RoR: Forum

George - I have three Furtwangler Beethoven-9ths, all superhuman. Of course, he works magic in the last movement, going at break-neck speed at the *very* end. But most sublime of all are his third movements. I actually *avoid* listening to them *unless* I'm in the mood for a really good bawl!! :-)

Linz

Post 1

Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 4:15am

I only know Furtwangler's Wagner, and not much of that. I look forward to discovering this, particularly the 9th. My general complaint about conductors of the 9th is that they play it too slowly, thereby missing its unparalleled energy.

Post 2

Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 12:43pm

It is always interesting to hear Furtwangler's war time recordings. These always convey a feeling of intense gravity, as if the performances would be the last time the specific pieces of music would ever be played. My favorite of these is Furtwangler's recording of Bruckner's Symphony #9 recorded in 1944 near the end of the war. The catastrophic closing passages of the first movement are among the most incredible experiences in all of recorded music. Browsing Amazon, I can't tell if anyone is currently offering this recording. Here's a link to a previous release with several reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003BPJ/qid=1099600505/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-6845005-8755125?v=glance&s=classical

This one seems to be the same recording being offered by a different company but I can't tell for sure based on the information provided by Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005YCHD/qid=1099600466/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/104-6845005-8755125?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846

- Jason

Post 3

Friday, November 5, 2004 - 2:07am

The name is written FURTWÄNGLER. If you don't like umlauts you can choose FURTWAENGLER.

Post 4

Friday, November 5, 2004 - 4:20am