Brahms: Symphonies, Hungarian Dances, Haydn Variations; Beethoven: Overtures / Furtwangler, Berlin PO, Vienna PO [Import]

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Wilhelm Furtwängler (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler
• Composer: Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (September 19, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI References
• ASIN: B000002S69
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,286 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Brahms and Beethoven were the center of Furtwängler's universe, the composers whose music he most closely identified with and whose art gave him the greatest sense of fulfillment and renewal. While they are perhaps not the finest of the conductor's outings ever captured, the postwar realizations collected here--of the four Brahms symphonies, the Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and the three Hungarian Dances that Brahms himself orchestrated, as well as two Beethoven overtures--show Furtwängler in an exemplary light, as an insightful interpreter and a compelling, spontaneous musical presence. Those qualities come across with particular point in the Brahms symphonies, which are all taken from live performances (No. 1 is played by the Vienna Philharmonic, Nos. 2 through 4 by the Berlin Philharmonic), with noticeable audience noise and such problems as the occasional piquant tuning of chords, but also with plenty of the excitable, impassioned, and highly profiled musicmaking for which Furtwängler was famous.

These are turbulent and expressive readings, not autumnal and reserved, and certainly not understated. In fact, the Third (from 1949) emerges, if anything, somewhat overstated in this, the earliest of Furtwängler's four recordings of the piece: one can feel the orchestra straining at the bit at the beginning of the first movement, and again at the exposition repeat, and the performance as a whole seems too episodic, too hurried, and lacking in grip. It's a different story with the rest of the canon. The Fourth (recorded in 1948) receives a powerful reading, very firm in conception, while the Second (from 1952) is quite intense and appealing, notable for the soaring lyricism Furtwängler imparts to the Adagio and the giddiness he brings to the finale. Furtwängler performed and recorded the First more than any other Brahms symphony, and he excited a particularly strong response in the Vienna Philharmonic when he led this performance in 1952. Listening to it, or any of the others in this set, one realizes rather quickly what's so remarkable about this conductor: he gave performances that were experiences of the music, not mere reconstructions of it. Nobody makes music like this any more. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Iconic performances in historical sound, December 23, 2011

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brahms: Symphonies, Hungarian Dances, Haydn Variations; Beethoven: Overtures / Furtwangler, Berlin PO, Vienna PO (Audio CD)

These are obviously five star performances but in fairly murky, scratchy mono sound, hence my reluctant subtraction of a star to alert new-comers to the fact that these discs cannot be anyone's introduction to this music - or could they? In truth, if you can listen through the sound-barrier and ignore some only occasional but irritating coughing, acquaintance with the astonishing energy and attack Furtwängler brings to the emphatic passages and with the swooning, elastic Schwung of the lyrical episodes could spoil you for any other interpretation.

Furtwängler is merciless and uncompromising in how he drives home the searing emotional honesty of Brahms' symphonies; nothing is prettified or extenuated, so you hear the gritty reality of Brahms' struggle with music that expresses his metaphysical battle with despair and discouragement. The opening of the First Symphony sounds like a titanic effort to depict and then shake off the weight crushing the human spirit. Nobody, except perhaps Karajan in his live performance in the Festival Hall in October 1988 Brahms: Symphony No. 1; Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, quite catches the desperation of that turmoil. Similarly, the finale of No. 4 is devastating. Yet Furtwängler is also wholly capable of capturing the delicate grace of the Allegretto of the Second and the bitter-sweet lilt of the Poco allegretto in the Third.

The "extras" - two Hungarian Dances, the Haydn Variations and two Beethoven overtures are equally treasurable and no make-weights. The former are insouciantly joyous but never trivial and the application of rubato is perfectly judged. The Variations build and build so satisfyingly to the magnificent, celebratory chorale. The notes tell us that Furtwängler once described Beethoven's "Coriolan" overture as "the most concise drama in existence". My favourite above all is the "Egmont" but there exists elsewhere an excellent 1954 recording of his account of that and there is no disputing the success of the case he builds here for this and the Leonore Nr.2; both are magisterial and the latter is in better sound, being from 1956.

It matters little whether he is directing the VPO or the Berlin Philharmonic; both are superb. We must hope that one day soon Andrew Rose tackles a re-mastering of these recordings for his Pristine label; meanwhile, they remain indispensable to anyone tolerant of historical sound and keen to hear the best Brahms conductor on record.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An important Brahms cycle, now somewhat outmoded, December 30, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brahms: Symphonies, Hungarian Dances, Haydn Variations; Beethoven: Overtures / Furtwangler, Berlin PO, Vienna PO (Audio CD)

This was the earliest complete Brahms cycle on CD from Furtwangler, and I remember being excited to fnd it but sorely disappointed by the murky radio sound. Furtwangler was best in live performance, and two of the ones here--the Second and Fourth symphonies--are among his most dynamic readings of these pieces. They are also in marginally better sound than the First and considerably better than the Third. But newcomers to historical recordings would still be put off, I think.

There's now another Brahms cycle with all-around better sound on Music and Arts; in any event, critical consensus seems to prefer it. There are also individual readings, like the First Sym. on Tahra, which come in first-rate mono. If high-tech remastering could be applied to the EMI set, it would become far more appealing. EMI has made little effort so far, but in their recent Furtwangler reissues better things are being done (E.Gl, the two-disc Wagner collection and the live Mozart from Vienna with Sym. 40 and the Gran Partita wind serenade). For the time being this Brahms set remains an important document that's behind the curve but still worthy of consideration.

11 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing set of the Brahms symphonies, May 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brahms: Symphonies, Hungarian Dances, Haydn Variations; Beethoven: Overtures / Furtwangler, Berlin PO, Vienna PO (Audio CD)

Did you think that the Brahms symphonies were rather staid and four-square? If so, listen to this set. Furtwangler interprets Brahms like no other conductor before or since. Breathtaking.