Furtwangler conducts Beethoven Sym.9 on Aug.31.1951

[andyfrostman76]

Must plug the 1943 Furtwangler performance of the 7th with all its playful intensity and perfectly bitter-sweet 2nd mvmt . This performance of the 9th seems fearful and rigid. This is definitely not 1951, though. Those are nazi swastikas, and nazi military men in the audience. It should be the 1942 performance with Berlin Philharmonic. Furtwangler hated the nazis and used his fame to preserve arts in Berlin during the war. He also helped several jewish musicians escape Germany. LOL@handwipe!

[lamanodeonansequeja]

I hate the voice! I want hear Fürtwangler conducting the Ninth Symphony, no that stupid voice!

[sam0xin]

p.s. AND WHY always IDIOTS ARE MAJORITY ? there is a some "philosophers"

"criticizing"....?! about tempo..?! HAHAHAHA....ahhhh capital jesting ! WE ARE SO UNLUCKY for not having FURTWANGLER as our contemporary...SO UNFORTUNATE !...SO MISERABLE !

[sam0xin]

What kind of  energy spreading from Furtwangler's mind ? Why even most bad sound-quality recordings of this GENIUS - MASTER , makes me cry ? & keeps me speechless ?

[uhartchristian]

die entnazifizierung der amerikaner in oesterreich war eine augenauswischerei.... Alle brauchbaren eleemente wurden entnazifiziert. der sozialist und Jude Kreisky hat dann sogar nazis in seine Regierung genommen und war persona non grata in Israel. Nazis haben in Kaernten arbeit und Zuflucht bekommen (Reeder!!!!) und lebten dort unbehelligt bis heute... Das schafft kein gesundes Klima fuer Musik die aus dem Herzen kommen soll....

[joncaves]

We have lost so much - Furtwangler was one of the last conductor with a direct connection to the Romantic Period ... you will hear nothing like this today, nothing! This is how it was meant to sound - the passion is amazing.

[tubephr34k]

@joncaves This wasn't the 'romantic' period this was the height of the best classical composers and the classical period. -.-

[YTM021807]

Too fast at the end!

Horrendously fast.

[billyguns2]

The 1942 Furtwangler is his greatest recorded 9th, followed by 1954 Lucerne and 1951 Bayreuth. They all have points of interest, though, because Furtwangler was and remains the greatest conductor of all time known to me through recordings and videos. He often transcended music, seeing music as a cosmic, spiritual experience.

[robertssje]

You are a man after my own heart. He is the greatest of all time. No one seems able to hear at such a profound level (at the level at which the composer himself heard?). Thank you for your comments. Do you know about his teacher, Heinrich Schenker? Furtwangler said he never understood Beethoven until he read Schenker's explanation of the Fifth's tonal plan!

[ollierdevon]

I would very much agree that the 1942 performance which I first came across on a double LP is completely amazing. The first movement in particular is volcanic - can't really think of as suitable adjective!. However one does have a chill when one thinks who in the Nazi elite was probably in the audience. I have the other 2 on CD as well. I think his wartime Bruckner 9th is also well worth hearing for the same intensity.

[lovelymess]

Absolutely, as a conductor myself I can offer my whole hearted agreement with your statement.

Nobody to my knowledge took the final bars of the 9th faster that Furtwanger.

Of course that choice can cause soem lack of precision, but Furtwangler would always choose emotional communication over technical perfection. That was his calling card.

I wish more conductors would do that now.

[toyodafamily2008]

Right, he was transcendental.

He was a real artist.

[roosta0013]

one seriously dodgy cymbal at the end.

[NnFfBb]

I agree, it is dodgy... But you have to admit, it adds to the excitement, especially where Furtwanglers' interpretation is concerned...

[NnFfBb]

I agree, it is dodgy... A bit like a deranged monkey with cymbals. But you have to admit, it adds to the excitement, especially where Furtwanglers' interpretation is concerned...

[1psoas9]

beautiful "sanfter Fluegeln"

[vinciano]

The 1942 ninth is The ninth. I decide not to listen to it too much time to not decrease his emotional impact over me

[vinciano]

From a Rossini lover i cant'expect anything except this shit comments. i forget, i'm italian.

[iambananananananana]

I'm sorry about what I've said earlier. Apparently you're not the real Richard Kastle but only an imposter. My apologies to Richard Kastle.

[iambananananananana]

What a lousy arrogant redneck.

Talk big after you've tried conducting the 9th yourself.

[Mahler1912]

Oh...dieses unerträgliche Gelaber....

[grossini1]

Toscanini and Bernstein make the overrated Furt look like a rank amateur. Tempi are all wrong and his gallop at the end is inexcusable

[idesof]

Grossini, you are a moron, not only because you have no taste but because unlike your idol Frutolini, you apparently don't know that the last bars of the Ninth are marked "prestissimo." You're not as much of a moron, though, as that goddamned woman talking over the ending of this video. Hope she died a slow and painful death.

[Maestrojosh87]

Yes, but it should not be conducted THAT fast. You can't hear a thing!

[grThetrojan01gr]

Old cameras, old film... etc... etc

[FOFO730]

@grThetrojan01gr

and???

[grThetrojan01gr]

@FOFO730 what do you mean "and???"?  I wasn't even talking to you.

[sam0xin]

@idesof I support you & REALLY want to kill that CHICKEN - PARROT- PORKY-PIG !

[Josep489]

@idesof

prestissimo? uhmmmm

i think it sounds better in presto

[verziehen]

@idesof Don't you mean "Götterdämmerung" woman? Would a conductor's baton inserted anally been appropriate enough? I detest people who start clapping after a performance has begun or finished and similar cretins who jump to their feet indiscriminately. Why is it that pillories are no longer available for punishment of such riff-raff?

[majortom51970]

I prefer the 1942 recording, found elsewhere in youtube, it has better playing and more "fire" to it. Don't get me wrong, I love Furtwangler, but when you compare the 1942 with 1951 versions, the first one wins hands down for me. 1951 was too close to the end of the war, and artists, like everybody else, had just experienced a real hell;it is understandable that they would sound more tired.

[andrewsfunk]

The audio quality of this video is awful! There's no denying Furtwanger's genius. His Schubert Symphony 9 is iconic. Never equalled!!

[richiedrr]

I think the announcer says the soloists are Irmgard Seefried, Sieglinde Wagner, Anton Dermota and Joseph Greindl.

[bwv1058]

再问一下，这个是不是富老在拜伦伊特音乐节上指挥的贝9？感谢作­答

[skymj]

yep, it is .

[bwv1058]

how do you know? are you the one who upload this video?

[Obaysch]

Because the announcer says it, moron.

[arcanus121]

an average performance. Lacking in gravitas and correct tempi.

[Scorberg]

Was a great conductor; But one has to look at the composer, who was the greatest genius of ALL!!

[BrucknerEnthusiast]

Yes, you are right. But the greatest honour a conductor can have is when his music-making causes the listeners to forget about the 'performance' and reminds them of how great the composer was. At the end of Karajan's overwhelming Bruckner 5 one is no longer thinking of Karajan; one of thinking only of Bruckner's genius. And it's the same with some of Furtwangler's Beethoven recordings; at the end we are left in awe of Beethoven, which is a great tribute to Furtwangler's powers.

[markedhands]

The way wipes his hand after shaking Hitlers is priceless.

[algocalmin]

It's Goebbels in that video, not Hitler. (and since Hitler isn't there someone uploaded the video with a wrong title)

[Gunney918]

goebbels isnt in this vid, he was dead in 1951, he killed himself after hitler in the bunker in berlin

[algocalmin]

Ups, my comment was for "Furtwangler on 4.19.1942 Full edition" video, sorry.

[captainkirk4761]

It is a great joy to take a look of this legendary movie film.

[Freudboy]

The greatest Beethoven conductor of all time.

[YTM021807]

The voiceover almost ruins this valuable video clip.

The final moments (from: 2:36 to 2:47) is horribly fast. This was customary of W.F. All the rest of his Beethoven 9th was sublime.

[superburp]

In my opinion that acceleration in the final beats is bright.

[leex1214]

What a pity about the voiceover and the vido cut at the end! If there were a video somewhere of a Furtwangler performance of the Beethoven Ninth from beginning to end it would be priceless. As it is this is a remarkable document, showing how the tempo relationships he chose were reflected in the beat. Unfortunately the video of the 1942 performance is marred by frequent cuts to the audience. Given that, this is probably the best visual document of his way with the Ninth.