Bruckner:Symphony No. 9/Wagner:Tristan Prelude & Liebestod

Bruckner (Artist), Berlin Philharmonic (Artist), Furtwangler (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 1993)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Music & Arts Program
• ASIN: B000001OFI
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,099 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 9 In D: I. Feierlich. Misterioso

2. Symphony No. 9 In D: II. Schewrzo. Bewegt, lebhaft

3. III. Adagio. Langsam, feierlich

4. Tristan und Isolde: Prelude & Lieestod: Prelude And Liebestod

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Furtwängler's connection with Bruckner's Ninth Symphony went back to the dawn of his career: in fact, it was the featured work on the program with which he made his symphonic conducting debut in 1907, at the age of 20. But only one of Furtwängler's performances of the Ninth was ever recorded, and this is it--a soulful reading with the Berlin Philharmonic from a concert given on October 7, 1944, in the dark final year of World War II. Furtwängler was always, in his interpretations of Bruckner, at least, closer to the Apocalypse than the Elysian Fields, and that is certainly the case here. There is an urgency to the account that is palpable through all three of the symphony's movements. It's particularly apparent in the scherzo, which comes across with a ferocity that is not wildness but something far more chilling. The intensity of vision in Furtwängler's conception of the first movement is equally remarkable, as is the groping, almost glacial way he conducts the Adagio, probing the limits of sustainable sound. Apart from some ragged ensemble in the brass and occasional fits of poor intonation in the winds, the playing is on a very high level, and the sound, while veiled, conveys both the tonal beauty of the Philharmonic's realization and the charged atmosphere generated by the performance. --Ted Libbey

Product Description

"This is the only Furtwängler Bruckner Ninth preserved in recorded form... [it] has remained one of Furtwängler's most universally admired performances for more than twenty-five years when it was first issued by DG... The conductor's expected broad phrasing and majestic scope are combined here with an immense raw power, crushing at times in its

intensity. As is typical of Furtwängler, the orchestral sound is built from the bottom up, with a firm bass and cello line consistently underpinning everything else." -Henry Fogel in Fanfare "...this famous broadcast - which, by the way, sounds better than ever in M&A's transfer from Magnetophon tapes - is unique among Furtwängler Bruckner recordings in that it communicates a profound and distrubing unrest. True, there are moments of trance-like repose, especially in the Adagio; but the climaxes have a wrenching fierceness that will shock those who know Furtwängler's Bruckner only from his [other] live recordings... This is a great and disorientating release." -Robert Cowan in CD Review (U.K.)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who ignore this recording as a Brucknerian?, December 1, 2000

By 

Chung-Whun Chung (Seoul, Republic of Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruckner:Symphony No. 9/Wagner:Tristan Prelude & Liebestod (Audio CD)

Furtwangler's idol of music was Beethoven. But as a composer, Bruckner was his milestone. He tried many large-scale works(especially symphony and choral works) in early years but failed many times. When he was debut with Kaim-Kapelle(now Munchner Philharmoniker) as conductor, he chose Beethoven's Egmont Overture, his 'Adagio' and Bruckner's 9th Symphony. But Furtwangler never conducted this symphony after the World War II. So, this recording is very historical heritage. This recording(for broadcast) was made by RRG in 7 October 1944(Beethovensaal in Berlin). Furtwangler was appeared many times for this 'live for broadcast' recording(Other example is Bruckner's 8th Symphony with Wiener Philharmoniker in 17 Octorber 1944). Furtwangler approached this symphony like a religious hymn. In the opening of first movement, he made very misterious atmosphere like a Beethoven's 9th Symphony. And first fortissimo orchestral tutti, erupt very powerful sound like creation. Furtwangler demanded 'in tempo' and gravity to orchestra. And in last movement, Furtwangler created very solemn surroundings like a catholic mass(you heard frequently in quartet of wagner tuba's passages). Like a Knappertsbusch, Furtwangler interpreted this symphony very seriously. Coupling with symphony-Wagner's Prelude & Isoldes Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde was recorded live in concert(8-10 November 1942). It's a rare wartime Wagner recording conducted by Furtwangler. Furtwangler performed this work has difficult harmonic progress very 'natural' added tragic and lament. In the climax of Liebestod, I felt so strange catarsis never heard before.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another caveat empteor: a great Ninth...but don't overpay!, February 27, 2005

By 

Into "voidness" (everywhereandnowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruckner:Symphony No. 9/Wagner:Tristan Prelude & Liebestod (Audio CD)

There's no question that this Bruckner Ninth belongs in every serious Bruckner collection...but don't get sucked in by someone trying to get an absurd amount of money for it on the Marketplace! Furtwangler's Ninth was out of print for years, and this M&A pressing is a great remaster, but at the time of this review, there's no need to pay more than, say, $15 for it...esp. with other good inexpensive pressings available, such as the Classica D'Oro release for less than $10...or you can buy the one listed here directly from Music & Arts for $15.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical treasures in wartimes!, October 30, 2005

By 

Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bruckner:Symphony No. 9/Wagner:Tristan Prelude & Liebestod (Audio CD)

Bruckner 's Ninth Symphony is an universe by itself. The wholeness and boundlessness appears with all its magnificence and cosmic intensity. Anton Bruckner looks at the universe and in this sense you can associate him with Bach. It is hard to intend to classify a musical genius without time like Bruckner, the genius always surmounts the labels. And Wilhelm Fürtwangler ` s level of commitment and incandescent passion is overwhelming. His music possesses power to produce relaxation, conviction, profound harmony and mercurial epic that would seem to emerge from the same nature. This superior level of expression overpasses the human concepts of emotion, sentimentality or romanticism to reach thousand and thousand echelons of greatness and cosmic breath and bliss. The great masters have that privileged virtue to detain the time and connect us immediately with the otherness. The form and its mutations follow mythic patterns and a lot of new sensations. Listening Bruckner is to experience a true cathartic experience.

This historic register dates from October 7th 1944 in Beethovensaal Berlin.

The three major composers more contiguous to Fürtwangler soul were Bruckner, Beethoven and Wagner. And when you listen this Prelude and Liebstood, you will be experiencing for the first time the whole and profound meaning of this work, without hindrances of any kind. I do not know of any other performance that can remain even close to that one. It is a sum of livings, experiences and conjunction of the mythic significance of this impossible dream. Wilhelm impulses the score to cosmic heights and impress it of sublime grandness, passion and eroticism. Listen it carefully and tell me sincerely if you have ever heard a major and expressive and orgasmic climax in the music Fúrtwangler conjugates the human desire and tragic fatalism in accurate proportions, producing an absorbing and indescribable and felt expansiveness. The recording was made 8 and 10 November 1942, Berlin.