Search - Beethoven, Furtwangler, Berlin Philharmonic :: Symphonies 4-7 (1943-44)

Symphonies 4-7 (1943-44)
Beethoven, Furtwangler, Berlin Philharmonic
Symphonies 4-7 (1943-44)
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (8) - Disc #1

Remastered from records originally made in 1943 and 1944, these performances, one of them live, are truly from another age. Wilhelm Furtwängler was always famous for the freedom of his interpretations combined with sc...  more »

     
?

Larger Image

CD Details

All Artists: Beethoven, Furtwangler, Berlin Philharmonic
Title: Symphonies 4-7 (1943-44)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Qualiton Imported Labels
Original Release Date: 1/1/1943
Re-Release Date: 6/28/2000
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 675754223120

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Remastered from records originally made in 1943 and 1944, these performances, one of them live, are truly from another age. Wilhelm Furtwängler was always famous for the freedom of his interpretations combined with scrupulous attention to the score, and these two discs illustrate both qualities. Though he meticulously follows Beethoven's markings, he does not hesitate to go beyond them when he feels the music demands it. He has the daring, hardly fashionable today, to change the tempo along with the mood and character, to speed up with mounting dynamics and intensity, then slow down as tension relaxes. The miracle is that these liberties always feel organic and justified, spontaneous, balanced and controlled. Also extraordinary is his ability to create big, sweeping lines as well as lovingly attend to details. In the fast movements, he favors leisurely, deliberate tempos, taking plenty of time for poised transitions, but keeps the slow ones moving, no matter how calm and serene. The Trios are all much slower than the Scherzos; in the Seventh Symphony he preserves the pulse at a third of the speed. He achieves enormous grandeur, for example, in the Fifth Symphony; the Finale's sweep is overwhelming. The Pastoral Symphony is wonderfully expansive, lyrical, singing, evoking the peace and sunshine of Beethoven's beloved countryside, as well as the jagged lightening and crashing thunder of the storm. The rhythm in the syncopations of the Fourth Symphony is firm as granite; the Finale is brilliant. (The label lists the Fourth and Seventh Symphonies in reverse order.) The record shows its age in the old-fashioned violin fingerings of the otherwise wonderful orchestra: the sound is a bit strident, the extreme dynamics require a finger on the volume control, and, except in the Pastoral, the middle and low strings tend to disappear. But no matter--these are unique, incomparable performances. --Edith Eisler

Similar CDs

 

CD Reviews

Beware the Gaps!
12/19/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is an imported incarnation of Furtwangler's gut wrenching wartime recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic, of Beethoven's middle four symphonies. Though with excellent sound and fidelity rage--sonically as good as the EMI recordings after the war--this transfer has a VERY SERIOUS FLAW: In the Fifth and Sixth symphonies where one movement flows into the next, the engineers have put in gaps between the numbered bands! Imagine in the Fifth symphony the hushed tones of the Allegro (third movement) building up to the towering crescendo which crashes into the Finale, only to hear the whole wall of sound stop for a full two seconds before the three cords of the Finale are heard! The same happens twice in the Pastoral. O wretched ignorance. What a ruination of otherwise unmatched performances of this music."