Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Yvonne Lefébure, Wilhelm Furtwangler :: Symphony 6 in F Major Op 68

Acceptable, but not top drawer sound

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 08/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Acceptable, but not top drawer sound for these live 1954 performances. The ear soon adjusts, though, and in my experience, this sounds better on my 1987 Realistic portable stereo, (which has a mid range boost/equalizer) than on my larger RCA and Hitachi system, with no equalizer. Either way, listen closely, and Furtwangler's magic can be felt. There are coughs in the audience, and the first measures of I and II on Beethoven's "Pastoral" can be disappointing with surface noise and audience noise; but listen on, and you will hear Furtwangler's special touch.



I bought this for the Beethoven 6, as I had no recording of this work by Furtwangler in my collection. I and II are very slow, and he uses ritards and nuances to make points about a given phrase, or highlight a certain motif or idea. IV and V are not slow, and IV, "Thunderstorm" is one of the most exciting I've heard. A feel of re-creation comes about in this performance, as was Furtwangler's credo. I like this, but you may not.



In the Mozart Piano Concerto 20, Yvonne Lefebure plays with taste and style appropriate to Mozart's dark D Minor Concerto. This is not tinkly, prissy Mozart playing; it is full-out, the grand Romantic treatment. Lefebure uses Romantic cadenzas in I and III which sound different to me; I'm used to Serkin (with Szell), or Anda/Salzburg Mozarteum in this work.



If you look for program notes with a CD, be aware: these are in Italian only."