Coda Beethoven 9 by Furtwängler

[Guest]

comparing the Coda of Beethoven 9 by Furtwängler

Very interesting

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

comparing the Coda of Beethoven 9 by Furtwängler

Very interesting

Very interesting indeed. And I'm amazed at the number of surviving recordings of this and other works under this conductor's baton.

[Chris Newman]

Some of them are astonishing! I think I would settle for the Lucerne (Philharmonia) 1954 version.

[Petrushka]

Some of them are astonishing! I think I would settle for the Lucerne (Philharmonia) 1954 version.

So would I. Some of them seem a mad scramble to the finishing line, the recording equipment of the day unable to cope with the tumult.

I have most of these but am intrigued by the May 30 1953 Vienna performance claimed as newly-discovered. Is a CD trandfer available? The 1943 Stockholm account is also absent from my shelves.

[Alf-Prufrock]

I am afraid I would say that the only Furtwängler performance that measures up to the Toscanini is the Lucerne one. I notice that this was with the Philharmonia, which says a lot for them. They do not pale besides the BPO and the VPO and others.

[PJPJ]

So would I. Some of them seem a mad scramble to the finishing line, the recording equipment of the day unable to cope with the tumult.

I have most of these but am intrigued by the May 30 1953 Vienna performance claimed as newly-discovered. Is a CD trandfer available? The 1943 Stockholm account is also absent from my shelves.

30 May 1953 is on ICA:

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//ICAC5034.htm

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Some of them are astonishing! I think I would settle for the Lucerne (Philharmonia) 1954 version.

With Stockholm '43 as "runner - and boy does it run! - up". So much detail lost in those early recordings: just cymbals, Timps and the odd piccolo note - even the trumpets get lost in the mesh of noise!

And isn't there a difference between the pre- and Wartime recordings (which leap immediately into the breathless Prestissimo) and those from after the War which have a couple of bars accelerando?

[Chris Newman]

There are moments when I wonder if Furtwangler experimented with double or even quadruple percussion. On more than one occasion I would swear I hear a Jingling-Johnny joining in for fun. Often it is a race between hugely inflated cybals and a battery of drums. I presume it was his habit of "beating" different tempi with each hand. Does anyone agree that it sounds as if he usually shuts his eyes and panics?

[Chris Newman]

Here is a full performance by a "rival" that I was lucky enough to attend. The fun thing is to watch out for which players and singers are beat-keeping for the rest. The end result was a miracle of performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QSZjCo_IQ

[Chris Newman]

Here is a full performance by a "rival" that I was lucky enough to attend. The fun thing is to watch out for which players and singers are beat-keeping for the rest. The end result was a miracle of performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QSZjCo_IQ

And here is a Klemperer Prom from 1964. Much crisper. The New Philharmonia Orchestra again with a guest fiddler smuggled into the back row, Otto's comedy actor son, Werner, who was also a fine fiddler and baritone.

[PJPJ]

And here is a Klemperer Prom from 1964. Much crisper. The New Philharmonia Orchestra again with a guest fiddler smuggled into the back row, Otto's comedy actor son, Werner, who was also a fine fiddler and baritone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvLDAjYg300

[Petrushka]

30 May 1953 is on ICA:

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//ICAC5034.htm

Thanks PJPJ. I have the May 31 performance on a DG issue. Am I that much of an anorak that I want this one as well? Of course!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Today I listened to the April 1942 version. The background noise is so bad that it sounds as though the performers are sitting in a field full of crickets and wind-chimes, perhaps with a West Indian steel band in the distance. The actual performance, however, is every bit as good as the famous 1951 Bayreuth version.

[Barbirollians]

The Lucerne performance is terrific - just shows you what a marvellous orchestra the Philharmonia was in those days .