Concert on 4 May 1936

The program is quite standard, were it not for Furtwängler’s appearance as soloist (Mozart’s 23rd).

Curiously, the printed programme analyses Gluck’s Overture and Beethoven’s Eroica, but says nothing about the concerto. But let us take a moment to consider the author of these comments: Robert Oboussier (1900–1957). Born in Antwerp but a Swiss national, he studied music in Zurich and then in Berlin. Alongside his work as a composer, he made a name for himself as a critic, notably in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany’s leading daily newspapers. It was to him that Furtwängler owed the publication in 1934 of his famous article Der Fall Hindemith, which sparked a notorious international scandal and led to his resignation from his official posts.