# Furtwangler - Beethoven 9 reconstructions



## RogerWaters (Feb 13, 2017)

Hi all,

Just wanted to bring to your attention some wonderful reconstructions of famous Furtwangler - Beethoven 9 recordings.

They are better than those i've heard on Spotify and aren't even done by a professional:

1954 Lucerne (22 August): 




1942 Berlin (22-24 March): 




Enjoy!


----------



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Ondrich's work is great, too bad most of his videos and links have vanished from the internet.
I fondly remember a custom cd of his hand with Furtwängler's Schumann 1 and 4 and Manfred Overture, in very convincing spacious sounding "upgrades" (maybe a better way to describe those than "restorations"). It's one of my desert island Schumann cd's!

I'm sure sound purists will hate these with a passion - but i don't see a problem, as long as the original textures and balances aren't distorted.


----------



## mc2 (Aug 2, 2021)

*An attempt at an "accidental stereo" playback of WF's Franck Sym. (Vienna, Jan. 1945)*

Dr. Teruo Suehiro, Japanese electronics scholar and Furtwängler enthusiast, identifying the possibility that two lines recordings exist, like Toscanini's Verdi _Requiem_ in January 1951, has attempted to play "accidental stereo" by synchronizing and mixing them.

Naoki Tokuoka, Japanese conductor living in Taiwan was provided with the sound sources by Prof. Suehiro, and some of them have been made public in the conductor's YouTube channel.











The first fragment, in particular, gives a remarkably atmospheric stereo feel.

In the video, only a small portion is available, apparently because the YouTube system warned of a copyright claim that is often accused of being totally inappropriate. Prof. Suehiro has reportedly succeeded in replaying at least the entire second movement.


----------



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Great find, mc2 - and if the Franck symphony can actually be presented as a genuine stereo recording (as opposed to attempts to create artificial stereo), that'd be quite the sensation: it'd be Furtwängler's only stereo recording!

I remember how exciting it was to hear the "accidental stereo" track on the Naxos cd with Elgar conducting his own Cockaigne Overture. It really makes a complete difference in aural perception and enjoyment.

Too bad we can't listen to extended clips yet. The Furtwängler 1945 Franck is something very special, not only because of its artistic qualities (a very dark Brucknerian performance, extremely tense but also controversial). At the same concert (the very last concert FW gave before his exile in Switzerland), a wonderful Brahms 2 was played too. If that's preserved in 2 channels too, that'd be even more of a marvel, since the Brahms is part of FW's much more accepted repertoire.


----------



## mc2 (Aug 2, 2021)

RobertJTh said:


> At the same concert (the very last concert FW gave before his exile in Switzerland), a wonderful Brahms 2 was played too.


Yes, this video is about that concert, it is also available to specify YouTube system's English subtitles (as you know, poorly though) to play it. It seems, however, that there is no mention of the possibility of Brahms' accidental stereo.


----------



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

mc2 said:


> Yes, this video is about that concert, it is also available to specify YouTube system's English subtitles (as you know, poorly though) to play it. It seems, however, that there is no mention of the possibility of Brahms' accidental stereo.


Yeah, I tried, but the guy is talking so fast that the already poor auto-translate subs give up altogether...

Also, I listened to the clips again, I don't find the stereo effect really spectacular. There's an slight added feeling of "space" compared to the mono version of the concert (at least as I remember it), but the sound remains rather boxy. I guess it's all a matter of how far apart the two recording devices were placed. Since the second one just existed as a backup measure in case the first one malfunctioned, there was no need to put it in another location. But it's just the few occurences of this happening anyway that are most interesting to us.
Take the Elgar for instance, it was already a pretty good early electrical recording, but in stereo it's hard to believe this was recorded in 1933(!)


----------

