Another Furtwängler Ninth?!!

[Guest]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jan/24/beethoven-symphony-no-9-review

[amateur51]

Not much of a review, is it

I'll try to hear if before purchasing

[Flosshilde]

I didn't realise he composed music as well as conduct it.

[Beef Oven]

I didn't realise he composed music as well as conduct it.

Luxembourg #2?


His second Symphony, conducted by Barenboim is his most popular.

some of his notable works;

Notable compositions

For orchestra

Early works
Overture in E♭ Major, Op. 3 (1899)
Symphony in D major (1st movement: Allegro) (1902)
Symphony in B minor (Largo movement) (1908; the principal theme of this work was used as the leading theme of the 1st movement of the Symphony No. 1, in the same key)

Mature works
Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1937, rev. 1954)
Symphony No. 1 in B minor (1941)
Symphony No. 2 in E minor (1947)
Symphony No. 3 in C♯ minor (1954)

Chamber music
Piano Quintet (for two violins, viola, cello, and piano) in C major (1935)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor (1935)
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major (1939)

Choral


Schwindet ihr dunklen Wölbungen droben (Chorus of Spirits, from Goethe's Faust) (1901–1902)
Religöser Hymnus (1903)
Te Deum for Choir and Orchestra (1902–1906) (rev. 1909) (first performed 1910)

[Barbirollians]

What a lousy review ! Anyway , IMO the one to get if you want to hear Furtwangler conduct the Ninth is the Lucerne Festival account from 1954 with the Philharmonia at its peak - on Tahra I think .

Magnificent and well recorded .

[Thropplenoggin]

What a lousy review ! Anyway , IMO the one to get if you want to hear Furtwangler conduct the Ninth is the Lucerne Festival account from 1954 with the Philharmonia at its peak - on Tahra I think .

Magnificent and well recorded .

Agreed. I was just curious that someone had fossicked about and found this one i'the archives.

[Petrushka]

There are, I think, nine versions on CD of the LvB 9 conducted by Furtwängler and I have 7 of them. This 1954 Bayreuth account is one of the missing and I've been aware of it for some time but reports of the poor sound have ruled out a purchase.

If you want just one Furtwängler 9th I'd agree that the 1954 Lucerne performance is the one to go for but do check out if you can, the live 1951 Bayreuth version but not the EMI recording which was cobbled together from rehearsals as well as the performance. Go for the fully live performance on the Orfeo label taken from Bavarian Radio tapes. It's a revelation!

[Thropplenoggin]

There are, I think, nine versions on CD of the LvB 9 conducted by Furtwängler and I have 7 of them. This 1954 Bayreuth account is one of the missing and I've been aware of it for some time but reports of the poor sound have ruled out a purchase.

If you want just one Furtwängler 9th I'd agree that the 1954 Lucerne performance is the one to go for but do check out if you can, the live 1951 Bayreuth version but not the EMI recording which was cobbled together from rehearsals as well as the performance. Go for the fully live performance on the Orfeo label taken from Bavarian Radio tapes. It's a revelation!

Thanks, Petrushka. I have three to date: I have the Orfeo '51 recording you speak of, the '54 Lucerne (Music & Arts) and the one recording during the war in Berlin. I think my ideal would be a mixture of movements from '51 and '54.

[richardfinegold]

There are, I think, nine versions on CD of the LvB 9 conducted by Furtwängler and I have 7 of them. This 1954 Bayreuth account is one of the missing and I've been aware of it for some time but reports of the poor sound have ruled out a purchase.

If you want just one Furtwängler 9th I'd agree that the 1954 Lucerne performance is the one to go for but do check out if you can, the live 1951 Bayreuth version but not the EMI recording which was cobbled together from rehearsals as well as the performance. Go for the fully live performance on the Orfeo label taken from Bavarian Radio tapes. It's a revelation!

I find myself listening to the WWII recording the most, notable for it's undimmed ferocity.

[Petrushka]

Thanks, Petrushka. I have three to date: I have the Orfeo '51 recording you speak of, the '54 Lucerne (Music & Arts) and the one recording during the war in Berlin. I think my ideal would be a mixture of movements from '51 and '54.

That 1942 Berlin account is quite something and one apart, I think. There's a BPO performance given in London in 1937 (on Music and Arts) but the sound is pretty dire.

[Nick Armstrong]

I find myself listening to the WWII recording the most, notable for it's undimmed ferocity.

Me too, Richard - that 1942 performance is mind-blowing...

[Thropplenoggin]

Me too, Richard - that 1942 performance is mind-blowing...

I thought so, too, but on revisiting it, the coughs in the adagio...ça m'agace!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Like the single malts, all Furtwangler's recordings of the Ninth are bloody good; "favourites" are just a matter of personal preference and, I find, alter as you listen to each one. (Lagavulin and 1942 for me at this detached moment!) The recorded sound lets them all down in one way or another.

[Barbirollians]

The 1954 Lucerne Philharmonia sounds pretty good in the Furtwangler Legendary Concerts remastering .

[Karafan]

What a lousy review ! Anyway , IMO the one to get if you want to hear Furtwangler conduct the Ninth is the Lucerne Festival account from 1954 with the Philharmonia at its peak - on Tahra I think .

Magnificent and well recorded .

Quite so, Barbs. As one of the commenters also pointed out.

Clements irritates me at time, with his airy, high-handed recommendation of the EMI recording (which has always disappointed me in terms of sound and perhaps less so performance) before his feet are held to the fire and he ruefully admits to never having heard the Tahra Lucerne performance which is head and shoulders above any other WF 9th. It's akin to recommending a horse in the 3:30 at Chepstow and then admitting, oh I didn't know any more were running.....don't make a tip if you haven't studied the form of all the runners and riders, for pity's sake!