Wilhelm Furtwängler
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler (UK: /ˈfʊərtvɛŋɡlər/ FOORT-veng-glər, US: /-vɛŋlər/ -lər, German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈfʊɐ̯tvɛŋlɐ]; 25 January 1886 – 30 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major influence for many later conductors, and his name is often mentioned when discussing their interpretative styles.[1]
Furtwängler was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic between 1922 and 1945, and from 1952 until 1954. He was also principal conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (1922–26), and was a guest conductor of other major orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic.
Although not an adherent of Nazism,[2] he was the leading conductor to remain in Germany during the Nazi regime. Despite his open opposition to antisemitism and the ubiquity of Nazi symbolism, the regime did not seek to suppress him, at Joseph Goebbels' insistence, for propaganda reasons. This situation caused lasting controversy, and the extent to which his presence lent prestige to Nazi Germany is still debated.
St Matthew Passion (first half only), live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, 1952 (Südwestfunk)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Concerto No. 2, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1953 (EMI)
Bartók
Third Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, December 1944 (Music and Arts, Preiser, Tahra)[b]
Beethoven
Beethoven, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, June 1943 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Enterprise, Music and Arts, Opus Kura, Tahra)
Fifth Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, May 1954 (Tahra)
Fifth Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, March 1944 (Tahra)
Sixth Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1943 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts, Opus Kura)[c]
Seventh Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, March 1942 with Tilla Briem, Elisabeth Höngen, Peter Anders, Rudolf Watzke, and the Bruno Kittel Choir (Classica d'Oro, Music and Arts, Opus Kura, Tahra, SWF)[d]
Ninth Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance at the 29 July 1951 re-opening of Bayreuther Festspiele (not to be confused with EMI's release) with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen, Hans Hopf and Otto Edelmann. (Orfeo D'or, 2008).[e]
Ninth Symphony
Beethoven, , ostensibly a live performance at the 29 July 1951 re-opening of Bayreuther Festspiele but purported by the president of the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society of America to actually be dress-rehearsal takes edited by EMI into one recording, all performed prior to the actual public performance. (EMI, 1955).[208]
Ninth Symphony
Beethoven, , live performance at the 1954 Lucerne Festival with the London Philharmonia, Lucerne Festival Choir, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger and Otto Edelmann (Music and Arts, Tahra).[f]
Ninth Symphony
Beethoven, , studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, 1947 (Testament)
Violin Concerto
Beethoven, , studio recording with Edwin Fischer and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1951 (Naxos)
Piano Concerto No. 5
Beethoven, , live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Kirsten Flagstad, Anton Dermota, Julius Patzak, Paul Schoeffler, Josef Greindl, and Hans Braun, August 1950 (Opus Kura)
Fidelio
Beethoven, , both live and studio recordings, with Martha Mödl, his preferred soprano, in the title role, and Wolfgang Windgassen, Otto Edelmann, Gottlob Frick, Sena Jurinac, Rudolf Schock, Alfred Poell, Alwin Hendriks, Franz Bierbach, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
Fidelio
First Symphony, live performance with the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg, October 1951 (Music and Arts, Tahra).[g]
Brahms
Brahms, , live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, January 1945 (Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts)
Second Symphony
Brahms, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, December 1943 (Tahra, SWF)
Fourth Symphony
Brahms, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1948 (EMI)
Fourth Symphony
Brahms, , studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, 1949 (Tahra, Naxos)
Violin Concerto
Brahms, , live performance with Edwin Fischer and with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942 (Testament)
Piano Concerto No. 2
Bruckner, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1942 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts, Testament).[i]
Fifth Symphony
Bruckner, (the first movement is missing), live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, November 1943 (Music and Arts)
Sixth Symphony
Bruckner, (adagio only), live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic] April 1942 (Tahra).[j]
Seventh Symphony
Bruckner, , live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, October 1944 (Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts)
Eighth Symphony
Bruckner, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1944 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Ninth Symphony
Furtwängler, , live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, February 1953 (Orfeo)
Second Symphony
Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No. 10, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, February 1944 (Melodiya)
Haendel
Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No. 10, live performance with the Teatro Colón Orchester, 1950 (Disques Refrain)
Haendel
88th Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 5 December 1951 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Haydn
Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 16 September 1947 (Deutsche Grammophon, Urania)
Hindemith
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, live performance with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Vienna Philharmonic, 1951 (Orfeo)
Mahler
Mahler, , studio recording with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1952 (Naxos, EMI)
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Violin Concerto, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1952 (Naxos, EMI)
Mendelssohn
Don Giovanni, the 1950, 1953 and 1954 Salzburg Festival recordings (in live performance). These have been made available on several labels, but mostly EMI. A filmed performance of Don Giovanni is also available, featuring Cesare Siepi, Otto Edelmann, Lisa Della Casa, Elisabeth Grümmer, and Anton Dermota.
Mozart
Mozart, , a live performance from 27 August 1949, featuring Walther Ludwig, Irmgard Seefried, Wilma Lipp, Gertrud Grob-Prandl, Ernst Haefliger, Hermann Uhde, and Josef Greindl.
Die Zauberflöte
. Ninth Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1951 (Deutsche Grammophon). The first movement is a supreme example of Furtwaengler's style. Note the sharp accelerandi at the end of the introduction and the middle of the recapitulation.
Schubert
Schubert, , live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942 (Deutsche Grammophon, Magic Master, Music and Arts, Opus Kura)
Ninth Symphony
Schubert, Overture, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, September 1953 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Die Zauberharfe
Fourth Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon, May 1953 (Deutsche Grammophon).[k]
Schumann
There are a huge number of Furtwängler recordings currently available, mostly live. Many of these were made during World War II using experimental tape technology. After the war they were confiscated by the Soviet Union for decades, and have only recently become widely available, often on multiple labels. In spite of their limitations, the recordings from this era are widely admired by Furtwängler devotees.
The following represents only a small selection of some of Furtwängler's most famed recordings.
Four Last Songs, Kirsten Flagstad as soloist, Philharmonia Orchestra, London, 22 May 1950
Richard Strauss
British playwright 's play Taking Sides (1995), set in 1946 in the American zone of occupied Berlin, is about U.S. accusations against Furtwängler of having served the Nazi regime. In 2001 the play was made into a motion picture directed by István Szabó and starring Harvey Keitel and featuring Stellan Skarsgård in the role of Furtwängler.[209]
Ronald Harwood
(1994). The Furtwängler Record. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-0-931340-69-7.
Ardoin, John
Furtwängler, Elisabeth (2004). Pour Wilhelm (in French). Paris: L'Archipel.
Furtwängler, Wilhelm (1995). [in French]; Pierre Brunel [in French] (eds.). Carnets 1924–1954 : suivis d'Écrits fragmentaires. Translated by Ursula Wetzel. Geneva: Éditions Georg. ISBN 9782825705100.
Jean-Jacques Rapin
(1944). The Baton and the Jackboot: Recollections of Musical Life. Morrison and Gibb.
Geissmar, Berta
(1997). The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kater, Michael H.
(2012). Celibidache et Furtwängler (in French). Paris: Buchet/Chastel.
Lang, Klaus
(1991). Trial of Strength: Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Third Reich. Quartet Books.
Prieberg, Fred K.
(1953). Furtwängler, Musik und Politik. Bern: Scherz.
Riess, Curt
Roncigli, Audrey (2009). Le cas Furtwängler (in French). Paris: Imago.
(1990). Furtwängler. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7156-2313-8.
Schönzeler, Hans-Hubert
(2002). Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-179394-4.
Spotts, Frederic
Shirakawa, Sam H. (1992). The Devil's Music Master: The Controversial Life and Career of Wilhelm Furtwängler. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-506508-4.
ISBN
(2006). Seelenzauber: Thomas Mann und die Musik. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer.
Vaget, Hans Rudolf
Pirie, Peter J. (1980). Furtwängler and the Art of Conducting. London: London : Duckworth. 978-0-7156-1486-0.