Search - Robert Schumann, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Wilhelm Furtwängler :: Robert Schumann: Symphonie No. 4; Wilhelm Furtwängler: Symphonie No. 2

Worth it for the Schumann alone

John Grabowski | USA | 03/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once upon a time conductors could knock you over with the power they wielded with a baton. Just a downbeat from a Bernstein, a Toscanini, a Karajan or a Furtwangler could send an electric jolt through one's body. Today's stickwavers pack no such impact, as they conduct "beautiful" music with clean precision guaranteed not to startle the white-haired folks in their Mercedes-Benz E-class sedans. Back when giants walked the earth, classical music had the impact of the Rolling Stones. More, in fact, because conductors like Furtwangler never needed amplififers and hundreds of flashing lights to make his impact.



What does that have to do with this recording? Well, just that Furtwangler considered this one of his most successful records, and it's hard to argue. The electricity that's present from the first note sucks you in and makes this the most epic and compelling Schumann 4th on record, a performance that really makes you realize that this symphony, while barely half an hour, really is epic in its way, just as Sibelius' magnificent 7th symphony is epic even though it clocks in at just over 20 minutes. Both use recurring themes and motiffs to create a very tightly-defined and circumspect universe.



WF seems to have weighed each section of the work and decided just how much intensity it can withstand. His changes of tempo and texture are extremely well-judged in my opinion, and this makes particularly the finale the most thrilling performance of that movement on record. The work is presented as a series of "cells," each with its own velocity and weight, which contribute inexorably to the whole structure. Throughout, Furtwangler's control over our pulse is sure and rock-solid; he always knows exactly where he's going, and consequently so do we.



There are many fine Schumann 4ths out there. It's a crowded field, yet this recording dominates. No matter how many other performances of this work you have in your collection, you need this.



Yet that's not even half of this set. The other half, indeed the larger work, is Furtwangler's own Symphony No. 2. Furtwangler, like Bernstein, considered himself a composer first and a conductor second. Like Bernstein (at least with his "serious" music), I trust his conducting will be listened to long after his compositions go by the wayside. I wish I could say Furtwangler the composer is as great as Furtwangler the conductor, but he's not. I have tried to listen to this epic work, but truth be told my mind starts wandering after a short while. It's a lot like Bruckner on steroids, and I'm not always the biggest Bruckner fan either, so maybe I'm just the wrong person to review the work. But regardless of whether you think you'll like it, you should get the disc anyway for the Schumann. The rest is just gravy.

"

Only for the Schumann

Ryan Kouroukis | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 06/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Furtwangler said that his Symphony #2 1951 studio recording was not what it was supposed to be and was highly disappointed by it...he had just finished it and recorded it immediatly without any concert performances of it. I mean it's still good, but not as "way over the edge" as his other recording of it on Orfeo (live-1953)! Take it from Furtwangler himself and get the real deal on Orfeo.ALSO--->THE DEFINITIVE SCHUMANN 4...no questions asked!"

The Classic Schumann 4th!

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ever since first acquiring this Furtwangler Schumann 4th on a DG Heliodor LP in the early 1970's, it has been my favorite recorded performance of the work. It is one of a handful of Furtwangler interpretations that I would play to win over the uninitiated. As for the conductor's own 2nd Symphony? Well, I'm afraid that piece for me belongs in the "Lord knows, I've tried" category. While Furtwangler was, for me, the last century's greatest conductor, I think his talents were far greater as an interpreter than as a composer. While a more fiery live performance of this piece can be found on an Orfeo CD, it still seems to my ears more of a pastiche of composers dear to Furtwangler's heart - Bruckner, Strauss, etc. - than a work of any great originality or craftsmanship.On a rainy Sunday afternoon in Spring c.1978, I attended a meeting of the Furtwangler Society of America held in the lounge of Eliot House at Harvard. There were less than a dozen music lovers in attendance - being a Furtwangler fan back then was a lonelier affair than it is today. Leonard Bernstein at the time was President of the Furtwangler Society; apparently he missed his plane from New York and was unable to attend.A solitary Acoustic Research speaker (the old AR3a) was set up directly in front of the huge fireplace, and several rare, still un-published tapes were played. Frau Elizabeth Furtwangler, the conductor's widow, was there - a very lovely woman who somehow reminded me of a kinder, gentler version of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf ("Betty Blackhead" was one wag's nickname for that soprano).I had the opportunity to engage in about a 15 minute discussion with Frau Furtwangler - a session that lingers still in my memory. She told me that this Schumann 4th was Furtwangler's favorite of all his studio recordings: the main reason for that preference was the fact that the performance was played straight through, with no second takes or any editing (my mind still boggles at that revelation!) One other recollection I have of that conversation: when I asked her about her feelings toward conductor Karl Bohm, she paused and then replied "Well, you know the old saying: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king."Hopefully on the next go round, DG will see fit to couple this wonderful Schumann 4th with something other than Furtwangler's 2nd Symphony. I think this Schumann, which always had rather wonderful mono sound, would then have a wider appeal."