Wilhelm Furtwangler - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / VPO 150th Anniversary Edition (1991)

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Wilhelm Furtwangler - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / VPO 150th Anniversary Edition (1991)

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The Vienna Philharmonic is one of the world's leading recording orchestras. Ever since its very first recording of Beethoven's 6th Symphony under Franz Schalk in 1928, work in the studio has taken up a considerable part of its "free time", which is, on account of its duties at the Vienna State Opera, in any case very limited. There are not many major 20th-century conductors, many important works of the operatic and concert repertory, or indeed many important labels that do not figure in its large and comprehensive disco-graphy.

The Vienna Philharmonic is one of the world's leading recording orchestras. Ever since its very first recording of Beethoven's 6th Symphony under Franz Schalk in 1928, work in the studio has taken up a considerable part of its "free time", which is, on account of its duties at the Vienna State Opera, in any case very limited. There are not many major 20th-century conductors, many important works of the operatic and concert repertory, or indeed many important labels that do not figure in its large and comprehensive disco-graphy.

The present documentation shows the Vienna Philharmonic from a private angle, as it were. Documents spanning five decades have been assembled for the orchestra's "own" jubilee edition, with which it wishes to celebrate a special event, the 150th anniversary of its foundation. The majority of these live recordings are of concerts given in Vienna's Musikverein and formed part of the Philharmonic's own subscription series. In Vienna it is often said that Philharmonic subscriptions are hereditary and worth almost as much as an aristocratic title. Music lovers who are fortunate enough to attend the eleven or so concerts given in a season know that the orchestra both plays differently and sounds quite unique on such occasions. This has something to do with the Vienna Philharmonic's pride and self-esteem, and with its democratic self-government, which has given it an artistic autonomy that no other orchestra in the world possesses. Finally, of course, it also has something to do with a tradition that has grown up over the course of 150 years. It has also become a tradition to make "Philharmonic Concerts" available to a wider audience by means of live broadcasts. Even in the early days of Austrian Radio, there were radio broadcasts from the Vienna Musikverein, and this practice was continued by the Vienna Reichsrundfunk-Sender. After 1945 music lovers were again able to listen to broadcasts of the Philharmonic matinees, mainly on the "Rot-Weiss-Rot" radio stations that were under the auspices of the American military authorities. These transmissions are now once again the responsibility of the Austrian Radio and to this day it is virtually unthinkable that a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic should not be broadcast "live". Nearly all the recordings in our jubilee edition come from such live broadcasts. One exception took place in 1944, when, in the year of his 80th birthday, Richard Strauss conducted his symphonic poems for the Vienna Reichsrundfunk-Sender to an empty hall. It would

The Vienna Philharmonic has commissioned Gottfried Kraus to assemble its jubilee edition. A native of Vienna, Kraus has made a name for himself be wrong to use the words "studio productions" in their modern sense. Strauss never conducted anything twice, and minor "errors" were simply left uncorrected.

The other recordings come from concerts held in the Vienna Musikverein and at the Salzburg Festival. Beethoven's Missa solemnis conducted by Clemens Krauss was recorded on discs in 1940. These were once owned by the conductor and are now in the Austrian National Library. The Furtwangler recordings of 1944 also come from the holdings of the Reichsrundfunk: Brahms's Second Symphony was recorded on 28 January 1945, the last concert Furtwangler conducted before the end of the war. Like the other recordings up to 1955, those of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (May 1953) and Grosse Fuge (30 August 1954) come from the archive of the "Rot-Weiss-Rot" radio station, which, a good twenty years later, was presented to the Vienna Philharmonic. Later live recordings have survived in the archives of Austrian Radio and have been made available to the orchestra for this jubilee edition. They are uniquely interesting documents which convey, more than any studio production can possibly hope to do, the vitality and the excitement that can only come about when a great orchestra reacts directly and spontaneously to the personality of a great conductor.

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Wilhelm Furtwangler - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / VPO 150th Anniversary Edition (1991)

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