111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 5

GREAT CONDUCTORS • WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER APPENDIX: The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 8.111004 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Incidental Music, Op. 61 Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826): Der Freischütz 7 Scherzo 4:51 Great Conductors • Furtwängler ADD 1 Overture 9:51 8 Nocturne* 7:17 2 Entr’acte* 3:21 9 Wedding March 4:43 Recorded in June, 1935 Recorded in 1929 Matrices: 542 1/2 GS, 543 1/2 GS, 544 GS and *545 3/4 GS Matrices: 972 1/2 bm, 973 bm, 974 bm and 975 bm First issued on Grammophon 67108 and 67109 First issued on Grammophon 66731 and *66850 The Early Recordings 3 WEBER (orch. BERLIOZ): Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 8:33 Orchestra • Erich Kleiber Recorded in December, 1932 Vol. 3 Matrices: 631 1/2 BE 1 and 632 BE 1 All recordings made in the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin First issued on Grammophon 67056

4 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture, Op. 21 12:46 WEBER Recorded on 13th June, 1929 Matrices: Matrix nos.: 857 Bi I, 858 Bi I and 859 B Der Freischütz, Overture First issued on Grammophon 66925 and 66926 Invitation to the Dance 5 MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides ‘Fingal’s Cave’ – Overture, Op.26 9:48 Recorded in 1930 Matrices: 1098 BI I and 1099 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95470 MENDELSSOHN Overtures BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 6 Hungarian March (“Rakoczy March”) 4:15 Recorded in 1930 BERLIOZ Matrix: 1101 1/2 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95411 Rakoczy March

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Wilhelm Furtwängler Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Special thanks to Richard A. Kaplan for providing source material for this release Wilhelm Furtwängler Historical Recordings 1929 - 1935 8.111004 5 8.111004 6 8.111136 1 111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 2

Great Conductors: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) christened the music. Invitation to the Dance is a piano organist born in Hamburg who became conductor of the rehearsals (legend has it that he scheduled 137 for demanding of precision and detail if no curtailment of original and is more usually heard in the orchestration Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was also a fine ). To complete the ‘usual’ Suite from esprit, whereas the Nocturne lingers and enjoys quite The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 • Weber • Mendelssohn • Berlioz by Hector Berlioz, as here, save that Berlioz’s use of a violinist and, in addition, embraced painting and Mendelssohn’s Shakespeare-inspired music are personal rubato that was surely troublesome for the Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler music presented here, by Berlioz, Mendelssohn and cello solo to begin and end the piece is supplemented by literature – hence his interest in Shakespeare – with Kleiber’s versions of the Scherzo, Nocturne and horn soloist to follow (but the musician in question was born in Berlin on 25th January 1886 and died in Weber, is a moot point. Certainly it is not an obvious cellos as a section. Maybe this was a nod on brilliance. Wedding March. Here one can appreciate how certainly shows mettle), and, finally, the celebrated Baden-Baden on 30th November 1954. His father was brotherhood, although this is, of course, the music that Furtwängler’s part to the recording process of the day to This release does not end here, for there is some influential a conductor can be – particularly revealing Wedding March, here rather stately (if sonorous) but an archaeologist and his mother a painter; such he recorded during this period and is indicative of ensure that the microphones properly captured the more of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer when the orchestra is the same and just a short time beautifully integrated across the whole. exploratory and creative qualities might be perceived in commercial edicts as well as his musical sympathies. cello-represented suitor’s entrée and envoi. Yet anyone Night’s Dream to be welcomed, recorded by the Berlin after Furtwängler had recorded Mendelssohn’s Furtwängler’s distinctive and personal brand of Furtwängler’s repertoire, however, was broader than familiar with Berlioz’s scoring will do an aural double- Philharmonic in the same year as Furtwängler had set Overture. The Scherzo is neat and unanimous, Kleiber Colin Anderson musicianship. Wilhelm Furtwängler’s musical might be supposed and includes him conducting the take and wonder (initially) if Furtwängler had opted for down the Overture. The conductor though is different education began at an early age (with his instrument premières of, for example, Hindemith’s Symphony Felix Weingartner’s version. Furtwängler’s conducting and also very significant: Erich Kleiber. Before a few being the piano) and was fuelled in particular by a love Mathis der Maler, in 1934, and Schoenberg’s masterly of Invitation is lovingly turned at the opening and close; words on Kleiber’s contribution to this collection, a of Beethoven’s music, which would develop into a if ‘newly complex’ Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, in in between, the dance measures are perhaps a little stiff short round-up of Furtwängler’s later years would lifetime’s engrossment for him. Although his 1928. Nor was Furtwängler a stranger to Bartók’s and kept on something of a leash (although there is include reference to the time of World War II and posthumous reputation is as a conductor of the Austro- music; in 1927 he had conducted the first performance certainly appreciation of Berlioz’s inimitable beyond that conflict. Furtwängler, because he remained German classics, kept alive through a relatively small of Piano Concerto No. 1 with the composer as the orchestration), yet when the excitement gets headier, in Germany (other prominent musicians went into official discography now swelled by many releases of soloist, and, over twenty years later, recorded Violin Furtwängler and his responsive Berliners are capable of exile), was branded a Nazi (or certainly a member of the exhumed concert-performances, Furtwängler was also a Concerto No. 2 with Yehudi Menuhin, and there exist pressing all the right buttons. Nazi Party). Although, post-war, he was cleared of such composer (and not the only composer-conductor to put concert-recordings of Furtwängler conducting Ravel From Berlioz the arranger to Berlioz the original associations, such a stigma dogged his career for quite the act of creation above that of re-creation: Boulez is, and Stravinsky. (and he was certainly the latter) and the Hungarian some time. (As mentioned earlier, Yehudi Menuhin – a and Klemperer was, of a similar mind). Furtwängler’s Beginning this selection of recordings made by (Rakoczy) March (track 6), which makes an early and Jew – worked with Furtwängler in the conductor’s last compositions include several pieces of expansive Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic between 1929 striking appearance in his Dramatic Legend, La years. Pre-war, though, he had refused to do so.) chamber music, a piano concerto, and three Bruckner- and 1935 is the overture to Weber’s opera Der damnation de Faust (which Furtwängler did conduct Furtwängler explained his actions thus: ‘I knew size symphonies. Freischütz, the composer’s ‘magic’ opera completed in complete), one of those stirring pieces that has long Germany was in a terrible crisis. I felt responsible for Indeed, Bruckner’s music was also a very important 1821 and first heard in Berlin that year and quickly been used as encore fodder. This Berlin account is German music, and it was my task to survive this crisis, part of Furtwängler’s repertoire (recordings, approved followed by productions in London (1824) and New nimble and athletic, remarkably ‘straight’ but thrilling as much as I could. The concern that my art was or otherwise, exist of Furtwängler conducting several of York (1825). Furtwängler had previously recorded this in its own right. misused for propaganda had to yield to the greater Bruckner’s symphonies). It was Bruckner’s Symphony overture in 1926 (Naxos 8.111003). The remake Beforehand (tracks 4 and 5) are two masterly concern that German music be preserved, that music be No. 9 that Furtwängler included in 1907 in his first smoulders with anticipation, a real theatrical prelude, examples of Felix Mendelssohn’s ability to paint given to the German people by its own musicians. concert, which was with the Munich Philharmonic and the quartet of horns heard during the slow pictures in sound, whether the remarkable portraiture to These people, the compatriots of Bach and Beethoven, Orchestra (owing to his father’s teaching commitments, introduction are both expressive and carefully graded. be found in the overture to A Midsummer Night’s of Mozart and Schubert, still had to go on living under Wilhelm had spent his childhood in this city). The main Allegro is feisty and restless (with Dream (a teenage example of Mendelssohn’s precocity, the control of a regime obsessed with total war. No one Furtwängler then received engagements with various Furtwängler, however carefully the route-map was he was but seventeen), here given with translucence, who did not live here himself in those days can possibly Producer’s Note Austrian and German orchestras and opera houses until, calculated the end result could be compelling in its delicacy and nobility, and a seeking of its inner judge what it was like.’ in 1922, he was appointed to the celebrated Leipzig seeming spontaneity) and with a sense of purpose and qualities, and one of his Scottish pieces, The Hebrides The Viennese-born Erich Kleiber (1890-1956), The sources for the current transfers were a set of “Full-Range”-era, American Columbia-pressed Brunswick- Gewandhaus Orchestra, in succession to the legendary yearning romanticism (enough to sustain the long, (Fingal’s Cave), the composer capturing with first-hand father of the extraordinary if enigmatic conductor Polydors for the Freischütz items; a mixture of a German Grammophon and a laminated American Brunswick for Arthur Nikisch, and also to the Berlin Philharmonic. suitably dramatic, pause before the coda) and which experience the mists, mysteriousness and tempest of the (1930-2004), although mention should the Weber Invitation; a French Polydor for Kleiber’s Mendelssohn Nocturne and German Grammophon or For all that Furtwängler would have success with the transcends the years since the recording was made. As a location, conjured in this Berlin account from 1930 be made of suggestions that was actually Polydor pressings for the remaining sides. Multiple copies were drawn upon to ensure the best reproduction, but and Freischütz ‘bonus’ is the Entr’acte that is rarely heard through vivid, even wild contrasts. 2009 marks the Carlos’s father, also had Berlin connections; he was some inevitable flaws remain (including a dropout in the original master at 2:37 in Track 4). (London), it is with the Berlin Philharmonic that outside of a complete performance of the opera. Horns bicentenary of Felix Mendelssohn’s birth (and also that music director of the Berlin from 1923 to In order to fill out the short programme, I chose to include some additional music from A Midsummer Night’s Furtwängler was and is most closely associated, and it is (in imitation of the hunting variety) are to the fore, the of ’s death). More properly it is 1934, the year when he resigned following artistic Dream, recorded shortly after the Overture was taken down, by Furtwängler’s contemporary (and fellow the Berliners that are heard on all the recordings on this whole an agreeably buoyant interlude given here with Mendelssohn Bartholdy – his father, Abraham, added interference by the Nazi Party. One of his most famous Grammophon/Polydor recording artist), Erich Kleiber, using the same ensemble. release. stealth, wit and enjoyment. Bartholdy to the family’s surname when he became a engagements was for the première of Berg’s opera How closely we associate Furtwängler with the For the next track we stay with Weber, but not as he Protestant Christian. Felix was a virtuoso pianist and Wozzeck. Kleiber senior was noted for his meticulous Mark Obert-Thorn 8.111004 2 8.111004 3 4 8.111004 111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 2

Great Conductors: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) christened the music. Invitation to the Dance is a piano organist born in Hamburg who became conductor of the rehearsals (legend has it that he scheduled 137 for demanding of precision and detail if no curtailment of original and is more usually heard in the orchestration Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was also a fine Wozzeck). To complete the ‘usual’ Suite from esprit, whereas the Nocturne lingers and enjoys quite The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 • Weber • Mendelssohn • Berlioz by Hector Berlioz, as here, save that Berlioz’s use of a violinist and, in addition, embraced painting and Mendelssohn’s Shakespeare-inspired music are personal rubato that was surely troublesome for the Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler music presented here, by Berlioz, Mendelssohn and cello solo to begin and end the piece is supplemented by literature – hence his interest in Shakespeare – with Kleiber’s versions of the Scherzo, Nocturne and horn soloist to follow (but the musician in question was born in Berlin on 25th January 1886 and died in Weber, is a moot point. Certainly it is not an obvious cellos as a section. Maybe this was a nod on brilliance. Wedding March. Here one can appreciate how certainly shows mettle), and, finally, the celebrated Baden-Baden on 30th November 1954. His father was brotherhood, although this is, of course, the music that Furtwängler’s part to the recording process of the day to This release does not end here, for there is some influential a conductor can be – particularly revealing Wedding March, here rather stately (if sonorous) but an archaeologist and his mother a painter; such he recorded during this period and is indicative of ensure that the microphones properly captured the more of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer when the orchestra is the same and just a short time beautifully integrated across the whole. exploratory and creative qualities might be perceived in commercial edicts as well as his musical sympathies. cello-represented suitor’s entrée and envoi. Yet anyone Night’s Dream to be welcomed, recorded by the Berlin after Furtwängler had recorded Mendelssohn’s Furtwängler’s distinctive and personal brand of Furtwängler’s repertoire, however, was broader than familiar with Berlioz’s scoring will do an aural double- Philharmonic in the same year as Furtwängler had set Overture. The Scherzo is neat and unanimous, Kleiber Colin Anderson musicianship. Wilhelm Furtwängler’s musical might be supposed and includes him conducting the take and wonder (initially) if Furtwängler had opted for down the Overture. The conductor though is different education began at an early age (with his instrument premières of, for example, Hindemith’s Symphony Felix Weingartner’s version. Furtwängler’s conducting and also very significant: Erich Kleiber. Before a few being the piano) and was fuelled in particular by a love Mathis der Maler, in 1934, and Schoenberg’s masterly of Invitation is lovingly turned at the opening and close; words on Kleiber’s contribution to this collection, a of Beethoven’s music, which would develop into a if ‘newly complex’ Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, in in between, the dance measures are perhaps a little stiff short round-up of Furtwängler’s later years would lifetime’s engrossment for him. Although his 1928. Nor was Furtwängler a stranger to Bartók’s and kept on something of a leash (although there is include reference to the time of World War II and posthumous reputation is as a conductor of the Austro- music; in 1927 he had conducted the first performance certainly appreciation of Berlioz’s inimitable beyond that conflict. Furtwängler, because he remained German classics, kept alive through a relatively small of Piano Concerto No. 1 with the composer as the orchestration), yet when the excitement gets headier, in Germany (other prominent musicians went into official discography now swelled by many releases of soloist, and, over twenty years later, recorded Violin Furtwängler and his responsive Berliners are capable of exile), was branded a Nazi (or certainly a member of the exhumed concert-performances, Furtwängler was also a Concerto No. 2 with Yehudi Menuhin, and there exist pressing all the right buttons. Nazi Party). Although, post-war, he was cleared of such composer (and not the only composer-conductor to put concert-recordings of Furtwängler conducting Ravel From Berlioz the arranger to Berlioz the original associations, such a stigma dogged his career for quite the act of creation above that of re-creation: Boulez is, and Stravinsky. (and he was certainly the latter) and the Hungarian some time. (As mentioned earlier, Yehudi Menuhin – a and Klemperer was, of a similar mind). Furtwängler’s Beginning this selection of recordings made by (Rakoczy) March (track 6), which makes an early and Jew – worked with Furtwängler in the conductor’s last compositions include several pieces of expansive Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic between 1929 striking appearance in his Dramatic Legend, La years. Pre-war, though, he had refused to do so.) chamber music, a piano concerto, and three Bruckner- and 1935 is the overture to Weber’s opera Der damnation de Faust (which Furtwängler did conduct Furtwängler explained his actions thus: ‘I knew size symphonies. Freischütz, the composer’s ‘magic’ opera completed in complete), one of those stirring pieces that has long Germany was in a terrible crisis. I felt responsible for Indeed, Bruckner’s music was also a very important 1821 and first heard in Berlin that year and quickly been used as encore fodder. This Berlin account is German music, and it was my task to survive this crisis, part of Furtwängler’s repertoire (recordings, approved followed by productions in London (1824) and New nimble and athletic, remarkably ‘straight’ but thrilling as much as I could. The concern that my art was or otherwise, exist of Furtwängler conducting several of York (1825). Furtwängler had previously recorded this in its own right. misused for propaganda had to yield to the greater Bruckner’s symphonies). It was Bruckner’s Symphony overture in 1926 (Naxos 8.111003). The remake Beforehand (tracks 4 and 5) are two masterly concern that German music be preserved, that music be No. 9 that Furtwängler included in 1907 in his first smoulders with anticipation, a real theatrical prelude, examples of Felix Mendelssohn’s ability to paint given to the German people by its own musicians. concert, which was with the Munich Philharmonic and the quartet of horns heard during the slow pictures in sound, whether the remarkable portraiture to These people, the compatriots of Bach and Beethoven, Orchestra (owing to his father’s teaching commitments, introduction are both expressive and carefully graded. be found in the overture to A Midsummer Night’s of Mozart and Schubert, still had to go on living under Wilhelm had spent his childhood in this city). The main Allegro is feisty and restless (with Dream (a teenage example of Mendelssohn’s precocity, the control of a regime obsessed with total war. No one Furtwängler then received engagements with various Furtwängler, however carefully the route-map was he was but seventeen), here given with translucence, who did not live here himself in those days can possibly Producer’s Note Austrian and German orchestras and opera houses until, calculated the end result could be compelling in its delicacy and nobility, and a seeking of its inner judge what it was like.’ in 1922, he was appointed to the celebrated Leipzig seeming spontaneity) and with a sense of purpose and qualities, and one of his Scottish pieces, The Hebrides The Viennese-born Erich Kleiber (1890-1956), The sources for the current transfers were a set of “Full-Range”-era, American Columbia-pressed Brunswick- Gewandhaus Orchestra, in succession to the legendary yearning romanticism (enough to sustain the long, (Fingal’s Cave), the composer capturing with first-hand father of the extraordinary if enigmatic conductor Polydors for the Freischütz items; a mixture of a German Grammophon and a laminated American Brunswick for Arthur Nikisch, and also to the Berlin Philharmonic. suitably dramatic, pause before the coda) and which experience the mists, mysteriousness and tempest of the Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004), although mention should the Weber Invitation; a French Polydor for Kleiber’s Mendelssohn Nocturne and German Grammophon or For all that Furtwängler would have success with the transcends the years since the recording was made. As a location, conjured in this Berlin account from 1930 be made of suggestions that Alban Berg was actually Polydor pressings for the remaining sides. Multiple copies were drawn upon to ensure the best reproduction, but Vienna Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestra Freischütz ‘bonus’ is the Entr’acte that is rarely heard through vivid, even wild contrasts. 2009 marks the Carlos’s father, also had Berlin connections; he was some inevitable flaws remain (including a dropout in the original master at 2:37 in Track 4). (London), it is with the Berlin Philharmonic that outside of a complete performance of the opera. Horns bicentenary of Felix Mendelssohn’s birth (and also that music director of the from 1923 to In order to fill out the short programme, I chose to include some additional music from A Midsummer Night’s Furtwängler was and is most closely associated, and it is (in imitation of the hunting variety) are to the fore, the of Joseph Haydn’s death). More properly it is 1934, the year when he resigned following artistic Dream, recorded shortly after the Overture was taken down, by Furtwängler’s contemporary (and fellow the Berliners that are heard on all the recordings on this whole an agreeably buoyant interlude given here with Mendelssohn Bartholdy – his father, Abraham, added interference by the Nazi Party. One of his most famous Grammophon/Polydor recording artist), Erich Kleiber, using the same ensemble. release. stealth, wit and enjoyment. Bartholdy to the family’s surname when he became a engagements was for the première of Berg’s opera How closely we associate Furtwängler with the For the next track we stay with Weber, but not as he Protestant Christian. Felix was a virtuoso pianist and Wozzeck. Kleiber senior was noted for his meticulous Mark Obert-Thorn 8.111004 2 8.111004 3 4 8.111004 111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 2

Great Conductors: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) christened the music. Invitation to the Dance is a piano organist born in Hamburg who became conductor of the rehearsals (legend has it that he scheduled 137 for demanding of precision and detail if no curtailment of original and is more usually heard in the orchestration Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was also a fine Wozzeck). To complete the ‘usual’ Suite from esprit, whereas the Nocturne lingers and enjoys quite The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 • Weber • Mendelssohn • Berlioz by Hector Berlioz, as here, save that Berlioz’s use of a violinist and, in addition, embraced painting and Mendelssohn’s Shakespeare-inspired music are personal rubato that was surely troublesome for the Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler music presented here, by Berlioz, Mendelssohn and cello solo to begin and end the piece is supplemented by literature – hence his interest in Shakespeare – with Kleiber’s versions of the Scherzo, Nocturne and horn soloist to follow (but the musician in question was born in Berlin on 25th January 1886 and died in Weber, is a moot point. Certainly it is not an obvious cellos as a section. Maybe this was a nod on brilliance. Wedding March. Here one can appreciate how certainly shows mettle), and, finally, the celebrated Baden-Baden on 30th November 1954. His father was brotherhood, although this is, of course, the music that Furtwängler’s part to the recording process of the day to This release does not end here, for there is some influential a conductor can be – particularly revealing Wedding March, here rather stately (if sonorous) but an archaeologist and his mother a painter; such he recorded during this period and is indicative of ensure that the microphones properly captured the more of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer when the orchestra is the same and just a short time beautifully integrated across the whole. exploratory and creative qualities might be perceived in commercial edicts as well as his musical sympathies. cello-represented suitor’s entrée and envoi. Yet anyone Night’s Dream to be welcomed, recorded by the Berlin after Furtwängler had recorded Mendelssohn’s Furtwängler’s distinctive and personal brand of Furtwängler’s repertoire, however, was broader than familiar with Berlioz’s scoring will do an aural double- Philharmonic in the same year as Furtwängler had set Overture. The Scherzo is neat and unanimous, Kleiber Colin Anderson musicianship. Wilhelm Furtwängler’s musical might be supposed and includes him conducting the take and wonder (initially) if Furtwängler had opted for down the Overture. The conductor though is different education began at an early age (with his instrument premières of, for example, Hindemith’s Symphony Felix Weingartner’s version. Furtwängler’s conducting and also very significant: Erich Kleiber. Before a few being the piano) and was fuelled in particular by a love Mathis der Maler, in 1934, and Schoenberg’s masterly of Invitation is lovingly turned at the opening and close; words on Kleiber’s contribution to this collection, a of Beethoven’s music, which would develop into a if ‘newly complex’ Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, in in between, the dance measures are perhaps a little stiff short round-up of Furtwängler’s later years would lifetime’s engrossment for him. Although his 1928. Nor was Furtwängler a stranger to Bartók’s and kept on something of a leash (although there is include reference to the time of World War II and posthumous reputation is as a conductor of the Austro- music; in 1927 he had conducted the first performance certainly appreciation of Berlioz’s inimitable beyond that conflict. Furtwängler, because he remained German classics, kept alive through a relatively small of Piano Concerto No. 1 with the composer as the orchestration), yet when the excitement gets headier, in Germany (other prominent musicians went into official discography now swelled by many releases of soloist, and, over twenty years later, recorded Violin Furtwängler and his responsive Berliners are capable of exile), was branded a Nazi (or certainly a member of the exhumed concert-performances, Furtwängler was also a Concerto No. 2 with Yehudi Menuhin, and there exist pressing all the right buttons. Nazi Party). Although, post-war, he was cleared of such composer (and not the only composer-conductor to put concert-recordings of Furtwängler conducting Ravel From Berlioz the arranger to Berlioz the original associations, such a stigma dogged his career for quite the act of creation above that of re-creation: Boulez is, and Stravinsky. (and he was certainly the latter) and the Hungarian some time. (As mentioned earlier, Yehudi Menuhin – a and Klemperer was, of a similar mind). Furtwängler’s Beginning this selection of recordings made by (Rakoczy) March (track 6), which makes an early and Jew – worked with Furtwängler in the conductor’s last compositions include several pieces of expansive Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic between 1929 striking appearance in his Dramatic Legend, La years. Pre-war, though, he had refused to do so.) chamber music, a piano concerto, and three Bruckner- and 1935 is the overture to Weber’s opera Der damnation de Faust (which Furtwängler did conduct Furtwängler explained his actions thus: ‘I knew size symphonies. Freischütz, the composer’s ‘magic’ opera completed in complete), one of those stirring pieces that has long Germany was in a terrible crisis. I felt responsible for Indeed, Bruckner’s music was also a very important 1821 and first heard in Berlin that year and quickly been used as encore fodder. This Berlin account is German music, and it was my task to survive this crisis, part of Furtwängler’s repertoire (recordings, approved followed by productions in London (1824) and New nimble and athletic, remarkably ‘straight’ but thrilling as much as I could. The concern that my art was or otherwise, exist of Furtwängler conducting several of York (1825). Furtwängler had previously recorded this in its own right. misused for propaganda had to yield to the greater Bruckner’s symphonies). It was Bruckner’s Symphony overture in 1926 (Naxos 8.111003). The remake Beforehand (tracks 4 and 5) are two masterly concern that German music be preserved, that music be No. 9 that Furtwängler included in 1907 in his first smoulders with anticipation, a real theatrical prelude, examples of Felix Mendelssohn’s ability to paint given to the German people by its own musicians. concert, which was with the Munich Philharmonic and the quartet of horns heard during the slow pictures in sound, whether the remarkable portraiture to These people, the compatriots of Bach and Beethoven, Orchestra (owing to his father’s teaching commitments, introduction are both expressive and carefully graded. be found in the overture to A Midsummer Night’s of Mozart and Schubert, still had to go on living under Wilhelm had spent his childhood in this city). The main Allegro is feisty and restless (with Dream (a teenage example of Mendelssohn’s precocity, the control of a regime obsessed with total war. No one Furtwängler then received engagements with various Furtwängler, however carefully the route-map was he was but seventeen), here given with translucence, who did not live here himself in those days can possibly Producer’s Note Austrian and German orchestras and opera houses until, calculated the end result could be compelling in its delicacy and nobility, and a seeking of its inner judge what it was like.’ in 1922, he was appointed to the celebrated Leipzig seeming spontaneity) and with a sense of purpose and qualities, and one of his Scottish pieces, The Hebrides The Viennese-born Erich Kleiber (1890-1956), The sources for the current transfers were a set of “Full-Range”-era, American Columbia-pressed Brunswick- Gewandhaus Orchestra, in succession to the legendary yearning romanticism (enough to sustain the long, (Fingal’s Cave), the composer capturing with first-hand father of the extraordinary if enigmatic conductor Polydors for the Freischütz items; a mixture of a German Grammophon and a laminated American Brunswick for Arthur Nikisch, and also to the Berlin Philharmonic. suitably dramatic, pause before the coda) and which experience the mists, mysteriousness and tempest of the Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004), although mention should the Weber Invitation; a French Polydor for Kleiber’s Mendelssohn Nocturne and German Grammophon or For all that Furtwängler would have success with the transcends the years since the recording was made. As a location, conjured in this Berlin account from 1930 be made of suggestions that Alban Berg was actually Polydor pressings for the remaining sides. Multiple copies were drawn upon to ensure the best reproduction, but Vienna Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestra Freischütz ‘bonus’ is the Entr’acte that is rarely heard through vivid, even wild contrasts. 2009 marks the Carlos’s father, also had Berlin connections; he was some inevitable flaws remain (including a dropout in the original master at 2:37 in Track 4). (London), it is with the Berlin Philharmonic that outside of a complete performance of the opera. Horns bicentenary of Felix Mendelssohn’s birth (and also that music director of the Berlin State Opera from 1923 to In order to fill out the short programme, I chose to include some additional music from A Midsummer Night’s Furtwängler was and is most closely associated, and it is (in imitation of the hunting variety) are to the fore, the of Joseph Haydn’s death). More properly it is 1934, the year when he resigned following artistic Dream, recorded shortly after the Overture was taken down, by Furtwängler’s contemporary (and fellow the Berliners that are heard on all the recordings on this whole an agreeably buoyant interlude given here with Mendelssohn Bartholdy – his father, Abraham, added interference by the Nazi Party. One of his most famous Grammophon/Polydor recording artist), Erich Kleiber, using the same ensemble. release. stealth, wit and enjoyment. Bartholdy to the family’s surname when he became a engagements was for the première of Berg’s opera How closely we associate Furtwängler with the For the next track we stay with Weber, but not as he Protestant Christian. Felix was a virtuoso pianist and Wozzeck. Kleiber senior was noted for his meticulous Mark Obert-Thorn 8.111004 2 8.111004 3 4 8.111004 111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 5

GREAT CONDUCTORS • WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER APPENDIX: The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 8.111004 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Incidental Music, Op. 61 Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826): Der Freischütz 7 Scherzo 4:51 Great Conductors • Furtwängler ADD 1 Overture 9:51 8 Nocturne* 7:17 2 Entr’acte* 3:21 9 Wedding March 4:43 Recorded in June, 1935 Recorded in 1929 Matrices: 542 1/2 GS, 543 1/2 GS, 544 GS and *545 3/4 GS Matrices: 972 1/2 bm, 973 bm, 974 bm and 975 bm First issued on Grammophon 67108 and 67109 First issued on Grammophon 66731 and *66850 The Early Recordings 3 WEBER (orch. BERLIOZ): Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 8:33 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Erich Kleiber Recorded in December, 1932 Vol. 3 Matrices: 631 1/2 BE 1 and 632 BE 1 All recordings made in the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin First issued on Grammophon 67056

4 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture, Op. 21 12:46 WEBER Recorded on 13th June, 1929 Matrices: Matrix nos.: 857 Bi I, 858 Bi I and 859 B Der Freischütz, Overture First issued on Grammophon 66925 and 66926 Invitation to the Dance 5 MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides ‘Fingal’s Cave’ – Overture, Op.26 9:48 Recorded in 1930 Matrices: 1098 BI I and 1099 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95470 MENDELSSOHN Overtures BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 6 Hungarian March (“Rakoczy March”) 4:15 Recorded in 1930 BERLIOZ Matrix: 1101 1/2 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95411 Rakoczy March

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Wilhelm Furtwängler Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Special thanks to Richard A. Kaplan for providing source material for this release Wilhelm Furtwängler Historical Recordings 1929 - 1935 8.111004 5 8.111004 6 8.111136 1 111004 bk FurtwanglerEarly03.qxd 1/29/09 1:52 PM Page 5

GREAT CONDUCTORS • WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER APPENDIX: The Early Recordings, Vol. 3 8.111004 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Incidental Music, Op. 61 Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826): Der Freischütz 7 Scherzo 4:51 Great Conductors • Furtwängler ADD 1 Overture 9:51 8 Nocturne* 7:17 2 Entr’acte* 3:21 9 Wedding March 4:43 Recorded in June, 1935 Recorded in 1929 Matrices: 542 1/2 GS, 543 1/2 GS, 544 GS and *545 3/4 GS Matrices: 972 1/2 bm, 973 bm, 974 bm and 975 bm First issued on Grammophon 67108 and 67109 First issued on Grammophon 66731 and *66850 The Early Recordings 3 WEBER (orch. BERLIOZ): Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 8:33 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Erich Kleiber Recorded in December, 1932 Vol. 3 Matrices: 631 1/2 BE 1 and 632 BE 1 All recordings made in the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin First issued on Grammophon 67056

4 MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture, Op. 21 12:46 WEBER Recorded on 13th June, 1929 Matrices: Matrix nos.: 857 Bi I, 858 Bi I and 859 B Der Freischütz, Overture First issued on Grammophon 66925 and 66926 Invitation to the Dance 5 MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides ‘Fingal’s Cave’ – Overture, Op.26 9:48 Recorded in 1930 Matrices: 1098 BI I and 1099 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95470 MENDELSSOHN Overtures BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 6 Hungarian March (“Rakoczy March”) 4:15 Recorded in 1930 BERLIOZ Matrix: 1101 1/2 BI I First issued on Grammophon 95411 Rakoczy March

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Wilhelm Furtwängler Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Special thanks to Richard A. Kaplan for providing source material for this release Wilhelm Furtwängler Historical Recordings 1929 - 1935 8.111004 5 8.111004 6 8.111136 1 NAXOS Historical 8.111004 C Carl Maria von Weber Playing M

ADD Time Y Felix Mendelssohn • Hector Berlioz K

8.111004 65:26 broadcasting and copying of this compact disc prohibited. translations reserved. Unauthorised public performance, All rights in this sound recording, artwork, texts and

& Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

2009 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Made in Germany Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954)

WEBER: Der Freischütz Volume 3 of The Early Recordings 1 Overture 9:51 is a welcome reminder that 2 Entr’acte 3:21 Furtwängler’s musical sympathies Recorded in June, 1935 FURTWÄNGLER: went beyond Beethoven, Brahms, 3 WEBER (orch. BERLIOZ): Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 8:33 Bruckner and Wagner, the Recorded in December, 1932 composers with whom he is most 4 MENDELSSOHN: closely associated. The remake of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture, Op. 21 12:46 the overture to Weber’s Der Recorded on 13th June, 1929 Freischütz (Furtwängler’s 1926 The Early Recordings • 3 5 MENDELSSOHN: recording is available on Naxos The Hebrides ‘Fingal’s Cave’ – Overture, Op.26 9:48 8.111003) smoulders with

Recorded in 1930 anticipation, a real theatrical The Early Recordings • 3 6 BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 prelude. Invitation to the Dance is Hungarian March (‘Rakoczy March’) 4:15 lovingly turned at the opening and Recorded in 1930 close, with plenty of heady Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Wilhelm Furtwängler excitement in between. Berlioz’s Hungarian (Rakoczy) March is MENDELSSOHN: nimble and athletic, remarkably FURTWÄNGLER: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Incidental Music, Op. 61 7 Scherzo 4:51 ‘straight’ but thrilling in its own 8 Nocturne 7:17 right. The account of the Overture 9 Wedding March 4:43 to Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Recorded in 1929 MADE IN Night’s Dream is notable for its GERMANY Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Erich Kleiber translucent delicacy.

Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn Special thanks to Richard A. Kaplan 8.111004 www.naxos.com Cover Photograph: Wilhelm Furtwängler, circa 1930 NAXOS Historical NAXOS (Private collection)