The junction between the ending of the 1st movement, and the entry of the 2nd is quickly established here by means of 4 chords on D-A-F-D.

A perfect example of Furtwängler’s re-thinking of this entry is the deliberate ff on the trumpet (4th chord), not vivid enough in his previous performances. Again, this process shows Furtwängler’s visionary anticipation when it is repeated during the subsequent build-up of the climax in the development.

The tempo adopted by Furtwängler is slightly faster than Beethoven’s marking of 116. All conductors (except Klemperer = 88) seem to agree as far as the tempo is concerned. But no one seems to agree with anyone else as to the interpretation of the short, yet difficult, beginning. Here is an interesting panoply which leaves the listener even more in the dark.

Furtwängler’s reading of the main theme is relentless yet never rigid: in all his performances, it always sounds as if an expert rider were giving free rein to a well-groomed horse, before taking over firmly for the crescendo and the first fortissimo.

For the energetic second subject starting at bar 93, Furtwängler resorts to the addition of two horns for the sake of reinforcing the woodwinds in order to keep a perfect balance between the strings and the woodwinds, otherwise not audible. Of course he avoids all recommendations of tampering with the nuances, of Mahler’s actual retouching of this part with 6 horns and 2 trumpets! The performance is beyond reproach. Yet, when the same subject recurs, after the development, in a minor key, Furtwängler always makes a slight accelerando. I have an uneasy feeling that this part in minor would have sounded more impressive had Furtwängler, on the contrary, played it at a slightly broader tempo, the way Nikisch used to do.

The development is played exactly as written, with the famous timpani solo and its dialogue with the woodwinds, letting the music speak for itself without the addition of any special effects. (It is interesting to note that the entry of this movement was composed once the whole movement was finished, inspired by this very passage).

Nevertheless, we thought interesting to reveal Hermann Abendroth’s impressive sforzati, although not annotated, played thrillingly in the same way by all timpanists who came under his direction.

There follows a crescendo, where Furtwängler has re-thought the use of the trumpet, as explained earlier, before the strings take over in the fortissimo.

The metronome marking for the Trio is half-note = 116. Modern baroque conductors who pride themselves on so-called “historical authenticity” either play it at this tempo while declaring it to be impossibly slow (alternating two horn-players) or steer altogether away from it, claming Beethoven was guilty of a serious mistake, and play it twice faster, which sometimes makes it sound ridiculous. None take their clue from what Weingartner said : “There is only one tempo for Beethoven : the right one!”, or “as long as the tune is not yet recognizable, the tempo is too slow. If it is no longer recognizable, then it is too fast.” Happily Furtwängler never cared for metronome markings. He plays this trio slowly and lovingly in a most articulate manner; and the atmosphere is always related to the general spirit of the performance concerned. I have always wondered how horn-players could cope with Furtwängler’s broad tempo. All of his players, especially the incomparable Dennis Brain in the 1954 recording, have always given their best.

And there is no denying the ecstatic feeling as Furtwängler’s slows down at the end, as if he were reluctant to leave behind him this paradisiacal view, before plunging ex abrupto into the demonic Scherzo. This is a famous constant in all his performances.