The composer | The man | The conductor
Furtwängler Society's best choice
Budapest, 1937-1938
The Sound Quality
Furtwängler attached great importance to ensemble sonority or what is called orchestral colour, and his highly architectural conception of interpretation led him to make the maximum use of dynamics – his huge crescendo in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, recorded in 1943, is a typical example. To fully appreciate the qualities of his recordings, therefore, it is essential to seek out issues which do justice to the source material.
The best CDs are those issued by the Furtwängler societies; releases by the major labels EMI and DG are usually unsatisfactory, as a result of excessive filtering of noise. Naxos, Testament and Orfeo are preferable, as they make use of the best sound engineers for their historic recordings. Amongst the smaller companies, Tahra, Audite, Opus Kura, Andante and Biddulph do excellent restorations. By contrast, quality is usually poor from companies such as Andromeda, Archipel, Arkadia, Gerhardt, Nuova Era, Rodolphe etc, which tend to copy sources that are neither original nor of good quality. Music and Arts have produced numerous Furtwängler records, usually in mediocre sound and with an aggressive middle register resulting from excessive filtering of low and high frequencies, but it should be noted that their productions have improved recently with better restoration work.
Our choices
The following list includes Furtwängler’s most outstanding recordings, mostly in issues which are generally available. The selection is inevitably subjective, and in some cases the criterion of availability has led us to exclude important versions. Where several issues are listed, they are presented in decreasing order of preference. The performances dating from 1940-45 are usually the ones to choose, as they are particularly impressive. In 2003, DG reissued its boxed set devoted to this period (now on 9 rather than 10 CDs) with no remastering, and the same was true of their two 6-CD boxes (2003 and 2004). Equally disappointing were EMI’s recent reissues of the Rome Ring and two boxed sets, of respectively 3 and 21 CDs, only parts of which (Beethoven and Brahms' symphonies) benefitted from remastering .
Philippe Leduc, Chairman, 2011
1951, Orchestre Philharmonique de Vienne, Festspielhaus de Salzbourg
1951, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Salzburg Festspielhaus
Furtwängler Society's best choice
When we have different major recordings of a single work, we quote all of them. Those for which we have a slight preference for are being listed first.
The records released by the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society (SWF), the Wilhelm Furtwängler Gesellschaft (WFG), the Wilhelm Furtwängler Centre of Japan (WFCJ) and the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society of Japan (WFSJ) are mentioned, as those which are available only from one recording company. Records published by SWF, as well as WFG, WFCJ, WFSJ, Orfeo, Venezia and Tahra are available for members of our Society, see our CDs page.
Bartók
Violin Concerto n°2
1953, Philharmonia Orchestra, soloist Y. Menuhin (Naxos)
Beethoven
Coriolan Overture
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Egmont Overture
1947 (27.V), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Leonore II Overture
1949, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°1
1952, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1954, Süddeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°3
1944, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra), the best version
1952 (8.XII), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1947 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1952 (26-27.XI), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Symphony n°4
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1952, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
1953, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1950, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
Symphony n°5
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, an extremely tense interpretation, the essence of Furtwängler's conducting (Tahra)
1954 (23.V), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Audite, Tahra)
1947 (27.V), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°6
1943 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1944, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1952, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
1954 (23.V), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Audite, Tahra)
Symphony n°7
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
the greatest Seventh in the history of records (SWF)
1950, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1953, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, WFG)
Symphony n°8
1953, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, WFG)
Symphony n°9
1942, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, an astonishingly intense interpretation (SWF)
1954, Philharmonia Orchestra, Lucerne,
a beautiful version in excellent sound (Tahra, WFCJ)
1951, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth (WFCJ)
1937, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (WFCJ, WFSJ)
Piano Concerto n°5
1951, Philharmonia Orchestra, soloist Edwin Fischer (Naxos)
Violin Concerto
1947, Philharmonia Orchestra, Lucerne, soloist Y. Menuhin (Testament)
1947, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist Y. Menuhin (Audite)
Fidelio
1950, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Salzburg, soloists K. Flagstad, J. Patzak,
J. Greindl etc. (Opus Kura)
1953, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna, live, soloists M.Mödl, W.Windgassen,
G.Frick etc. (Naxos, Andante)
Check out our Beethoven page for complete information on recordings of works by Beethoven.
Brahms
Symphony n°1
1951, Norddeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra (Tahra, SWF)
1952 (10.II), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF, DG)
1945, last movement, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (WFCJ, SWF)
Symphony n°2
1945, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (DG, SWF)
1952, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF, EMI)
Symphony n°3
1949, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Symphony n°4
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, SWF)
1948 (24.X), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Violin Concerto
1949, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, soloist Y. Menuhin (Tahra, Naxos)
Piano Concerto n°2
1942, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist E. Fischer (Testament)
Double Concerto
1952, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists A. Boskovsky et E. Brabec (EMI)
Variations on a theme of Haydn
1943, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1951, Norddeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra (Tahra, SWF)
Bruckner
Symphony n°4
1941, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (WFCJ)
1951, Munich, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1951, Stuttgart, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (WFCJ)
Symphony n°5
1942, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Testament or WFG)
Symphony n°6 (incomplete)
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°7
1949, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
1942 (adagio), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos, Tahra, SWF)
1951, Rome, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
Symphony n°8
1944, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
1949, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Testament)
Symphony n°9
1944, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, an outstanding interpretation (SWF)
Franck
Symphony
1945, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Haydn
Symphony n°88
1951, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, WFCJ, Orfeo)
Symphony n°94
1951, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Liszt
Les Preludes
1954, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Mahler
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
1952, Philharmonia Orchestra, soloist D. Fischer-Dieskau (Naxos, EMI)
Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto
1952, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist Y.Menuhin (Naxos, EMI)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Overture
1929 , Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
The Hebrides, Overture
1930, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Mozart
Serenade for 13 woodwind instruments
1947 (11.XI, 3.XII), soloists of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos, SWF)
Symphony n°39
1944, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°40
1948, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos, EMI)
Die Zauberflöte
1951, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists I. Seefried, A. Dermota, E. Kunz,
W. Lipp, P. Schoeffler etc. (EMI)
Don Giovanni
1953, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists C. Siepi, O. Edelmann, E. Schwarzkopf,
E. Grümmer, A. Dermota etc. (Orfeo)
1954, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists C. Siepi, Deszö Ernster,
Lisa della Casa, E. Grümmer, A. Dermota etc. (DVD DG)
1954, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists C. Siepi, O. Edelmann, E. Schwartzkopf,
E. Grümmer, A. Dermota etc. (WFSJ, EMI)
Schubert
Symphony n°8
1950, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
1954, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Symphony n°9
1942, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Schumann
Symphony n°1
1951, Munich, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
Symphony n°4
1953, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, WFCJ)
Cello Concerto (last movement)
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist P. Fournier (Tahra)
Sibelius
En Saga
1943, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
R. Strauss
Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Death and Transfiguration
1954 et 1950, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Metamorphoses
1947, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Tchaikovsky
Symphony n°4
1951, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra)
Symphony n°6 "Pathetic"
1938, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Tahra, Naxos)
Wagner
The Ring cycle (complete)
1950, Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, soloists K. Flagstad, F. Frantz, E. Höngen,
G. Treptow, S. Swanholm, M. Lorentz etc. (SWF)
Die Walküre
1954, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists M. Mödl, L. Rysanek, L. Suthaus,
F. Frantz, M. Klose, G. Frick etc. (Naxos, EMI)
Excerpts from Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung
1937, 1938, soloists R.Bockelmann, K.Flagstad, L.Melchior (Music & Arts)
Lohengrin (Act III)
1936, Bayreuth, M.Müller, F.Völker (Venezia)
Tristan und Isolde
1952, Philharmonia Orchestra, K. Flagstad, L. Suthaus, B. Thebom, J. Greindl,
D. Fischer-Dieskau (Naxos, EMI)
Symphonic excerpts from operas
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (DG)
Symphonic excerpts from operas and finale of Götterdämmerung
Soloist K. Flagstad (Naxos, Testament, EMI)
Funeral March from Götterdämmerung
1933, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)
Weber
Der Freischütz
1954, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, soloists E. Grümmer, R. Streich, H. Hopf,
K. Böhm etc. (EMI)
Euryanthe, Overture
1954, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (SWF)*
Wolf
Lieder recital
1953, Salzburg, soloist E. Schwartzkopf,
unique and moving testimony of Furtwängler as a pianist (EMI).
You have a favourite recording which is not listed above ? You have your own dream discography you would like to share with others enthusiasts? Our Guest Book is the place to express yourself, so please share your suggestions with us.
Last update : March 2011.
For your information, we keep available the previous selections from 2005, 2002 and 1994 (RTF file - 4 pages - 0,09 Mo)