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Wilhelm Furtwängler, North German Radio Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic - Wilhelm Furtwängler Conducts Johannes Brahms (1999)

Wilhelm Furtwängler, North German Radio Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic - Wilhelm Furtwängler Conducts Johannes Brahms (1999)
  • Title: Wilhelm Furtwängler Conducts Johannes Brahms
  • Year Of Release: 1999
  • Label: Music & Arts
  • Genre: Classical
  • Quality: FLAC (image+.cue,log,scans)
  • Total Time: 64:27 + 75:20 + 60:00 + 68:05
  • Total Size: 700 MB
  • WebSite:
Tracklist:

CD1

Symphony No. 1 In C Minor, Op. 68 [Rec. 27 Oct. 1951]
Orchestra – North German Radio Orchestra*
1-1 I __ Un Poco Sostenuto - Allegro - Meno Allegro 14:49
1-2 II __ Andante Sostenuto 10:00
1-3 III __ Un Poco Allegretto E Grazioso 5:11
1-4 IV __ Adagio Più Andante; Allegro Non Troppo, Ma Con Brio 17:10
Symphony No. 1 In C Minor, Op. 68: Finale [Rec. 23 Jan. 1945]
Orchestra – Berlin Philharmonic Orch.*
1-5 IV __ Adagio Più Andante; Allegro Non Troppo, Ma Con Brio 16:57

CD2

Symphony No. 2 In D, Op. 73 [Rec. 28 Jan. 1945]
Orchestra – Vienna Philharmonic*
2-1 I __ Allegro Non Troppo 14:07
2-2 II __ Adagio Non Troppo 10:04
2-3 III __ Allegretto Grazioso 5:44
2-4 IV__ Allegro Con Spirito 8:23
Symphony No. 3 In F, Op. 90 [Rec. 27 April 1954]
Orchestra – Berlin Philharmonic*
2-5 I __ Allegro Con Brio 10:34
2-6 II __ Andante 14:44
2-7 III __ Poco Allegretto 6:31
2-8 IV __ Allegro 9:33

CD3

Symphony No. 4 In E Minor, Op. 98 [Rec. 12-15 Dec. 1943]
Orchestra – Berlin Philharmonic*
3-1 I __ Allegro Non Troppo 12:08
3-2 II __ Andante Moderato 12:16
3-3 III __ Allegro Giocoso 6:12
3-4 IV __ Allegro Energico E Passionato 9:16
3-5 Variations On A Theme By Haydn, Op. 56a [Rec. 12-15 Dec. 1943]
Orchestra – Berlin Philharmonic*
19:51

CD4

Piano Concerto No. 2 In B-flat, Op 83 [Rec. 8 Nov. 1942]
Orchestra – Berlin Philharmonic*
Piano – Edwin Fischer
4-1 I __ Allegro Non Troppo 16:56
4-2 II __ Allegro Appassionato 8:29
4-3 III __ Andante 12:32
4-4 IV __ Allegretto Grazioso 9:04
Variations On A Theme By Haydn, Op. 56a [Rec. 27. Oct. 1951]
Orchestra – North German Radio Orchestra, Hamburg*
4-5 Chorale St. Antoni. Andante 2:24
4-6 Var I __ Poco Più Animato 1:20
4-7 Var II __ Più Vivace 1:08
4-8 Var III __ Con Moto 2:09
4-9 Var IV __ Andante Con Moto 2:55
4-10 Var V __ Vivace 1:00
4-11 Var VI __ Vivace 1:34
4-12 Var VII __ Grazioso 3:20
4-13 Var VIII __ Presto Non Troppo 1:09
4-14 Finale. Andante 3:51

What a bonanza: some of the most searching interpretations ever made of symphonic cornerstones, from a now bygone era of performance, here beautifully remastered by Music & Arts and packaged into a bargain set. Wilhelm Furtwängler's dynamic, always-evolving--and often unpredictable--visions of a classic score could overwhelm listeners with their paradoxical aura of the inevitable, wresting away the easy, dull comfort of familiarity. This is most dramatically the case with the conductor's performances of Beethoven. They still move and shake us free of lazy assumptions about this music with all the power of artistic truth. Furtwängler came relatively late to Brahms (like so many of the composer's most abiding admirers) but identified deeply with Brahms's dark strain of melancholy and self-consciousness. The Furtwängler trademarks are all here--palpable molding of tempos and dynamics to concentrate drama, oracular moments of insight, and an astonishingly compelling, organic sense of the whole.

Perhaps the most viscerally thrilling account here is of the First Symphony, from 1951, which, as John Ardoin brilliantly describes it in The Furtwängler Record, has the "magnificent rawness of a Michelangelo." But, when you think you've reached an untoppable high at its conclusion, listen to the finale from Furtwängler's final wartime concert in Berlin, 1945 (the only extant movement on disc), included in this set. The symphonies presented here are a far cry from the stuffy, pedantic, anachronistic Brahms served up by so many lesser lights. Furtwängler grasps and conveys the subtly layered ambiguities in these scores, the blending--particularly in the Second's Adagio (1945) and the final measures of the Third (1943)--of deep shadow with serene sunlight. His Brahms Four from 1943 at times verges on the terrifying; ultimately it passes beyond tragedy into new wisdom as Furtwängler scoops, caresses, sculpts, and simply builds musical contours. The set also includes two interpretations of the Haydn Variations (1943 and 1951) and the legendary 1942 Second Piano Concerto featuring Edwin Fischer as soloist--a touchstone of musical partnership. There's a varying level of background hiss and distortion throughout the set, but in general this is an extraordinary CD transfer. And in Furtwängler's presence, any distracting artifacts of the recorded sound soon fade into insignificance. This is a must not only for listeners serious about Brahms but for anyone intrigued by the art of musical interpretation. --Thomas May


Wilhelm Furtwängler, North German Radio Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic - Wilhelm Furtwängler Conducts Johannes Brahms (1999)




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