Recorded during a particularly
perilous time for the conductor, these
performances reflect the growing angst
that Furtwängler felt at being
in the grip of the Nazis. This was exacerbated
by the political-goings on regarding
Karajan as a serious rival both at the
Berlin Philharmonic and the Staatsoper.
Known in history as perhaps the greatest
and most satisfying conductor of the
music of Wagner, Furtwängler had
only one of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies
in his repertoire. It is therefore an
interesting assessment indeed as to
the way in which the conductor would
present music so laden with emotion
and pathos.
Coming in at well over
three-quarters of an hour, one senses
right away that this reading is going
to be more broadly paced than what is
customary in more recent recordings.
The opening movement, a full twenty
minutes, is devoid of histrionics and
emotional outbursts, especially at the
entrance of the second theme. The opening
song, with its haunting, sweeping melody
borders on being held in restraint,
giving it more of a melancholy effect
as opposed to the customary outpouring
of feeling.
The elegant second
movement "waltz" (in spite
of its five to the bar meter) is, I
believe, somewhat hampered by the slowness
of tempo. This passage should really
stand in bold relief to the churning
first movement, and alas, at this rather
lugubrious pace, it loses its elegant
dance qualities and takes on a more
funereal character.
The third movement
scherzo rips along at a swashbuckling
pace, a bit more in line with contemporary
performances and fully equipped with
all of the stormy elements that one
would expect of this music. But it is
the closing movement that is best served,
as Furtwängler
creates a palpable sense of the resignation
to fate, an almost desperate feeling
of the inevitable.
And then there is the
Wagner. Perhaps no other conductor has
been able to capture the intensity of
this composer’s music, complete with
requisite gravitas and yet totally
devoid of needless sentimentality. Perfectly
paced with the exact amount of rubato
to convey the essence of the music,
this is a performance for the ages.
Sadly enough the masters from which
Mr. Obert-Thorn had to work were not
as flawless as those for the Tchaikovsky,
but this is a problem soon dissolved
with the sheer magnificence of the music-making.
Customarily, I consign historical recordings
to the special interest bin, the nostalgic
look on history and how things used
to be done. Not so this performance.
This is a, if not the, must-have
performance of this music, and at a
bargain price, no collection is complete
without it.
Overall, recorded sound
quality is amazingly full given the
period and the available technology,
and as is his custom, Mark Obert-Thorn
has done superb work in the transfers,
capturing all of the available sound
in its full bloom without making the
original masters sound altered or artificial.
Program notes by Ian Julier are brief,
but concise, giving sufficient information
to enhance the listener’s pleasure and
interest.
Kevin Sutton
See reviews by
Colin
Clarke Christopher
Howell and Jonathan Woolf
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
