Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’* [52:51]
rec. 19-20 December 1944
Overture – ‘Coriolan’, Op. 6 [8:58]
rec. 27-30 June 1943
Overture – Leonora No. 3, Op. 72* [14:04]
rec. 2 June 1944
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 [33:24]
rec. 27-30 June 1943
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op, 68, ‘Pastoral’ [43:19]
rec. 20-22 March 1944
Symphony No. 4 in B flat, Op. 60 [35:45]
rec. 27-30 June 1943
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 [37:36]
rec. 31 October–3 November 1943
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 [73:12]
Tilla Briem (soprano); Elisabeth Höngen (contralto); Peter Anders (tenor); Rudolf Watzke (bass); Bruno Kittel Choir
rec. 22-24 March 1942
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler *
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
MUSIC & ARTS CD-4049 [4 CDs: 76:04 + 76:49 + 73:26 +73:12]
This set from Music & Arts offers what are described as “the
best of the World War II live recordings” of most of the Beethoven
symphonies conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler – the first two
symphonies and the Eighth are not included in this collection. The Ninth
appears in a 2012 transfer by Aaron Z. Snyder while the remainder are
in 1999 restorations by Maggi Payne; the latter may have been issued previously
by this label. These performances are famous ones which are no strangers
to CD and at the foot of this review I have included links to other reviews
by MusicWeb International colleagues of different transfers; I haven’t
heard any of the transfers which they appraised. No information is given
by Music & Arts about recording venues but it seems from the reviews
by colleagues that most of the Berlin performances were given in the Alte
Philharmonie, which was destroyed in a bombing raid on the night of 29-30
January 1944.
The comprehensive notes are extracted – with permission –
from the book The Furtwängler Record (1994) by the late
John Ardoin and in these notes Mr Ardoin discusses the present performances
in the context of other recordings by the conductor of the same symphonies.
In the course of his discussion of the Fourth Symphony Ardoin includes
a post-war quote from Furtwängler: ‘I am becoming convinced
that in classical pieces, alterations of tempo – of which I was
once very fond – should be made with very great caution, if at all.
What counts is form.’ The present collection of performances all
presumably pre-date that epiphany and here we find Furtwängler far
from averse to modifications of tempo in his quest for Beethovenian truth.
Before considering the performances a word about the sound quality is
in order. I don’t know what sources were used by Maggi Payne –
presumably radio tapes; Aaron Z Snyder used Russian archival copies of
RRG tapes. I think both Payne and Snyder have done a pretty good job with
material that is, in most cases, just over seventy years old. Inevitably,
the sound has its limitations and specific issues relating to the Third,
Fourth, Sixth and Ninth symphonies are clearly mentioned in the booklet.
In the Ninth the timpanist is over-prominent, sometimes significantly
so, whenever he plays loudly; and here and there – in the ‘Eroica’,
for instance - the trumpets have a tendency to blare in loud passages,
which I’m sure is down to the recording and not to the players’
excessive zeal. However, I can honestly say that the stature of these
performances is in no way compromised or diminished by any sonic limitations.
Make no mistake; these are performances of genuine stature. I admire some
of the modern-day historically informed performances of Beethoven but
these Furtwängler accounts offer a forceful reminder that one can
get to the heart of Beethoven through other ways than adherence to metronome
markings. Indeed, as John Ardoin is careful to point out, Furtwängler
was a restless Beethoven interpreter who would never be so complacent
as to think that he had arrived at the core of a Beethoven score: there
was always more thought, more exploration to do and one should never be
satisfied.
The ‘Eroica’ opens with two momentous chords:
you know this is going to be a big performance and so it proves. Starting
at a fairly steady pace, Furtwängler then modifies his pace, slower
or faster, according to the needs of the music. He omits the exposition
repeat, which is a shame. It’s an epic reading, though in the context
of what has gone before I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable
with the very fast pace adopted for the closing pages. The speed adopted
for the slow movement is indeed Adagio assai. This is a profound
and searching performance. There’s a real sense of tragedy, nowhere
more so than in the last few pages. The finale opens very swiftly but
then slows for the unveiling of the theme after which the differences
between each variation are tellingly brought out. Furtwängler invests
the coda with genuine exaltation.
The Fourth starts with a tense, pregnant introduction
out of which the Allegro vivace fairly explodes. Once again there’s
no exposition repeat but we find the conductor getting his players to
use crescendi and accents to great effect. The inner movements are well
done but in the driving finale I wonder if Beethoven’s good humour
isn’t rather hurled at the listener.
The Fifth Symphony was recorded at the same time as an
extraordinarily intense, highly charged performance of the Coriolan
Overture. That’s a performance that demands to be heard; the ending
is as desolate as I’ve ever heard it. The symphony itself is very
fine. The first movement – where the exposition repeat is taken
– is on a big and heroic scale yet there’s no suggestion of
empty rhetoric. For my taste the pace at which the second movement is
taken is on the broad side given that the marking is Andante con moto.
However, the way that the music is played is of a piece with the conductor’s
lofty conception of the whole work – and I do not use the word ‘lofty’
in a derogatory way. The start of the third movement is remarkable: the
first few bars are truly mysterious and through this atmosphere the sound
of the horns cuts like a knife. I do wonder if, when that material is
reprised after the fugal episode, it’s not taken at too slow a speed.
Furtwängler rather exaggerates the crescendo into the finale but,
my goodness, it’s exciting. The start of the finale has leonine
strength, the music sounding grand and elevated. Later Furtwängler
presses forward urgently in a way that I find thrilling. Not everyone
will agree but, as so often with this conductor, while you may not concur
with every interpretative detail his thought-provoking approach will keep
you fully engaged.
John Ardoin has a memorable phrase to describe Furtwängler’s
way with the ‘Pastoral’, saying that in his
hands the symphony ‘became remarkably expressive clay, to which
he brought a plasticity vouchsafed no other conductor’. He points
out that in performance the conductor used to make only a short pause
between the first two movements – an effect that’s not so
easy to reproduce faithfully on CD – so that, since Beethoven had
already linked the last three movements the symphony effectively acquired
a two-part structure. The reading of the first movement is beautifully
judged though slightly marred by a particularly bronchial audience. I
don’t quite get the ‘meshing’ of the tempi between the
first two movements that Ardoin mentions but Furtwängler places us
on the banks of a serene and slowly meandering brook, though later on
the current flows a little more quickly. This is beautifully characterised
reading. The rustic merrymaking is nice and nimble while the storm that
sends everyone scurrying for shelter is indeed turbulent. The essence
of the Shepherd’s thanksgiving is nobility but at times the music
surges forward in an exciting fashion.
The introduction to the Seventh Symphony is very potent.
Actually, it comes across as somewhat aggressive but I’m sure that’s
a feature of the sound and not the performance. The main Vivace
is splendidly athletic, though once again there’s an impression
– wholly erroneous, I’m sure – of aggression. At the
start of the second movement I thought the pace was rather a trudge but
I found that I adjusted to Furtwängler’s pace and, in fact,
his conception is expansive and dignified. After a highly mobile scherzo
the finale is exultant.
So to the Ninth, which is the earliest performance in
this set. Perhaps that’s why the timpani are so excessively prominent
every time the volume is loud. In the first movement especially the ensemble
isn’t always immaculate: it matters not. Furtwängler’s
reading of the first movement is powerful, measured and very intense.
Having said that the pace is measured I should qualify that by saying
that the pulse picks up as the intensity of Beethoven’s argument
increases. This is a dramatic, searching interpretation that grabs the
listener by the throat and never relaxes its grip. To be honest, you may,
like me, find it a bit fierce at times but this is music-making touched
more than a little by greatness.
If the first movement is touched by greatness the slow movement simply
exudes greatness from start to finish. John Ardoin says that this is the
conductor’s most expansive reading on record. It would be an impertinence
to judge it by the stopwatch but, simply for reference, in the 1951 Bayreuth
performance (review)
the movement plays for 19:36 and the magnificent August 1954 reading with
the Philharmonia from the Lucerne Festival (Tahra FURT1003) takes 19:32:
this 1942 reading lasts for 20:11. I don’t think I’ve ever
heard the opening sound so spacious and that sets the tone for everything
that’s to follow. Beethoven’s music is a profound utterance
and Furtwängler’s reading is positively Olympian. With the
Berliner Philharmoniker responding with truly eloquent playing this is
the highlight of the set.
The finale is epic. The bass, Rudolf Watzke is commanding and the ringing
tenor of Peter Anders is also very impressive. The two ladies make much
less of an impression but they’re satisfactory. I’d not previously
heard of Bruno
Kittel (1870-1948) but on the evidence of this performance he certainly
knew how to train a chorus. His eponymous choir makes a splendid showing
here, producing a full, firm sound at all dynamic levels and facing up
fairly and squarely to Beethoven’s frankly unreasonable demands
- and surmounting them. Furtwängler leads an electrifying performance
of the finale that sweeps all before it.
Many people reading this review will already have in their collection
recordings of the Beethoven symphonies conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler
– and perhaps more than one version. However, if you haven’t
heard these remarkable wartime performances then these excellent Music
& Arts transfers are well worth your attention. Furtwängler was
a giant among Beethoven conductors and seventy years later these intense,
deeply considered performances still have much to teach us about these
symphonies and how to play them.
John
Quinn
Reviews of other transfers of these performances on MusicWeb
International
Symphony No. 3 (Tahra) – Jonathan
Woolf
Symphony No. 4 (Pristine Audio) – Michael
Cookson
Symphony No. 5 (Pristine Audio) – Michael
Cookson
Symphony No. 7 (Pristine Audio) – Michael
Cookson
Symphony No. 9 (Guild/Pristine) – Michael
Cookson / Jonathan
Woolf
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