Sorry, Mark. But I am always speechless when Furtwangler conducts Bruckner. Their spiritual connection is without parallel.He workshops Bruckner like q priest before the altar. This upload may be the best version of the 8th
How different a work can sound under different conductors! Compare Furtwangler's Finale conclusion with Celibidache's version--one lightning fast, the other glacially slow. I love the faster, decisive ending, the last descending three beats as quick as they appear in the rest of the symphony. The acceleration in the coda should begin with the galloping tympani and continue to the end. Furtwangler speeds up too soon; Celibidache actually slows down to a near-fatal crawl that, to my ears, robs the Finale of its dramatic conclusion.
according to Furtwangler's thinking Brucker's endings were not the most interesting, rather the beginnings were. well, the triumphant ending to things often peters out in most human endeavours so why not in music too ..
I completely agree. There is a primal force to Furtwangler's last three notes, but the coda is rushed otherwise. In response to baugen88, it boggles my mind that Furtwangler thought Bruckner's codas were "not the most interesting". Do you have any source for this observation? To me, it's like saying "I like sex, the orgasm bit is not the most interesting"! I mean, that feeling of pure musical meaning in a Bruckner coda is one of the most special in all music!! On further thought, maybe the above 2 points are related ... Furtwangler is too primal or godly for a merely human gathering together of threads in a satisfying climax?
My thoughts exactly whenever I listen to Bruckner. He is by far my favorite composer. I find his music and personality so relatable to me. He's the third B of the three B's.
Could not agree more. Furtwangler was unreachable in Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner. Maria Callas was said to have called him “Beethoven’s conductor”.
I'm blown away by this. I have not been able to listen to any other 8th must give up after a few bars) since I was THERE for Celibidache's 8th in the Coliseu in Lisbon. I was standing. After it was over (was it ever over...?) I sat down on an emptied seat and stayed there, looking nowhere for I don't know how long. My friends had to literally grab me away from there. I was quite numb for a few days after that. A recording of that concert exists on RU-vid.
This is like another piece of music altogether. No memories of the Celibidache in Lisbon. In the first bars it begins immediately to be constructed in a totally different way, like both pieces are from different countries, different periods, a different planet. This might well be one of Furtwanglers greatest achievements,
For 1949, this is pretty high quality. In fact many of his post war recordings are of a much higher recording quality than before 1945. We are fortunate that he was allowed to conduct again after the war, after a short ban.
A very fine performance, scratches notwithstanding. The #8 is one of my favorites. People shouldn't quibble about every little thing; just enjoy the music. Chill!
Un intero mondo sull'orlo del collasso, Berlino 1945-1949. Furtwaengler, Celibidache, Karajan (allora in carriera a Berlino) ci lasciano 3 modi di vedere/ascoltare/ragionare attraverso l'ottava di Bruckner: drammatico / romantico (Wilhelm Furtwaengler), "sovrano" come un Samurai (Sergiu Celibidache - vedi la registrazione in Tokyo), enfatico (Herbert von Karajan). 4 ore per staccarsi da un brutto spettacolo di storia.
@ErikRupp: Il brutto spettacolo di storia non vedo cosa c'entri. E poi, quale spettacolo? Il dopoguerra? Il nazismo ormai dissolto? La Germania in fase di ricostruzione? Vedrei lo spettacolo della storia attuale, nella quale siamo immersi (2017) come il più drammatico che la storia della specie abbia mai espresso (e mi ritengo MOLTO influenzato da Marx). Riguardo a quell' "enfatico" riservato a Karajan, lo trovo sbagliato: ha enfatizzato, in modo meraviglioso, ciò che andava "enfatizzato". Certo, la profondità dell'approccio furtwangleriano è abissale, ma ciò non deve sorprendere: la congenialità con Bruckner l'aveva più volte dichiarata, in gioventù e non solo. Celibidache è meglio lasciarlo alla sua filosofia della musica piuttosto che al far musica. Comunque in Bruckner ha fornito, in via del tutto eccezionale, buone prove.
I hope no one leaves any comments, save for this one. This way, the beauty of the music is left alone for each new listener to marvel at. For what comment could be made that could add anything to what's already been recorded?
Mio Dio....questo Adagio....ci appare il Maestro dalla punta bacchetta...magia della musica vediamo attraverso i suoi occhi e dal suo cuore sentiamo una forza superiore che ci accompagna attraverso i tempi di tutti i tempi, umani e iperuranici
Creo que se complementan perfectamente las visiones de la música del compositor y del director no solo en esta sinfonía, sublime la música compuesta y aún mas esta interpretación. El adagio.......
isn't this symphony subtitled 'the apocalypse?' Bruckner was a devout catholic and there seems to be a mystical quality to his symphonies. I read somewhere that Mahler admired Bruckner's work very much but thought Bruckner a bit of a dunce and a virgin as well. Mahler, of course, was a cosmopolitan and a great conductor while Bruckner rarely ever left his birthplace. two great geniuses with wholly different views of life,but what matters, of course, is their music.
La coda est inhumaine et inégalée. Seul Klemperer a osé s'approcher de cette furieuse frénésie triomphale. Si les trompettes du jugement devaient sonner, elles ne feraient pas un son différent.
With Furtwangler’s conducting style I think it works!
8 лет назад
non tempo un peu trop rapide chez Karajan, pour moi Furtwangler offre une interprétation parfaite de cette symphonie en communion absolue avec ce que je comprends de cette oeuvre magnifique.
Sublime is Furtwängler's direction. On the other side, Bruckner reminds the best about Wagner and Mahler. This symphony is deep, beautiful and tragic, and moves any heart to serenity and peace of mind.
0:00 The gasping respiration of the first bars ....... compare this to all others on YT and you will understand who really was Furtwängler ........ and don't forget 1:54 ...... and 2:15 ......; this is .......
Il modo in cui Wilhelm Furtwangler ha penetrato il mondo sinfonico brukneriano è senza confronti. Tuttavia, mi permetto di accostare, ad un gradino lievemente inferiore, Karajan. Due letture diverse che quindi colgono aspetti diversi della tragica, tetra, ma meravigliosa poetica sinfonica di Bruckner, la summa della dilatazione espressiva nella storia sinfonica, con un' identica perfezione tecnica.
The chorus of individuals with chronic pneumonia is always attending concerts. Since I was a child I remember at the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires up to 60 years later the coughing public. Here, there, everywhere. And nobody took a handkerchief to cough inside. Best regards from Córdoba, Argentina.
This concert did not take place in a vacuum. It was given towards the end of the Berlin Blockade, when the Soviet Union stopped the flow of all goods into West Berlin, intending to freeze and starve Berliners into accepting Soviet control of the entire city. This effort was finally overcome with airlifted supplies but Berliners endured a brutal winter with very little fuel for heating. No wonder they were coughing up a storm at this concert.
+Manny Nadelman There's a fair amount of coughing on the Furtwangler 1942 recording of the Bruckner #5, though in this case one can only wonder just who was doing it.
Großartige live Aufführung dieses großartigen Meisterwerks mit perfekt synchronisierten Töne aller Instrumente. Der unvergleichliche Maestro dirigiert das weltklassige Orchester im majestätischen Tempo mit völlig analysierter Dynamik. Bestimmt eine der zehn besten Aufführungen dieses Werks bis heute!
This is, indeed, a great performance. But, for me, the Haitink/ Concertgebow Orch. recording on Phillips is the gold standard, disregarding the sound quality differential. 'Tho it does favor the newer for listening enjoyment. Not as " rushed" as Furtwangler's, 'tho similar in many ways. More breathing, if you will.
Banjocracy is right. Furtwängler is a great conductor, but Karajan is still Brucknerian supreme. His Third Movement of the Everest of Symphonies is quite possibly the best thing he ever recorded. Not the 1957, the 1970s version with Berlin.
coda is too hasty for my taste. Furhrer is certainly not pleased with this performance. Very raw-cut orchestration of the piece, quite primitive in today's much refined interpretation.
