Search - Beethoven, Brahms, Furtwangler :: Symphony 1 / Symphony 4

Very Impressive Live Brahms Fourth Makes This Well Worth Hea

Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 11/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is another of the remarkable TAHRA series of recordings. Many like this one are out of print and increasingly difficult to find - try for example to find the fabulous 1979 'live' Mahler 7th with Kondrashin conducting the Concertgebouw! Tahra does a marvelous job at locating good quality tapes, and pushes live concerts as an alternative to controlled studio recordings.



These two recordings offer differing reasons for inclusion. The first may best be remembered as coming from Furtwängler's last public appearances. This Beethoven 1st Symphony, performed September 19, 1954, appears to be the last recording of the conductor in concert. It's pretty impressive directing, a large-scaled approach to be sure, and for me at least partially belies the carping of some critics who claim Furtwängler does a better job with this symphony in earlier recordings.



The second recording stands more on pure merits - indeed, it's a tremendous example of Furtwängler in full stride, a colossus stradling German Romantic music. Taken from a concert given on October 22, 1948, its the twin to an available EMI recording made two days later. Up till now I have tended to agree with those who favor Furtwängler's 1943 performance of the Brahms 4th Symphony, but this previously unissued version (the Cd was issued in 1998) impresses with tremendous massive scale, miraculously lightened through the conductor's bouyant rhythmic flexibility and memorable poetic touches. Furtwängler seems more intent on finding the soul of this music, and doesn't worry so much with exactness of entries and balances; one senses he's well beyond such matters as he continues delving deeper and deeper into the music's very essence. Conducting like this is almost unnerving in its dominating presence, its almost unmeasureable, near infinite sense of scale.



Tahra confesses to some master tape problems in the Brahms Fourth Symphony, notably in the Third movement, but the issues are not major and should not keep anyone interested from hearing one of the greatest of all conductors performing live in music he plays at such an inspired level. I try to avoid the hyperbole, but this sort of music-making could bring it out in the driest of writers!



Since Furtwängler offerings are endlessly reissued in now what seems uncountable versions, please comment if you know of more recent issues.

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