Search - Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann :: Symphony 88 in G Major / Coriolan Overture Op 62

Never Sounded Better!

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This issue is like manna from heaven for Furtwangler fans - none of these recordings has ever sounded so fresh and clear in their earlier incarnations on LP or CD. However, for the unconverted and/or the general listener, some of these performances will have greater appeal than others.



The live Haydn #88 Vienna Phil. included here is one of three recordings of the work by Furtwangler - he also left a studio recording with the Berlin Phil. (recorded only six weeks later than this one), plus a rather ill-played live performance with the RAI Turin Orchestra from 1952. This is one of those rare instances with Furtwangler where a studio recording is the superior version (it's available on a DG CD coupled with a mighty Schubert 9th). Vienna's players here aren't as precise as Berlin's - but they are impressive just the same. The Largo movement is beautifully done in both. But be warned: if your notion of Haydn playing is a performance by Weil (pronounced Vile), this will sound rather heavy and old-fashioned.



The Beethoven Coriolan Overture is a fine performance - but it doesn't come anywhere close to the incredible drama of the 1943 Berlin Phil. - one of Furtwangler's most awesome performances of anything (it's in a DG box set). But then, nobody else's Coriolan is in the same league either.



This Schumann Spring Symphony is the only Furtwangler performance we have - it is extremely romantic and even a bit over the top - there are some ritordandoes that will shock anyone who is used to, say, a Kubelik or a Sawallisch. I love the performance dearly - but it may be an acquired taste for newcomers.



But now we come to the main reason for acquiring this set. This live Bruckner 4th was the conclusion of a live concert given in Munich on 29 October 1951 (the above-mentioned Coriolan and Schumann Spring preceded it on the program - the Haydn 88 was given a week earlier). This is THE Furtwangler 4th - much stronger, more committed and personal than his only other recorded 4th from Stuttgart the same year. I have owned this performance on Decca LP and more recently on a Music & Arts CD - the sound of this Orfeo release is vastly superior to either.



Contrary to what one of the other reviewers here has indicated, this is NOT the Haas Edition of Bruckner's score "with cymbals." This is in fact the revised performing edition done by Ferdinand Loewe in 1888. It is easy to get long-winded and pedantic when it comes to discussing the various "editions" - so I will try to be brief and to the point. Bruckner's original 1874 manuscript was, to my mind, rather rambling and incoherent (it has been recorded by both Inbal and Gielen, among others, if you are interested in hearing it). Bruckner later (1878-1880) completely revised it, substituting a new scherzo and finale. That is the edition most often heard today (there are some differences between the versions published by Haas and Nowak, but they will sound very nearly the same to most listeners). The 1888 version by Loewe, one of Bruckner's close "disciples," makes some cuts, changes some of the dynamic markings (e.g.,a big unison chord in the finale is quieted down), and adds a great many drum rolls and extra percussion, including some very audible cymbal clashes.



The Loewe edition was recorded by several older generation Bruckner conductors, including Furtwangler, Knappertsbusch, Matacic, and Steinberg. Although I prefer the un-doctored Bruckner original, the Loewe is very satisfying too. This Furtwangler live reading is the most exciting, spiritual, dramatic, and most poetic of the Loewe edition recordings: this is one of THE greatest 4ths, period. Of some 40 different performances that I own (yes, I'm even more fanatical about Bruckner than I am about Furtwangler!), this Furtwangler is one of the two that would accompany me to that proverbial desert island - the other would be Volkmar Andreae's superlative live performance with the Vienna Symphony, on an Orfeo CD that has already gone out of print.



To sum it up: fine Haydn and Beethoven (really only bettered by other Furtwangler performances), a unique and powerful Schumann 1st, and an utterly masterful Bruckner 4th that could do noble service as your only recording of the work. CD shelf life seems to be pretty short these days - so grab a copy of this Orfeo issue while you can.......Enjoy!"

Furtwangler at times frenetic, radio sound at times shrill

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the fal of 1951 Furtwangler took the Vienna Phil. on tour, from which this 2-CD set was taken. The Haydn is from Stuttgart on Oct. 22, everything else from Munich a week later (Oct. 29). Orfeo has established a reputation for good sound in their Furtwangler material, and this is no exception. Leaving aside audience noise, the Bruckner Fourth form Munich stands as probably the best-sounding version from Furtwangler.



Historic sound is relative, however. I own a fair number of Furtwangler's recordings, both live and studio, and like the other reviewer here I welcome this new material from Austrian Radio master tapes. But newcomes should be warned that good sound for a Furtwangler readio broadcast is still fairly restricted, with shrill climaxes and volume twiddling by the engineers in the control booth. The perspective here is spacious rather than dry and boxy, howeer, which is all to the good.



All the performances are prime Furtwangler. He wasn't a technician, and the Vienna Phil. plays in fairly ragged fashion compared to its glorious ensemble nowadays. The style of interpetation harkens back to Furtwangler's most passionate wartime concerts, with lots of surging rubato, sudden accents, and emotionally spontaneous tempo changes (especially in the Burckner and Schumann). Compared to a magisterial live Bruckner Eighth from 1954 released on Andante, this Fourth is more erratic, not as well played, and in considerably poorer sound. Still, Furtwangler was one of the greatest of Bruckner conductors--some devotees claim the very greatest--and this Fourth stands out as one of his most intense readings and in listenable sound if you know how limited that can be for old radio broadcasts.."