Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

Was it Bruno Weil who once said that he preferred to hear Furtwangler on '48s rather than Levine on laser-disc? It's a wonderful bon mot. Brahms-wise, it should be updated to include a certain Berlin-based conductor with a man perm and a smirk on his face . . . .

Some of these performances might have been remastered elsewhere to slightly better effect but this box is still a mandatory acquisition. It showcases the greatest Brahmsian to have walked the planet (with apologies to Karajan in the Second Symphony). No-one is going to pretend that the sonics are state of the art, even by the lowly standards of the time - but their bravura carries the day. Indeed, if you are going to dip your toes in the pool of historic recordings, this is the place to start.

It's an epochal First, from the fervent timpani in the opening to the siren call of the horns in the last movement. It just does not stop. Such is the power of Furtwangler's sorcery, the tempo-changes become inaudible after a while.

The Second faces tougher competition, particularly from his Nemesis: what a two-horse race! Superlatives abound in each instance. You decide.

Above all, this collection contains the greatest Third in existence. The key repeat is observed in the first movement. It has to be said that Furtwangler's conception of the work is greater than any execution; even the mighty Berlin Philharmonic, which is not easily red-lined, is pushed to breaking point and beyond in the outer movements. Flat-earth critics have sooked about the ensemble but this is an instance where the normal criteria are irrelevant. A visionary does not worry about grammar. Indeed, Furtwangler lovingly draws out the last bars to envelope the listener in a sidereal peace: yes, we too are stardust.

The Fourth is one of the symphonies that says 'No' (I can't recall whose coined this particular bon-mot but they were right on the money). In Furtwangler's hands, it is a Beast with Seven Heads and Tens Horns. The ferocity in the last movement is astounding. One looks in vain for such sustained intensity in the Berliners' recent exposition of this symphony (and the other three) with Sir Simon: tempora mutantur.

There are alternatives. I slightly prefer Furtwangler's wartime Fourth Brahms: Symphony No. 4; Haydn Variations / Furtwängler and the surviving last movement of the First Symphony from January 1945 is arguably Furtwangler's finest moment Bruckner: Symphony 6. There is also a lot to be said for the Second that was recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in February 1945 just before Furtwangler absconded into Switzerland . Even so, none of the performances included in this box is shaded.

Scramble before it disappears. EMI is no longer in a position to do favours for anyone, let alone a pilgrim like you and me.

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.

3 1/2


Though its musty trappings can lend an almost complimentary scent to the thickest moments of stoic romanticism throughout, an overall effect remains cloying enough to cancel out some of what Furtwangler made special.

I first heard the Haydn variations in college. The recording was out of press and I couldn't afford a copy anyway. Thirty years later I found them again on this CD, which (of course) was promptly stolen out of my car.

One of the variations sounds like the wind picking up over the Panamint Mountains in the Mojave Desert.

I'm reordering at great expense and aggravation.