symphonies — the First about ten times — he later distanced himself from them and focused on the Kindertotenlieder and the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

One regret: as almost all Leipzig programmes, it is only one page listing the musical works. At least we learn that the charming Lubka Kolessa plays the concerto on a Blüthner piano and that the scores are available in the lobby…