The Ermitage record
label have released a CD of six well-known
orchestral works from the baton of the
great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
in recordings of performances with the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO).
I am unable to provide
the reader with much information about
the recording as Ermitages’s presentation
on this release is so dire. The annotation
is as sparse as I have ever seen on
any release and somehow it all seems
so disrespectful to the purchaser. The
only narrative in the release is a 500
word essay inside the cover by a Piero
Rattalino entitled, ‘Listening to Guglielmo’
but exactly what this has to do with
a release of Furtwängler works
I do not know. The only other information
is a list of four different years which
I assume are recording dates but infuriatingly
they are not linked to any of the six
works. Furthermore we are not told which
of the three Hungarian Dances are included.
To cap the whole episode I was unable
to access the Ermitage web address contained
on the packaging. I wonder when these
record companies will come to learn
about product presentation and marketing.
Furtwängler’s
two main orchestras were the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra (1922-45, 1952)
and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
(1922-30). In 1936 he was named as Toscanini’s
successor at the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra but withdrew after an anti-German
campaign. Furtwängler was regularly
engaged at Covent Garden, Bayreuth and
the Salzburg Festival and also with
many other orchestras. With regard to
this recording Furtwängler took
over from Felix Weingartner for a short
but influential stay as the director
of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
from 1928 to 1930. However Furtwängler
did retained his active association
with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
from 1933 to 1938 and 1938 to 1945.
Furtwängler was
an exponent of music from a wide range
of composers although it is not surprising
that his name is associated with the
music of particular composers. For example
the American music writer and critic
Jim Svejda holds the view that, "Wilhelm
Furtwängler was undoubtedly the
greatest Bruckner interpreter of whom
we have an accurate record." For
me he has impressive credentials conducting
Beethoven and I have particular affection
for his cycle of the Beethoven symphonies
with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
and the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
on EMI CHS7 63606-2.
On this release he
is equally impressive in his interpretations
of Beethoven’s Coriolan and Leonora
No.3 overtures. The major work here
is Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor
‘Unfinished’ in which he gives a characterful
performance which I found beautiful
and captivating; quite something for
a conductor not always noted for his
delicacy of touch. This is combined
with well played and high-spirited performances
of three of the Brahms Hungarian Dances,
Weber’s Oberon Overture and Johann Strauss
the younger’s Pizzicato Polka. In exceptionally
fierce competition from recordings old
and new, none of these interpretations
comes anywhere near achieving the status
of first choice, yet they have a special
attraction particularly for their artistic
and historic value.
The recorded sound
is better than I expected from recordings
that we can conclude were made well
over fifty years ago, although not surprisingly
the sound has lost some of its bloom.
What stands out above all else is the
wonderfully smooth and controlled string
sound from Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
a tradition that the orchestra maintain
magnificently today.
Unquestionably a poorly
presented release. However a worthwhile
document of one of the world’s greatest
conductors.
Michael Cookson
Marc Bridle
has supplied the following recording
dates
Beethoven, Coriolan
- 25th Nov 1947 (not 1948 as implied
above)
Schubert - Unfinished - 19-21 January
1950
Weber - Oberon - 1st February 1950
Brahms - Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 3
and 10 - 4th April 1949
Strauss - Polka - 2-3 February 1950
Beethoven - Leonore No.3 - 2nd June
1944
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler