Search - Furtwangler, Bpo :: Bruckner: Symphony 6

The 1943 Bruckner is incomplete, its first movement missing. And the Brahms symphonic movement is all that remains of a 1945 performance of the work. In both cases, the missing movements were either never recorded or they've disappeared. That said, this is the Furtwängler Bruckner recording I'd keep if I could only have one. The slow movement is far superior to any ever made in feeling and commitment, almost unbearable in its power; the rest is on the same exalted level. Wilhelm Furtwängler's wartime concert recordings are all extraordinary for the pain and rage they display, and this one is a hymn to a civilization profaned and defiled by barbarism. Transfers are fine, with more presence than found on many current recordings. --Dan Davis