What a performance. Never heard the Brahms 4th Symphony played like this. Truly remarkable. Furtwangler was the greatest of conductors, in that he had by some method by where he had a metaphysical connection with the actual music of Brahms. This relationship with the composers music was then imparted to the orchestra by Furtwangler producing a monumental performance
And that means occult, which is demonic. That's the spirit of this fallen world including all of its art, indeed. But I know, in some cases it's really impressive and great.
Thank you Francis for this post. It says something about the British that 3 years after the most awful conflict, we were prepared to invite this cultural icon of our erstwhile enemy to our homeland to show how great art is made.
@@brucevannote5002 I'm familiar (I think I have about 40 different recordings of the Brahms 4). Walter's is okay, but IMO nothing particularly outstanding. It seems almost too *polite,* with underwhelming (to me, anyway) brass and what seems like a thin string section. Then again, I have never much cared for the Columbia Symphony's sonics, something about the recording studio sounds a bit dead. And I vastly prefer Furtwangler's tempi, especially in the finale. Walter's drags a bit there. But where Furtwangler's really wins is how he brings out every layer and voice in the orchestra so well, making a luscious "fat" sound" while still having a brisk pace. He gets an unparalleled fullness without being *too* thick. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he always got that kind of sound from whatever orchestra he was leading.
watching this video I realize that the precision of this movements and his absolute control - unlike what most people think- is what made his conducting so great. watch as his left hand follows every note of a phrase, dictating exactly the phrasing and the dynamics, being as minimal as klemperer or celibidache while at the same time being as dynamic as toscanini or as richly expressive as stokowski. his conducting
I've heard or watched many, many performances of the 4th over the last 50 years, and none of them conveys as much pure forward-reaching excitement, passion and formal understanding as this one. If this was a rehearsal, what must have been the actual performance like?
one of the most incredible and important pieces of classical music histroy. What a recording, what a speed, what a moment, insanity of Brahms truefully painted by Furtwangler. Can't stop looking at it.
The breadth and depth of the great, German conductor ... with a most-responsive Orchestra. IMO, the camera work is VERY fine, as it shows the Orch., and Wilhelm F, as the latter enunciates/leads the Orch., in a most-propulsive way, towards one of the GREATEST finishes, to this great Symphony.
Моё любимое Божество!!!!! BRAVO!!! Постоянно переслушиваю эту репетицию и слёзы сами наворачиваются от красоты и мощи. Какое счастье, что Бог подарил нам такого гения!
If that's his idea of a rehearsal....imagine the Concert. .. Perfect phrasing, great power to the point of being ominous, forward movement unstoppable as a high speed train, complete control and communion with orchestra, great example of the power of the human spirit
The vastness of his conception, his vision of entire work as a single entity, and his ability to bring it forth, while letting the details shine through.....
Me too I've been watching this for years. Small tip if you like this .. I can recommend the Music & Arts 4941 CD set (furtwangler best brahms versions of all four symphonies). Just discovered the Jan-45 version of the adagio of the First on there .. quite unbelievable.
I'm not a fan of Furtwangler but this is absolutely scintillating. I've never heard something as angry and passionate as this. I haven't been able to stop listening to this for the past week. It sounds like he's using his baton to fire cannons and I hear smoke. Simply extraordinary!
Einmalig. Was fuer ein grosser Dirigent. Mein Vater spielte das erste Fagott ! Er war, von den fuenfzigern an einer der bedeutensten Fagottisten in Deutschland und spielte auf einem Heckel Fagott fuer 60 Jahre ! Viele Schallplattenaufnahmen mit beruehmten Saengern und Musikern folgten und Konzerte mit Karl Richter auf der ganzen Welt. Bin sehr stolz auf Dich ! Ich vermisse Dich !
Mein Gott, da bist Du ja durch Deinen bedeutenden Vater ganz nah dran am größten nachschaffenden Musiker aller Zeiten! Was hat er denn über Furtwängler gesagt?
I went to search other conductors' performance in this final part of movement 4, including Barenboim, Haitink, Bernstein, Ozawa, Karajan, Kleiber....I still find Furtwangler's version is the best. Ferocious, powerful, wild, intensive, impressive, fantastic....it is the best interpretation of Brahms's mind and spirit in his works (full of german's passion and proud for thier musical culture ). I agree with some comments that no one has done such astonishing performance like Furtwangler~. The orchestra was just like a group of uncontrollable horses..violently run very fast on a rubble road but can maintain their elegance and persistence till the end. After watching this video, I can realize why he chose to stay a country controlled by Hitler. He just wanted to protect the culture, spirit, and nature inherited by german musicians. Even he was condemed by some people or jews for not leaving the third reich, I think his strong passion about classical music made him still become one of the best conductor in the world. No wonder that Maria Callas said that he was Beethoven....In this short video, he was also Brahms.
Maravilloso material, pese a la época muy buena grabación, es grandioso que hoy podamos admirar de las maravillas de ese tiempo como lo fue Furtwangler. ¡ Danke schÖn!. :)
I have never heard the Brahms 4th symphony could be played very strong, powerful, and beautiful...Hope I could buy a ticket at that time to enjoy his music....
He is an incredible conductor, just like my band teacher said. I mean, the emotion in this song goes from extreme sadness to complete joy. It's just amazing.
You may disagree with any, some or many of the particular interpretive detail of this performance, but in the end it is the overwhelming, the ferocious intensity of the playing that sweeps all before it. Brahm's raging heroic fatalism is conveyed to the absolute max. After hearing this, all other interpretations seem trite and cowardly.
I alwyays felt that Wagner+Brahms complete each other in achieving the quintessential summary and summit of Western classical music. After Wagner and Brahms, for me there is just experimentation, sometimes very interesting, but without enduring results.
@@LtAld0Raine Absolutely. Two teleological sides of the same coin. Time has made them far more similar than they were ever different. The great equalizer.
Completely differents in any levels, sorry but read Nietzsche true vision of Wagner tyrannical music when Brahms could let you follow your dreams inside his music.
@@TheOneAndOnlyZelenkaGuru Young Nieztche at first wanted to be musician, wrote with a quite good level few pieces and his compositions are published still now. The real ignorants are so often pretentious too.
Furwängler - the greatest conductor of all times! He creates music during the concert. Every concert is like the birth and creation of the music. His body is showing the musical ideas and not the beat.
""Well", she sighed, "you see what we have been reduced to. We are now in a time when a Szell is considered a master. How small he was next to Furtwängler." Reeling this disbelief - not at her verdict, with which I agreed, but from the unvarnished acuteness of it - I stammered, "But how do you know Furtwängler? You never sang with him." "How do you think?" she stared at me. "He started his career after the war in Italy. I heard dozens of his concerts there. To me, he was Beethoven."
PS2 Note also that Carlos Kleiber, when he was very young, went with his friend to the Scala in Milan to attend Furtwângler's concerts and that they were extremely impressed by the old maestro.
Furtwängler conducted Brahms' 4th with unrivalled passion. The Passacaglia (shown in this video) is simply devastating. As Brahms wrote: "Allegro energico e passionato". The Berliners soar to the heavens. The players' commitment can be seen physically (the string section is a marvel to watch). No wonder that when Karajan for the first time heard Furtwängler conduct the Berliners he promised to himself that one day he would have that orchestra. Best thanks for this video.
I don't know if people can imagine this, it's hard, but imagine this in glorious High Definition with Super Audio sound! Then we would truly hear what this would have sounded like. But....just LISTEN TO THAT!!!
That Furtwangler and the BPO "owned" this symphony after both profoundly imbued entities had the wealth of experience with this great art those many years...no doubt! I think, however, it's less about having "the balls" re: alert, driven pulse as the moments require to speak Brahms powerfully and persuasively, and perhaps more about the performing tradition of the last three decades, say. Daniel Harding, a wonderful exponent of the master, has in relatively recent past had the nerve to take this last movement, especially, at it's most cogent tempo.
Thanks John. I was honorary member but that was before Leduc became president and have not received newsletter for quite sometime. Then we have one in Berlin (dont do much) and a really active one in Japan.Why has the American Society been relinquished? There are so many fans, as I gather from comments on youtube
Einfach einmalig.Von 1948 ! Am ende dieses Filmes, hinter dem Flutisten, erkenne ich meinen Vater ( geboren 1914 ), der nach dem Kriege eine der bedeutensten Fagottisten war. Er war dreieinhalb Jahre in Gefangenschaft, bis 1948 , wo man 1,8 Millionen Deutsche verhungern liss. Er war gerade nach Berlin zuruckgekommen.
@amfortas1978 He'd been conducting the BPO for 25 years, so, they had a lot of experience with Brahms. He knew what he could get from the orchestra and they knew what he was after.
When I first viewed this performance in "The Art of Conducting" video, I thought it was the finest performance of the finale of Brahms' 4th ever. But now, I hear some passages which sound jumbled, although others are still the finest. I suppose that the reason for this is obvious. Can you follow his beat? He appears to be a marionette dangling his arms about. Still, go to the video of F. rehearsing Schubert's "Unfinished," and you'll see what a perfectionist he was.
He sped up at a crucial point and it took a bar or two to come back together. I thought the beat was clear at the beginning, and that establishes tempo.
Thank you! I wish the makers of The Art of Conducting had used this instead of the British newsreel which has a voice over on this very same rehersal that nearly drowns out the music.
They really do what composer says. This is ALLEGRO, this is ENERGICO, this is PASSIONATO. Don't know why, but many modern Brahms performances lack this dimension of agitation. It's all too clean and elegant.
The Conducting technique of Mr Furtwangler was very clear for the people who can understand it.Some of the detructors should go over political issues and accept like the mayority of great musicians like Menuhim,Abaddo,Baremboim,Celibidache, that he was not just a great conductor but somebody who could interpret and create with the orchestra as a genius.
I totally agree with you about the great names of conducting. Furt left a great liberty to his musicians. where does this precious Furt footage originate from? I would like to purchase the whole master. Regards
A great musician like Furtwangler performs in this way, such as a delight and merry child. Yes, Furtwangler seems as if he were a child, very enormously great child.He is the “Artist“.
Someone once told the great music essayist Neville Cardus "I just can't follow Furtwängler's gestures". Cardus's reply: "Neither do I, but the Berliners surely do".
True artist like Furtwangler comes once in a life time, few and far in between. I feel as if it was Brahms conducting himself. No other conductor can get closer to the composer's mind than Furtwangler.
Curiously enough, Brahms and Wagner were rivals, at least in the artistic way. Actually some other excerpts from Brahms' symphonies have just a little bit of a Wagnerian touch, I think.
PS I have written a very long article on wikipedia with a part about the "siritual dimension" in Furtwângler's art where you can find quotations from these musicians. But it is wikipedia in french. If you have similar quotations from great musicians (not journalists or critics) about Kleiber I will be very interested in reading them.
Yeah...the doublebass bowing is underarm (continental) not as in England. It was however the position of this section that worried me, I thought that in the 40s, the Basses of the BPO were set behind the 1st violins. Does Fürt really need to rehearse Brahms with this orchestra???
John Ardoin has reported the following discussion he has had with Maria Callas in August 1968 after having listened to Beethoven's Eight with the Cleveland orchestra conducted by George Szell:
Curious what your thoughts on Szell are. Coincidentally, I thought Szell's Beethoven 8 was the finest 8 I have ever heard, particularly the 3rd movement.
from 0:00 to 0:03 Wilhem Furtwrangler just like :"quiet! you fools! we are RECORDING!! and pay attention to the music." ( the way he waves the hands , I just burst out laughing)
Thanks, Edwin. Well, Dade Thieriot was the head of the American, Furtwangler Society. Dade decided to let-go of the American form, a year or so, ago. ... Well, your grandfather was one of best of all, in his ways of improvisatory-type conducting, while continuing to HEW to the wishes and tempos, and ways, of a composer, in the latter's structures, inspirations and elements. Furtwangler was one of the BEST exemplars of how classical music could be presented. ... Talk with you later.
Brahms draws the map, Furtwängler shows us the door by turning the finale into a musical apocalypse, i would have loved visiting a performance by Furtwängler but i m too young!
You are right. I think Furtwangler made the musicians to play "in state of Grace". He himself was probably in extasis most of the time on stage, I guess...
What a performance. Never heard the Brahms 4th Symphony played like this. Truly remarkable. Furtwangler was the greatest of conductors, in that he had by some method by where he had a metaphysical connection with the actual music of Brahms. This relationship with the composers music was then imparted to the orchestra by Furtwangler producing a monumental performance
Yes, a magician
And that means occult, which is demonic. That's the spirit of this fallen world including all of its art, indeed.
But I know, in some cases it's really impressive and great.
this clip never gets old, been re-watching it for years.
me too
I first saw this clip 10 years ago, watched it repeatedly, then managed to forget it for a few years. It's good to be back.
exactly the same feeling... since 25 years ... I am 41 now ;)
Ik ook
@ I will end like you. I think I was 16 when I found this video
this footage of furtwangler has me in tears every time I see it
and I've seen it like 100 times
Thank you Francis for this post. It says something about the British that 3 years after the most awful conflict, we were prepared to invite this cultural icon of our erstwhile enemy to our homeland to show how great art is made.
Thank you for posting this! Though this rehearsal is in London, I believe it is the Berlin Philharmonic that is playing. Incredible performance.
Fantastic. My favorite interpreter of the Brahms 4th. Could the finale ever be so powerful with another? I doubt it.
Try Stokowski
@@detectivehome3318 I have, thanks. My comment stands. :)
Try Carlos Kleiber in 1994 with BPO and H. v. Karajan in 1988 with BPO.
Try Walter in 1960
@@brucevannote5002 I'm familiar (I think I have about 40 different recordings of the Brahms 4). Walter's is okay, but IMO nothing particularly outstanding. It seems almost too *polite,* with underwhelming (to me, anyway) brass and what seems like a thin string section. Then again, I have never much cared for the Columbia Symphony's sonics, something about the recording studio sounds a bit dead. And I vastly prefer Furtwangler's tempi, especially in the finale. Walter's drags a bit there.
But where Furtwangler's really wins is how he brings out every layer and voice in the orchestra so well, making a luscious "fat" sound" while still having a brisk pace. He gets an unparalleled fullness without being *too* thick. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he always got that kind of sound from whatever orchestra he was leading.
I love the footage of Furtwangler. His unconventional conducting style is well described and is one of his trademarks.
I am really glad to meet so many Furtwangler's Fans through RUclips.
This is incredible you'll never hear anything like this again from these journey man conductors we have now
He's not playing the notes, he's "channeling" spirit of the music.
watching this video I realize that the precision of this movements and his absolute control - unlike what most people think- is what made his conducting so great. watch as his left hand follows every note of a phrase, dictating exactly the phrasing and the dynamics, being as minimal as klemperer or celibidache while at the same time being as dynamic as toscanini or as richly expressive as stokowski. his conducting
I've heard or watched many, many performances of the 4th over the last 50 years, and none of them conveys as much pure forward-reaching excitement, passion and formal understanding as this one. If this was a rehearsal, what must have been the actual performance like?
one of the most incredible and important pieces of classical music histroy. What a recording, what a speed, what a moment, insanity of Brahms truefully painted by Furtwangler. Can't stop looking at it.
Hooked on Furtwängler. Anything conducted by him always mesmerising!
The breadth and depth of the great, German conductor ... with a most-responsive Orchestra. IMO, the camera work is VERY fine, as it shows the Orch., and Wilhelm F, as the latter enunciates/leads the Orch., in a most-propulsive way, towards one of the GREATEST finishes, to this great Symphony.
Моё любимое Божество!!!!! BRAVO!!! Постоянно переслушиваю эту репетицию и слёзы сами наворачиваются от красоты и мощи. Какое счастье, что Бог подарил нам такого гения!
If that's his idea of a rehearsal....imagine the Concert. .. Perfect phrasing, great power to the point of being ominous, forward movement unstoppable as a high speed train, complete control and communion with orchestra, great example of the power of the human spirit
Sometimes the rehearsals are better than concerts
timeless, organic, mighty Furtwangler.
The vastness of his conception, his vision of entire work as a single entity, and his ability to bring it forth, while letting the details shine through.....
Me too I've been watching this for years. Small tip if you like this .. I can recommend the Music & Arts 4941 CD set (furtwangler best brahms versions of all four symphonies). Just discovered the Jan-45 version of the adagio of the First on there .. quite unbelievable.
I'm not a fan of Furtwangler but this is absolutely scintillating. I've never heard something as angry and passionate as this. I haven't been able to stop listening to this for the past week. It sounds like he's using his baton to fire cannons and I hear smoke. Simply extraordinary!
Most conductors are afraid to deploy forte brass and percussion. Presumably because they can't integrate it into the other bands.
この録画最高です何度観ても飽きません(大戦中の第九や名歌手は痛々しいので時々見る程度)
♪３年前まで爆弾を落し合って恩讐を懐いていたはずの英独両国のことを考えると音楽の不思議な力を感じます
機嫌悪そうに始まったリハがまたたく間にコメント氏のように閃光硝煙が渦巻きます
。戦争に対する怒り悲しみそして償い鎮魂が数分にぎっしり込められています。こんな悽絶な演奏は楽員とＦとの心からの結びつきがあるからでしょう。♪Ｆが良くも悪くも純正の音楽バカであることを示す好個の映像です。 もちろん投稿の豚児は“良くも”の側です。♪Ｍカラス女史の言や良し〜《邦題 フルト~グレートレコーディング》の後書きにありましたね♪
カメラワークはカラヤンビデオの先取りのようで秀逸です。
Einmalig. Was fuer ein grosser Dirigent. Mein Vater spielte das erste Fagott ! Er war, von den fuenfzigern an einer der bedeutensten Fagottisten in Deutschland und spielte auf einem Heckel Fagott fuer 60 Jahre ! Viele Schallplattenaufnahmen mit beruehmten Saengern und Musikern folgten und Konzerte mit Karl Richter auf der ganzen Welt. Bin sehr stolz auf Dich ! Ich vermisse Dich !
Mein Gott, da bist Du ja durch Deinen bedeutenden Vater ganz nah dran am größten nachschaffenden Musiker aller Zeiten! Was hat er denn über Furtwängler gesagt?
I went to search other conductors' performance in this final part of movement 4, including Barenboim, Haitink, Bernstein, Ozawa, Karajan, Kleiber....I still find Furtwangler's version is the best. Ferocious, powerful, wild, intensive, impressive, fantastic....it is the best interpretation of Brahms's mind and spirit in his works (full of german's passion and proud for thier musical culture ).
I agree with some comments that no one has done such astonishing performance like Furtwangler~. The orchestra was just like a group of uncontrollable horses..violently run very fast on a rubble road but can maintain their elegance and persistence till the end. After watching this video, I can realize why he chose to stay a country controlled by Hitler. He just wanted to protect the culture, spirit, and nature inherited by german musicians. Even he was condemed by some people or jews for not leaving the third reich, I think his strong passion about classical music made him still become one of the best conductor in the world. No wonder that Maria Callas said that he was Beethoven....In this short video, he was also Brahms.
Bareinboim has idea how to play B. And sure, no comparison to F among mentioned ones.
Rehearsal !!! He was the best conductor !
The God!!!
Maravilloso material, pese a la época muy buena grabación, es grandioso que hoy podamos admirar de las maravillas de ese tiempo como lo fue Furtwangler.
¡ Danke schÖn!. :)
I have never heard the Brahms 4th symphony could be played very strong, powerful, and beautiful...Hope I could buy a ticket at that time to enjoy his music....
He is an incredible conductor, just like my band teacher said. I mean, the emotion in this song goes from extreme sadness to complete joy. It's just amazing.
And in the end to madness and tragedy, I think.
Not a song, a symphonie please.
Ninguna versión es comparable a ésta. Gracias!
You may disagree with any, some or many of the particular interpretive detail of this performance, but in the end it is the overwhelming, the ferocious intensity of the playing that sweeps all before it. Brahm's raging heroic fatalism is conveyed to the absolute max. After hearing this, all other interpretations seem trite and cowardly.
There are many great conductors (thank God), but Furtwaengler has his own category.
The greatest of all 20th Century conductors. I don´t have any doubt. This is a good example.
これ以上は望めないほどのあらゆる意味で最上の演奏。素晴らしい！
A rehearsal to end all rehearsals.TY for posting this treasure.
This start of this excerpt tells me that Brahms and Wagner had something in common. Furtwangler had this music in his guts, it’s instinctual.
I alwyays felt that Wagner+Brahms complete each other in achieving the quintessential summary and summit of Western classical music. After Wagner and Brahms, for me there is just experimentation, sometimes very interesting, but without enduring results.
@@LtAld0Raine Absolutely. Two teleological sides of the same coin. Time has made them far more similar than they were ever different. The great equalizer.
Completely differents in any levels, sorry but read Nietzsche true vision of Wagner tyrannical music when Brahms could let you follow your dreams inside his music.
@@Methilde Nonsense, Nietzsche knew nothing about music
@@TheOneAndOnlyZelenkaGuru
Young Nieztche at first wanted to be musician, wrote with a quite good level few pieces and his compositions are published still now.
The real ignorants are so often pretentious too.
Furwängler - the greatest conductor of all times! He creates music during the concert. Every concert is like the birth and creation of the music. His body is showing the musical ideas and not the beat.
""Well", she sighed, "you see what we have been reduced to. We are now in a time when a Szell is considered a master. How small he was next to Furtwängler." Reeling this disbelief - not at her verdict, with which I agreed, but from the unvarnished acuteness of it - I stammered, "But how do you know Furtwängler? You never sang with him." "How do you think?" she stared at me. "He started his career after the war in Italy. I heard dozens of his concerts there. To me, he was Beethoven."
Maria Callas
Is this from a book?
@@kerrgal yes The book from John Ardoin, who knew personally Maria Callas very well.
@@MegaClassicguy Which one? He has several.
@@kerrgal his book on Furtwangler
You can do different. You can not do better. Absolutely astonishing.
0:01 professor and student communication ...........
Hahaha xD
the venue sounds simply amazing.
Wonderful ! Thank you so much !
PS2 Note also that Carlos Kleiber, when he was very young, went with his friend to the Scala in Milan to attend Furtwângler's concerts and that they were extremely impressed by the old maestro.
i love brahms so much...his music...especially this movement...its jus so much emotion put into it...idk...its jus so amazing
this is the greatest version i ever heard. i'm addict to it, viva la furtwangler
Astonishingly exciting. Really, I've never, never heard this done better!
Ah, the way the timpanist goes to town in the finale always gets me.
Absolutely incandescent. A brilliant shining spirit.
a performance like no other...incredibly propulsive and dramatic...almost unbearably exciting.
Furtwängler conducted Brahms' 4th with unrivalled passion. The Passacaglia (shown in this video) is simply devastating. As Brahms wrote: "Allegro energico e passionato". The Berliners soar to the heavens. The players' commitment can be seen physically (the string section is a marvel to watch). No wonder that when Karajan for the first time heard Furtwängler conduct the Berliners he promised to himself that one day he would have that orchestra. Best thanks for this video.
Sometimes I just spend a minute watching the first few seconds of this over and over and over
Up to this point I liked George Szell's Brahms Symphonies with Cleveland... but Furtwangler.... blasts off the earth with this!!
Thanks you for your appreciate. And as I know, there is not any Furtwangler's stereo recording left. I am so sorry about that.
Tremendously exciting playing and conducting.
I don't know if people can imagine this, it's hard, but imagine this in glorious High Definition with Super Audio sound! Then we would truly hear what this would have sounded like. But....just LISTEN TO THAT!!!
No one has the balls to take it at this speed today. This is a piece Furtwangler and the BPO owned.
That Furtwangler and the BPO "owned" this symphony after both profoundly imbued entities had the wealth of experience with this great art those many years...no doubt! I think, however, it's less about having "the balls" re: alert, driven pulse as the moments require to speak Brahms powerfully and persuasively, and perhaps more about the performing tradition of the last three decades, say. Daniel Harding, a wonderful exponent of the master, has in relatively recent past had the nerve to take this last movement, especially, at it's most cogent tempo.
Thanks John. I was honorary member but that was before Leduc became president and have not received newsletter for quite sometime. Then we have one in Berlin (dont do much) and a really active one in Japan.Why has the American Society been relinquished? There are so many fans, as I gather from comments on youtube
何だこれは。本物の映像なのか。何故この唯一無二の究極的な映像がこんなところに埋れているのか。
Furtwangler ti trascina come nessuno. Non so se è il carisma o la grande capacità di interpretazione, forse nessuno lo sa, ma, di certo, ti fa volare.
wow! what a marvel. don't care what his persuasions were. he is for the ages. arts stands for all. inspires all.
This is incredible.
Bravo! Maestro.
Incredibly passionate! Love it!
Einfach einmalig.Von 1948 ! Am ende dieses Filmes, hinter dem Flutisten, erkenne ich meinen Vater ( geboren 1914 ), der nach dem Kriege eine der bedeutensten Fagottisten war. Er war dreieinhalb Jahre in Gefangenschaft, bis 1948 , wo man 1,8 Millionen Deutsche verhungern liss. Er war gerade nach Berlin zuruckgekommen.
@amfortas1978 He'd been conducting the BPO for 25 years, so, they had a lot of experience with Brahms. He knew what he could get from the orchestra and they knew what he was after.
legendary! Thanks for posting.
When I first viewed this performance in "The Art of Conducting" video, I thought it was the finest performance of the finale of Brahms' 4th ever. But now, I hear some passages which sound jumbled, although others are still the finest.
I suppose that the reason for this is obvious. Can you follow his beat? He appears to be a marionette dangling his arms about.
Still, go to the video of F. rehearsing Schubert's "Unfinished," and you'll see what a perfectionist he was.
He sped up at a crucial point and it took a bar or two to come back together. I thought the beat was clear at the beginning, and that establishes tempo.
Crescendo from 4:05 is like tsunami...
Yes it's so incredible...
Thank you!
I wish the makers of The Art of Conducting had used this instead of the British newsreel which has a voice over on this very same rehersal that nearly drowns out the music.
They really do what composer says. This is ALLEGRO, this is ENERGICO, this is PASSIONATO.
Don't know why, but many modern Brahms performances lack this dimension of agitation. It's all too clean and elegant.
The Conducting technique of Mr Furtwangler was very clear for the people who can understand it.Some of the detructors should go over political issues and accept like the mayority of great musicians like Menuhim,Abaddo,Baremboim,Celibidache, that he was not just a great conductor but somebody who could interpret and create with the orchestra as a genius.
This is just fantastic!
Thank you for this very interesting discussion
Greatest ever. Berlin + Furtwängler. So epic. So big. So warm. So human.
I totally agree with you about the great names of conducting. Furt left a great liberty to his musicians. where does this precious Furt footage originate from? I would like to purchase the whole master. Regards
wunderbar - wunderbar - wunderbar
Powerful but sensitive beauty buch and Brahms depth and high mood. Is unforgettable
A great musician like Furtwangler performs in this way, such as a delight and merry child. Yes, Furtwangler seems as if he were a child, very enormously great child.He is the “Artist“.
Someone once told the great music essayist Neville Cardus "I just can't follow Furtwängler's gestures". Cardus's reply: "Neither do I, but the Berliners surely do".
I don't which orchestra this is, but they sound as good as the Vienna Philharmonic. Furtwangler was a magician.
The Berliners, in London
This the best Brahms I have ever heard...
True artist like Furtwangler comes once in a life time, few and far in between. I feel as if it was Brahms conducting himself. No other conductor can get closer to the composer's mind than Furtwangler.
@BorisGodunov I agree. Its a an austerely beautiful symphony--like the last autumn leaves before they get blasted off by November's icy winds.
The beginning of the film, the music reminds me of Wagner's Tannhauser Overture.
Curiously enough, Brahms and Wagner were rivals, at least in the artistic way. Actually some other excerpts from Brahms' symphonies have just a little bit of a Wagnerian touch, I think.
PS I have written a very long article on wikipedia with a part about the "siritual dimension" in Furtwângler's art where you can find quotations from these musicians. But it is wikipedia in french. If you have similar quotations from great musicians (not journalists or critics) about Kleiber I will be very interested in reading them.
if this was a rehearsal, I wonder what the actual concert was like....
84年秋の「フルトヴェングラー展｣でモニターで繰返し流れてましたね。(大丸東京)
Great to discover this
Yeah...the doublebass bowing is underarm (continental) not as in England.
It was however the position of this section that worried me, I thought that in the 40s, the Basses of the BPO were set behind the 1st violins.
Does Fürt really need to rehearse Brahms with this orchestra???
Thank you very much for this. What is the source material for this? Is it available in any way?? Thank you so much for your help.
Thanks.
@pedrovski10 You bet mate. It blew my socks off. Incredible THIS IS CONDUCTING....x
John Ardoin has reported the following discussion he has had with Maria Callas in August 1968 after having listened to Beethoven's Eight with the Cleveland orchestra conducted by George Szell:
Curious what your thoughts on Szell are. Coincidentally, I thought Szell's Beethoven 8 was the finest 8 I have ever heard, particularly the 3rd movement.
from 0:00 to 0:03 Wilhem Furtwrangler just like :"quiet! you fools! we are RECORDING!! and pay attention to the music." ( the way he waves the hands , I just burst out laughing)
you're totally right, it's my bad i didn't litsen to it till the end. and it is a great symphony indeed
Thanks, Edwin. Well, Dade Thieriot was the head of the American, Furtwangler Society. Dade decided to let-go of the American form, a year or so, ago. ... Well, your grandfather was one of best of all, in his ways of improvisatory-type conducting, while continuing to HEW to the wishes and tempos, and ways, of a composer, in the latter's structures, inspirations and elements. Furtwangler was one of the BEST exemplars of how classical music could be presented. ... Talk with you later.
Brahms draws the map, Furtwängler shows us the door by turning the finale into a musical apocalypse, i would have loved visiting a performance by Furtwängler but i m too young!
Dear GA4N, I have written the article about Furtwängler on Wikipedia in french. I am french.
You are right. I think Furtwangler made the musicians to play "in state of Grace". He himself was probably in extasis most of the time on stage, I guess...
Demonic.
the greatest conductor ever.
Yes, it is. Is the fourth movement.
Yes, it is! Do you have the score? It begins in measure 113 of the last movement. It's a rehearsal. It's Brahms fourth. It's great.