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Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886 - 1954)


Controversial he may have been but Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) was the foremost German conductor of his time. Born in Berlin, he studied composition with Rheinberger and Max von Schillings, having written his first work at the age of seven. In 1906 he made his conducting début in Munich and later that year became a répétiteur at the Stadttheater, Breslau. Following appointments in Zürich (1906-07), Munich (1908-10), and Strasbourg (1910-11), he became Music Director at Lübeck Opera in 1911. This was followed by five years in Mannheim from 1915. His first Viennese engagement took place in 1919. After the death of Nikisch in 1922 Furtwängler succeeded him at the Berlin Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras. He made his first visit to London in 1924 and to the United States the following year.

His international reputation grew with further American and European engagements. His appointment as Toscanini’s successor in New York in 1936, however, was blocked for political reasons. Controversially Furtwängler had chosen to remain in Germany during the Nazi period but resigned all his German appointments in 1934. After being ‘de-Nazified’ in 1946, he resumed his European career in 1947 with great success. In addition to his annual appearances at the Salzburg Festival, he also conducted the opening concert at the first post-war Bayreuth Festival in 1951. He died of pneumonia in November 1954, aged 68.

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Discography

BACH, J.S.: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 / MOZART, W.A.: Eine kleine Nachtmusik / SCHUBERT: Rosamunde (excerpts) (Furtwangler, Early Recordings, Vol. 1)BACH, J.S.: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 / MOZART, W.A.: Eine kleine Nachtmusik / SCHUBERT: Rosamunde (excerpts) (Furtwangler, Early Recordings, Vol. 1)BEETHOVEN: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Modl, Windgassen, Furtwangler) (1953)BEETHOVEN: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Modl, Windgassen, Furtwangler) (1953)BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 3-7 and 9 / Coriolan Overture / Leonore Overture No. 3 (Furtwangler) (1942-1944)BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 3-7 and 9 / Coriolan Overture / Leonore Overture No. 3 (Furtwangler) (1942-1944)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 / Leonore Overture No. 2 (Furtwangler) (1952-54)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 / Leonore Overture No. 2 (Furtwangler) (1952-54)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 / Coriolan Overture (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 2)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 / Coriolan Overture (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 2)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 / Egmont Overture / WEBER: Der Freischutz Overture (Furtwangler, Early Recordings, Vol. 2) (1926-1935)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 / Egmont Overture / WEBER: Der Freischutz Overture (Furtwangler, Early Recordings, Vol. 2) (1926-1935)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 / WAGNER: Parsifal Prelude (Furtwangler) (1937-1939)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 / WAGNER: Parsifal Prelude (Furtwangler) (1937-1939)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 (Furtwangler) (1943)BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 (Furtwangler) (1943)BRAHMS, J.: Alto Rhapsody / Von ewiger Liebe / Wir wandelten, wir zwei zusammen / BEETHOVEN, L.: Symphony No. 5 (Furtwangler) (1949, 1950)BRAHMS, J.: Alto Rhapsody / Von ewiger Liebe / Wir wandelten, wir zwei zusammen / BEETHOVEN, L.: Symphony No. 5 (Furtwangler) (1949, 1950)
BRAHMS, J.: Symphony No. 2 / BRUCKNER, A.: Symphony No. 7: II. Adagio (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 7)BRAHMS, J.: Symphony No. 2 / BRUCKNER, A.: Symphony No. 7: II. Adagio (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 7)BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 / Haydn Variations (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 5)BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 / Haydn Variations (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 5)BRAHMS: Violin Concerto / WAGNER: Siegfried Idyll (Furtwangler, Comm. Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 6)BRAHMS: Violin Concerto / WAGNER: Siegfried Idyll (Furtwangler, Comm. Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 6)
MAHLER, G.: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Kindertotenlieder / SCHUMANN, R.: Liederkreis (Fischer-Dieskau) (1952-1955)MAHLER, G.: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Kindertotenlieder / SCHUMANN, R.: Liederkreis (Fischer-Dieskau) (1952-1955)MENDELSSOHN / BRUCH: Violin Concertos (Menuhin) (1951-1952)MENDELSSOHN / BRUCH: Violin Concertos (Menuhin) (1951-1952)MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 22 / Concerto for 2 Pianos in E flat major / Gran Partita / Symphony No. 40 (P. Badura-Skoda / Furtwangler)MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 22 / Concerto for 2 Pianos in E flat major / Gran Partita / Symphony No. 40 (P. Badura-Skoda / Furtwangler)
MOZART: Serenades Nos. 10 and 13 (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 1)MOZART: Serenades Nos. 10 and 13 (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 1)MOZART: Symphony No. 40 / BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto (Furtwangler, Comm. Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 3)MOZART: Symphony No. 40 / BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto (Furtwangler, Comm. Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 3)SCHUMANN, R.: Symphony No. 4 / HAYDN, J.: Symphony No. 88 (Berlin Philharmonic, Furtwangler) (1951, 1953)SCHUMANN, R.: Symphony No. 4 / HAYDN, J.: Symphony No. 88 (Berlin Philharmonic, Furtwangler) (1951, 1953)
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