# SS 04.03.17 - Furtwangler #2



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
_*
*_For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886 - 1954)*

Symphony No. 2 in E minor

1. Assai moderato - Allmählich belebend - Von hier ab festes Tempo
2. Andante semplice
3. Un poco moderato - Più Allegro - Più Moderato - Allegro - Moderato - Allegro
4. Langsam - Moderato andante - Allegro molto - Moderato - Langsam - Moderato - Presto

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another weekend is here. I hope we can get a few more listeners this week to join in and give a listen to conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler's 2nd symphony  I like this one and it's a shame it's not played very often. Hopefully this will be a new one for a few people.

I'll be listening to:









Daniel Barenboim/Chicago Symphony Orchestra


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​
I am going with this one:
Furtwängler: Symphony No. 2 in E minor

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Walter


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I learned something new today! I thought he was just a conductor.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I learned something new today! I thought he was just a conductor.


Cool deal. He wasn't a prolific composer per say, but he did compose some interesting stuff. Much like Otto Klemperer whom most don't know was a composer as well. Generally most say Furtwangler's compositions are in the late-romantic style with Brucknerian length just to give you an idea of what his works sound like.


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## sbmonty (Jan 11, 2014)

I had no idea either. Thanks again!


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Who's the most successful conductor/composer from the historical viewpoint? Surely not Segerstam  Mahler, then Weingartner most likely.

I will have to find some online version to listen to, as I do not have any CDs of this SS.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Azol said:


> I will have to find some online version to listen to, as I do not have any CDs of this SS.


There are several recordings on YouTube if needed.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Azol said:


> Who's the most successful conductor/composer from the historical viewpoint?


For me, it's the three "B"s - Bernstein, Boulez and Britten


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

I'll listen to:









Staatskapelle Weimar conducted by George Alexander Albrecht


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

I'll definitely be joining in with this weeks work.

I'll be listening to the Composer's own recording live with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. The image quality may not be fantastic unfortunately but it is this recording. Furtwängler was always in his element live and if memory serves (it has been a while) this performance in excellent.









Sadly there is no translation of the interview included and my German is woefully basic but the music will be very interesting.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

There are quite a few recordings new to me here - a pleasant surprise indeed.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

realdealblues said:


> Another weekend is here. I hope we can get a few more listeners this week to join in and give a listen to conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler's 2nd symphony  I like this one and it's a shame it's not played very often. Hopefully this will be a new one for a few people.
> 
> I'll be listening to:
> 
> ...


If I get time over the weekend, I will listen to this one too. The sound quality is superb excellent- as is the CSO but my first choice has to be one of the Composer's own performances.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

realdealblues said:


> Another weekend is here. I hope we can get a few more listeners this week to join in and give a listen to conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler's 2nd symphony  I like this one and it's a shame it's not played very often. Hopefully this will be a new one for a few people.
> 
> I'll be listening to:
> 
> ...


Will listen this one also


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> ​
> I am going with this one:
> Furtwängler: Symphony No. 2 in E minor
> 
> BBC Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Walter


This one for me too


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

Haydn man said:


> This one for me too


This is a recording I have never heard. How is it?


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

sbmonty said:


> I had no idea either. Thanks again!


Jochum here as well.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

AClockworkOrange said:


> This is a recording I have never heard. How is it?


Here you are, give it a try.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

I got to know this symphony just before I got seriously into Bruckner last year. I like it quite a bit but I haven't heard it lately. It'll be Jochum for me, as I do not own a copy. I should look into buying some Furtwangler soon. I think I made a thread about his compositions and I must seek to find for more works by him.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I quite enjoyed this work and I should think anyone who liked Bruckner would too. Thanks to RDB for the pick.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

Pugg said:


> Here you are, give it a try.


Thank you for sharing this video Pugg :tiphat:


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

D Smith said:


> Jochum here as well.


This one as well on spotify.


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

A truly remarkable and enjoyable piece. Substantial and well formulated. My first hearing of the Symphony and it stuck to me . I sometimes find Bruckner difficult but this is not Bruckner. The performances are superlative but some graininess in the sound quality.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Afraid this work is over-long and second-rate imo.


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

This one's my preferred version by far:

















SQ's good too, given the fact one's listening to a live performance from '53. The acoustics of the Wiener Musikvereins' main hall are simple splendid.

Regards,

Vincula


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Furtwangler was without a doubt one of the greatest conductors of all time , but critics have generally been quite dismissive about the music he wrote . However,r I think his 2nd symphony is a work of genuine stature which deserves to be performed more often . 
No, you can't say he ranks with the greatest composers, but his music cannot be dismissed lightly . 
You should also try his piano concerto, which has been recorded several times by a number of pianists of reputation but who never became superstars . And Rafael Kubelik, another truly great conductor who shares many affinities with Furtwangler, has conducted one of these recordings. 
I can;t recall the names of the pianists offhand , but you can hear a few performance of the concretion youtube. It's a very long and discursive concerto and will take more than one hearing to appreciate . 
I heard the composer's DG recording of the 2nd symphony on LP long ago , as well as the Barenboim/Chicago on CD . Do try a recording if you don't object to lengthy . gnarly Germanic symphonies .


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