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His life

His art of conducting

The best recordings

Did you know?

1951

You are new to Furtwängler and you are looking for essential information ? We have made a short selection of 1 anecdote and 3 set of key documents that we think are a priority for you. Follow the guide!

His life

Furtwängler was born on 25th January 1886 in Berlin and was deceased on 30th November 1954 in Baden-Baden. In between, the course of his life comprised a succession of episodes in which his personal desires vied with often tragic world events, contributing to make him a legendary conductor of the XXth century.

Furtwängler (1886-1954), in "In Memoriam Furtwängler", Tahra 2004

Furtwängler, a musical mystery by Stephane Topakian, 1994 (RTF file, 5 pages, 0,08 Mo)

A selection of portraits, from his childhood to his death. See...

His art of conducting

The Furtwänglerian art of conducting: a panorama. From the records released by the SWF, Felix Matus-Echaiz selects significant excerpt and help us understand why music lovers and musicians are still fascinated today by Furtwängler artistry. Listen... 

A selection of portraits, conducting. See..

Our guide of his best recordings

The French Wilhelm Furtwängler Society proposes a selection of the essential recordings to be introduced to the art of the conductor. Enthusiasts are probably right to think that this selection is more a starting point than anything exhaustive!

Did you know?

CDs are 75 minutes long. Why so? One of Sony's Vice-President, Norio Ohga, wished this new format could host the Ninth Symphony conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, the longest version which is lasting 74 minutes (see the Bayreuth 1951 recording, produced by Walter Legge and published by EMI). The Japanese company imposed this choice at the beginning of the 80's on Philips, co-owner of the patents on the compact disc.

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