saC " / - Wilhelm Furtwangler % IB-6068 £9 1: at the Festival 1951

WITH • ELISABETH HONGEN HANS HOPF • OTTO EDELMANN This recording’s amazing intensity of personal expression must unquestionably have been influenced by its environment and the memories attending that environment V- . . . ceremonial rededication of the Wagner theatre when the [Bayreuth] Festivals were resumed . . . The Furtwangler projection . . . lays an obligation upon everyone to hear it. C. G. Burke in High Fidelity Great Recordings of the Century

cOSERAPHIM^ q v^\ "Angels of the highest order"

Two Discs

•' r • •' V •

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and one that could only be brought to life and illuminated from within, CHORAL FINALE through subjective insight and understanding. If he seemed at times to (from Schiller's "Ode to Joy," except for the first three lines Wilhelm Furtwangler contravene the letter of the score, he did so not from perversity, but which are by Beethoven.) because he was feeling his way to the heart and core of the matter, probing always with the whole of himself and his profound sensibility to the underlying spirit of it. Every one of his performances was a species SOLO at the Bayreuth of devotional rite, a kind of holy communion. He was incapable of com¬ O Freunde—nicht diese O friends, no more these sounds ing to music from the outside, of shelving the responsibility of personal Tone— continue— interpretation, and of being content with superficial polish. Sondern lasst uns angenehmere Let us raise a song of gladness. He was informed through and through with the spirit of German Ro¬ Anstimmen und freudenvollere! O Joy! Let us praise thee! Festival 1951 manticism. And his had its special traits derived from that source. It was because of it that he seemed to be constantly probing to BASS SOLO AND CHORUS the innermost meaning of the harmony and tonality. He would seize Freude! Joy! upon a harmonic shift or a colored modulation and mould it to fresh Freude, schoner Gotterfunken, Praise to Joy, the god-descended Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 eloquence and significance. With Furtwangler a symphonic movement Tochter aus Elysium, Daughter of Elysium, tended to unfold according to some inner law of his own perception; at Wir betreten feuertrunken, Ray of mirth and rapture blended, times you wondered just where it was going; but it invariably came out Himmlische, dein Heiligtum. Goddess, to thy shrine we come. in D minor, Op.125 ("Choral”) right in the end. When he placed a particular emphasis on an episode, Deine Zauber binden wieder, By thy magic is united he did not lose sight of the whole. His entire career seemed to bear out Was die Mode streng geteilt, What stern Custom parted wide: Kirkegaard's dictum: "Truth is subjectivity." Alle Menschen werden Briider All mankind are brothers plighted Elisabeth Schwarzkopf • Elisabeth Hongen As a Beethoven conductor, Furtwangler's reputation varied greatly. He Wo dein sanfter Fliigel weilt. Where thy gentle wings abide. (soprano) (contralto) was idolized in Germany, but elsewhere he tended to provoke heated controversy. No doubt the Germans felt that he represented something SOLO QUARTET AND CHORUS Hans Hopf • Otto Edelmann very fundamental to themselves - that his romanticism was the expres¬ Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, Ye to whom the boon is measur'd sion of a profound and valuable aspect of their lifeview. Outside Ger¬ Friend to be of faithful friend, () (bass) Eines Freundes Freund zu sein, many it was often felt that what would do for Wagner, or Schumann, or Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Who a wife has won and treasur'd Weber would not do for Beethoven. It is a point of view, but it is a Mische seinen Jubel ein! To our strain your voices lend. Orchestra & Chorus narrow one. And the universality of Beethoven passes beyond cate¬ Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Yea, if any hold in keeping gories and the fashion of the moment. Sein nenntauf dem Erdenrund! Only one heart all his own. Und wers nie gekonnt, der stehle Let him join us, or else weeping, Wilhelm Furtwangler, the son of an archaeology professor, was born It was a sort of justice that the historic reinauguration of the Bay¬ Weinend sich aus diesem Bund. Steal from out our midst unknown in on January 25, 1886. By the age of seven he had begun com¬ reuth Festival in 1951 should have been entrusted to Wilhelm Furtwang¬ posing and by eight he had commenced the serious study of music in ler, conducting Beethoven's majestic Ninth Symphony. In this perfor¬ Freude trinken alle Draughts of joy, from cup , first as a pupil of famed pedagogue Josef Rheinberger and later mance all the nobility, the power, the passion, and the glowing insight Wesen o'erflowing with composer-conductor Max von Schillings. of Furtwangler's interpretative genius is revealed. If ever a performance An den Briisten der Natur, Bounteous Nature freely gives, was typical of a great conductor, it is this. The very first bars stamp the In 1906 he was associate repetiteur at Berlin; in Munich he conducted Alle Guten, alle Bosen Grace to just and unjust showing, genius of Furtwangler (as well as of Beethoven) clearly upon it. The Bruckner's Ninth Symphony — at the age of twenty! After becoming Folgen ihrer Rosenspur, Blessing everything that lives. dark mystery of this beginning leads us straight into Furtwangler's con¬ Chorus Master at Zurich he returned to Munich, but left for Strasbourg Kiisse gab sie uns und Reben, Wine she gave to us and kisses, ception of the entire work, with the broad tempo, the withdrawn pp, where Hans Pfitzner engaged him as third conductor. At Liibeck he Einen Freund, gepriift im Tod, Loyal friend on life's steep road, the mysterioso probings and searchings. Furtwangler's pianissimi were conducted the Philharmonic Society, while at Mannheim he followed Wollust ward dem Wurm E'en the worm can feel life's entirely personal to himself, as were the sudden blazing outbursts of Artur Bodanzky and became "Kapellmeister" at the court. gegeben, blisses, passion and the rhythmic flexibility that seemed always to be moving Und der Cherub steht vor Gott. And the Seraph dwells with God. In 1920 he became the regular conductor of the Berlin Opera's sym¬ internally in search of creative truth. phony concerts. Two years later fame was his: at 36 he succeeded Arthur In the slow movement the tempo is again dead slow and miraculously TENOR SOLO AND MEN'S CHORUS Nikisch at the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Berlin Philharmonic. By the pianissimo. The "heightened sensibility" so typical of Furtwangler's per¬ year 1924 Furtwangler's reputation, especially as an interpreter of the Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Glad as suns His will sent flying formance gives this music a devotional beauty unrivaled perhaps by any 19th century German repertoire, had spread throughout the world and, Durch des Himmels pracht'gen Through the vast abyss of other conductor. But it is in the Finale that Furtwangler rises to inter¬ as a result, he enjoyed 16 years of guest conducting stints in Europe Plan, space, pretative heights which justify his whole conception of the symphony. and America. During these tours he conducted such prestigious orches¬ Wandelt, Briider, eure Bahn, Brothers run your joyous race, His enunciation of the main theme is slow and very quiet: it is not bold tras as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Freudig wie ein Held zum Siegen. Hero like to conquest flying. and assertive in any sense. But as soon as the voices enter Beethoven's (where, after his successive 1925-26-27 appearances, he was offered — great vision is carried forward with matchless splendor and power. A but declined — a permanent podium) and his own Berlin Philharmonic. CHORUS mingled dionysiac energy and radiant tenderness informs this perfor¬ Maestro Felix Weingartner asked him to take over the Philhar¬ Freude, schoner Gotterfunken, Praise to Joy, the god-descended mance in a manner that does noble honor to a great occasion. monic in 1928, and the Bayreuth Festival welcomed him together with Tochter aus Elysium, Daughter of Elysium, Toscanini in 1931. In 1933 he was made musical director of the Berlin In this symphony, Furtwangler is the "romantic" conductor, but above Wir betreten feuertrunken, Ray of mirth and rapture blended, Opera. all, he reveals himself as a man of noble human stature, of great sen¬ Himmlische, dein Heiligtum, Goddess, to thy shrine we come. sitivity, and of rare dedication to music. He sought always to fulfill him¬ Although he remained in Germany and continued to conduct the Deine Zauber binden wieder By thy magic is united self and the composers to whom he devoted his talents. And here, in Berlin Philharmonic and other orchestras during the 1939-45 war years, Was die Mode streng geteilt, What stern Custom parted wide, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, is a towering monument to his personal the Allied Komandatura absolved Furtwangler of any Nazi sympathies at Alle Menschen werden Briider, All mankind are brothers plighted. odyssey and, in more than a manner of speaking, to the odyssey of man¬ the conclusion of the war. Shortly thereafter, he resumed his ardently Wo dein sanfter Fliigel weilt. Where thy gentle wings abide. nomadic existence: Salzburg, Lucerne, Milan, Paris, London, Rio de kind in our time. _ from an appreciation- by Burnett James Janeiro, Buenos Aires. CHORUS He finally made his home in Switzerland, composing and writing. He Seid umschlungen, Millionen! O ye millions, I embrace ye! succumbed to pneumonia at Baden-Baden on November 30, 1954, at the BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9 IN D MINOR, Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Here's a joyful kiss for all! age of 68, and his grave is to be found in Heidelberg. Briider— iiberm Sternenzelt Brothers—o'er yon starry span OP.125 ("CHORAL") Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. Sure there dwells a loving father. O ye millions, kneel before him. As an orchestral conductor, Wilhelm Furtwangler represented the em¬ Ihr stiirzt nieder, Millionen? Side One (17:44) World, dost feel thy Maker near? bodiment of the spirit of German Romanticism in music. This is the Ahnest du den Schopfer, Welt? /. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso Seek him o'er yon starry sphere, first, and perhaps the most important thing to remember about him Such ihn iiberm Sternenzelt! O'er the stars enthroned adore when we approach his interpretations. His nature was not simply ro¬ Uber Sternen muss er Side Two (11:55) him! mantic; it was German Romantic. Bruno Walter has been called a "Ro¬ wohnen! II. Molto vivace (Scherzo) mantic," just as Toscanini and Klemperer in their different ways have SOLOISTS AND CHORUS been called "classical" or "objective." But we cannot, however, simply Side Three (19:35) attach a label to a man and leave it at that. Romantic — certainly Furt¬ Seid umschlungen, Millionen! O ye millions, I embrace ye! III. Adagio molto e cantabile — Andante moderato wangler was that, no less than Walter. But to place a Furtwangler inter¬ Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Here's a joyful kiss for all! Praise to Joy the god-descended pretation beside one by Walter is to see at once how little a single Side Four (25:05)' Freude, schoner Gotterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium . . . Daughter of Elysium . . . word tells us about either. On the other hand, if we come to some un¬ IV. Presto — Allegro ma non troppo — Allegro assai — Presto — Allegro Wir betreten feuertrunken Ray of mirth and rapture blended, derstanding of the inner nature of German Romanticism as it manifested assai — Allegro assai vivace, Alla Marcia — Andante maestoso — Himmlische, dein Heiligtum. Goddess, to thy shrine we come. itself in literature and philosophy, as well as in music, we have some Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato — Allegro ma non tanto — hope of penetrating the subjective genius of Wilhelm Furtwangler. Simi¬ Ihr stiirzt nieder, Millionen? O ye millions, kneel before him, Poco Adagio — Prestissimo larly, with Bruno Walter we need to investigate the true meaning of Ahnest du den Schopfer, Welt? Worldy, dost feel thy Maker near? the Viennese tradition. Even this is a simplification; but it will serve as Complete on Two Discs Such ihn iiberm Sternenzelt! Seek him o'er yon starry sphere, a point of departure. Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. Sure there dwells a loving father. A Furtwangler performance was essentially spontaneous: he did not Recorded in the Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, on the reinauguration of the Natalia Macfarren's English translation reprinted by courtesy of believe in theories and systems of interpretation; the score was for him Bayreuth Festival in August, 7957, and published with permission of Wie- Novello and Co. Ltd. a kind of graph emitted by the creative personality of the composer, land and Wolfgang Wagner and Frau Elisabeth Furtwangler. 1 IB-1-6068

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor. Op. 125 ("Choral") I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso ORCHESTRA OF THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL 1951 WILHELM FURTWANGLER cond.

Recorded in Ger Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral") § II. Mol to vivace ORCHESTRA OF THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL 1951 WILHELM FURTWANGLER cond.

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor. Op. 125 ("Choral") . Presto - Allegro (Schiller's "Ode to Joy") SOLOISTS, CHORUS & ORCHESTRA OF THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL 1951 WILHELM FURTWANGLER cond.