Wilhelm Furtwängler, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart

Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts Furtwängler & Beethoven

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CD/ Track	Title	Duration
1.1	Symphony No. 2 in E Minor I Assai moderato	24:02
1.2	Symphony No. 2 in E Minor II Andante semplice (tranquillo) - attacca	12:25
1.3	Symphony No. 2 in E Minor III Un poco moderato - Allegro	16:56
2.1	Symphony No. 2 in E Minor IV Langsam - Moderato andante - Presto	28:27
2.2	Symphony No. 1 in C Major op. 21 Adagio molto - Allegro con brio	08:02
2.3	Symphony No. 1 in C Major op. 21 Andante cantabile con moto	07:14
2.4	Symphony No. 1 in C Major op. 21 Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace	03:58
2.5	Symphony No. 1 in C Major op. 21 Finale. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace	06:24
2.6	H. Müller-Kray talks to W. Furtwängler	07:17

available

19,95 EUR

: SCM Hänssler
series:: Archiv Reihe
Art.-No.:: 094.215.000
: Doppel-CD
: 8 S. Booklet
Duration:: 1:47 hrs.
: July 2011
: *recommended retail price

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler requires no introduction. His recordings of Wagner and Beethoven remain among the most coveted and controversial ever committed to disc. Even Arturo Toscanini, usually regarded as Furtwängler's complete antithesis, once said - when asked to name the world's greatest conductor apart from himself - "Furtwängler!"
The music of Beethoven was central to Furtwängler's art. The conductor found a primal energy in the music - a force of nature. Even in the First Symphony, Furtwängler discovers nuances that elevate the score from a mere late-Classical symphony standing in the shadow of Haydn into a dramatic prelude to what would flow from the composer's pen later. However the major work on this historic program is Furtwängler's own Second Symphony.
Wilhelm Furtwängler composed his Second Symphony between 1945 and 1946, following his resignation from his conducting posts in Germany and Austria in protest of Nazi cultural policy. As with many of Furtwängler's other symphonic works, the Symphony No. 2 is very rarely performed, and has been the subject some of harsh critical attacks, though many of those may have been politically, rather
than musically motivated. The Second Symphony is an expansive score, heavily indebted to the late-Romantic style of Anton Bruckner and Richard Wagner. The present recording, made in the last year of the maestro's life, is made even more valuable as his musical Last Will and Testament.