The Art of Wilhelm Furtwängler

[mjwal]

Thank you for your work of synthesis. Are the transfers also in the order of preference?
I have a couple of those Furtwängler Society double LPs - can't check right now but think 9+1 and 5+6 (all from the 50s).
I have the 5th 1937 and '47 on my hard disc as downloads. I must say I prefer '37, scratchy surfaces and all.

[Holden]

Why no Symphony #2? I know that he only recorded it once.

[trung224]

 Thanks for your superb effort, Reverend Bong. But I must add that the wartime Beethoven 3 on 1944 have been release on SACD by Tahra with much better sound [asin]B004T0145W[/asin]
   And I must say that the Pristine Classics remastered is also excellent, to my ear even surpasses the Melodyia transfer, especially on the 1942 Ninth Symphony

[bigshot]

I've been going through the Membran box. Is that too recent for this survey? I'm guessing they found a major Furtwangler collector with pristine vintage vinyl. The stuff sounds very good.

[Reverend Bong]

Thanks for the additional information which has been incorporated.

In answer to the earlier question, no, the releases are in random order.  All I know about their relative merits is noted in the text at the start.  Personally I have a lot of vinyl, the Audite RIAS box and a couple of the Russian CD issues, so my experience is too limited to start trying to order them.  The Lucerne SACD is on its way to me...

[trung224]

Code number of  new SACD Beethoven's symphony No.3 1944 is Furt 2008.

[Reverend Bong]

Does anyone have any experience of the Unicorn LPs of the Beethoven symphonies?  I gather most people here are firmly digital, but if anyone has any of them I'd be interested in their impressions regarding sound quality.  They appear to date from the 1970s.

[bluto32]

The Melodiya rerelease of Furtwangler's March 1942 recording of Beethoven's 9th came out in January.
The new catalogue number is: MEL CD 10 02014.

I must say I'm tempted to try the other CDs in that Melodiya series (symphonies 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7).

Bluto

[banpuku]

I have the Audite set of Furtwangler RIAS recordings on LP (vinyl).  The dynamics of these mono recordings is explosive, to say the least.  I feel as though I am at the recording venue, as the occasional recorded cough and sneeze sounds lifelike.  Tonality is very good and the performances are some of the best I have heard.  Furtwangler holds nothing back.

[Verena]

I have the Audite set of Furtwangler RIAS recordings on LP (vinyl).  The dynamics of these mono recordings is explosive, to say the least.  I feel as though I am at the recording venue, as the occasional recorded cough and sneeze sounds lifelike.  Tonality is very good and the performances are some of the best I have heard.  Furtwangler holds nothing back.

Agree. But the coughs are very audible on the Audite set- I have the CDs - too much so for my taste. If only they could be deleted.

[0spinboson]

Many thanks for pointing out the existence of the Audite, I'd managed to miss it up until now ;(

On a related note: anyone looked into this website? http://furtwanglersound.com/reviews/wilhelmfurtwnglert/ Link is to a review on the site by Henry Fogel (whose name i've seen around on the interwebs), but since I am generally not a fan of 'XR remastering', I have my doubts about it.. The review doesn't really explain what the Chibas transfers sound like, and Fogel only says that he "spent a month doing A/B comparisons", which seems a bit silly unless the transfers are near-identical already, which in my experience isn't usually the case with Furtwängler transfers. (Unless I'm missing something and he uses that phrase to suggest something else?)

[Verena]

Many thanks for pointing out the existence of the Audite, I'd managed to miss it up until now ;(

On a related note: anyone looked into this website? http://furtwanglersound.com/reviews/wilhelmfurtwnglert/ Link is to a review on the site by Henry Fogel (whose name i've seen around on the interwebs), but since I am generally not a fan of 'XR remastering', I have my doubts about it.. The review doesn't really explain what the Chibas transfers sound like, and Fogel only says that he "spent a month doing A/B comparisons", which seems a bit silly unless the transfers are near-identical already, which in my experience isn't usually the case with Furtwängler transfers. (Unless I'm missing something and he uses that phrase to suggest something else?)

Many sound clips on the site sound great IMO, preferable to all other transfers I've heard.

[Roberto]

On a related note: anyone looked into this website? http://furtwanglersound.com/reviews/wilhelmfurtwnglert/ Link is to a review on the site by Henry Fogel (whose name i've seen around on the interwebs), but since I am generally not a fan of 'XR remastering', I have my doubts about it.. The review doesn't really explain what the Chibas transfers sound like, and Fogel only says that he "spent a month doing A/B comparisons", which seems a bit silly unless the transfers are near-identical already, which in my experience isn't usually the case with Furtwängler transfers. (Unless I'm missing something and he uses that phrase to suggest something else?)

I've found it months ago and although the samples sounds quite good (on my poor headphones) but it seems overly processed (too much noise reduction, added echo and equalization). It doesn't fit my taste.

[Bogey]

Posted this in the mega brick set thread, but thought some might miss it:



The Pope got one for free!


video here
http://www.romereports.com/palio/pope-francis-meets-with-angela-merkel-economy-and-religious-liberty-discussed-english-10070.html#.Uju_hIY3t8E

Pope Francis-- Favorite music: "Leonore" Overture No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven conducted by the late-Wilhelm Furtwangler, "who, in my opinion, is the best conductor of some of (Beethoven's) symphonies and works by Wagner."

[Bogey]

No cross overs, correct?

[trung224]

No cross overs, correct?

No, indeed. The Membrane box contains the EMI or studio recordings with VPO and sometimes BPO , while all of recordings in the Rias box are "live" with BPO.

[Octave]

I ran across this letter for sale on Ebay (a place I should not be spending time); maybe not so special for anybody who's read a clutch of WF's briefe from that decade, but in case you want to own it ($750!):



Furtwängler to Prof. Hans Bassermann [sic?] re: Stuckenschmidt, Berlin, 29 June 1932

The translation supplied by the seller:

"I thank you for your letter dated the 16th of this month and your interest in me which is shown therein. - Were you more familiar with Berlin"s music critics, you would not be so very much surprised regarding Stuckenschmidt [Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt (1901 - 1988), German composer, musicologist, and historian and critic of music]. Recently, a great and internationally renowned artist remarked to me, no doubt correctly, that large German cities, particularly Berlin and Vienna, represent the most unpleasant atmosphere with regard to the artistic world that has ever existed. The unscrupulous way by which facts are tampered with and the public is misled to serve biased and tedious party doctrines and intentions, can hardly be surpassed. The only positive thing, however, is that gradually the public is no longer listening to what the Mr. Stuckenschmidt etc. proclaim which, with regard to us artists, is most sensible. Where would we be if we had to be concerned with those things?"

[bluto32]

A couple of years ago, I picked up this 2007 Music & Arts reissue of Furtwangler's 1954 Lucerne recording of Beethoven's 9th:



Although the performance and interpretation are super, I've found this recording quite tiring to listen to on account of the overpowering tympani through much of the 1st and some of the 4th movements. I was too late to pick up any of the Tahra releases at a sensible price, so took a chance a few days ago on this download by Pristine Audio:



Both the mono and "ambient stereo" versions sound very good (haven't decided which I prefer yet), and are more pleasant than the Music & Arts one to my ears due to a better balance and less prominent tympani.

Bluto

[Que]

A couple of years ago, I picked up this 2007 Music & Arts reissue of Furtwangler's 1954 Lucerne recording of Beethoven's 9th:



Although the performance and interpretation are super, I've found this recording quite tiring to listen to on account of the overpowering tympani through much of the 1st and some of the 4th movements. I was too late to pick up any of the Tahra releases at a sensible price, so took a chance a few days ago on this download by Pristine Audio:



Both the mono and "ambient stereo" versions sound very good (haven't decided which I prefer yet), and are more pleasant than the Music & Arts one to my ears due to a better balance and less prominent tympani.

Bluto

I share your misgivings about Music & Arts... But I'm not a fan of the "doctoring" by Pristine Audio, either...

The Lucern performances of the Beethoven 9th has been reissued BTW, this time by Audite.
Reportedly, like Tahra, a transfer directly from the tapes of Swiss radio:

[asin]B00NG4B7PY[/asin]

Q

[Bogey]

Many moons ago, Que recommended this gem of a recording of Furtwängler's 9th.  Well, it's about to be released again on 180 gram vinyl, and I am considering it just to hear it in analogue as the performance is still one of my favorites of the 9th:



Complete with previously unreleased photos from the festival's archive, the 32-page booklet in three languages contains extensive information on Wilhelm Furtwängler's work in Lucerne, as well as providing the context for this performance.

And for the record, that cd pressing above is moving toward nut-so prices.  If you can snag one, Que's rec still holds strong at my end.