Beethoven - Symphony No 5 - Furtwängler, BPO (1943)

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
0:00 Allegro con brio
8:14 Andante con moto
19:20 Scherzo: Allegro
25:18 Allegro – Presto

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler
Recorded live at Alte Philharmonie, Berlin, 30th June, 1943

[robertarnold]

Furtwangler is a dramatist for bringing Beethoven’s essence back to the realm of the living.

[nellyfaich]

The best conductor of the best composer

[peterpan]

For years (actually since I was around seven or eight years old, can't remember exactly) I've been listening to the Beethoven symphonies, I've been collecting recordings of those symphonies for decades. But THIS - to me - is the definitive interpretation, to me it sounds almost as if Beethoven himself is conducting. Furtwängler and the BPO cannot be surpassed (or at least no one ever has so far).I also suspect that the conditions of being in a country at war contributed to some intensity of the interpretation. Same goes for the 7th symphony also recorded in 1943.

[ycl]

This is probably the most intense version of the 5th I've heard, and its bloody amazing, despite the sound quality.

[CharlesDavis-bp]

Amazing! It's like I never really heard the 5th before. New depths..., the true majesty and earth shaking power of this Master Work came to life before my imagination. Thrilling beyond belief. Thank you all parties concerned.

[clauss]

There were many great and gifted conductors in the past but Furtwängler is the pinnacle!!!

[zitzwitz]

There simply has not been a conductor since Furtwangler who even comes close to expressing anger, the dialog of emotional feelings. Not Karajan, Kleiber, Toscanini, or any one of the other great ones. Perhaps it was the agony of the Germans, conflict, craziness, and longing for a better world. I don't know. Listening to his interpretation is always a new experience. It somehow reflects what Beethoven must have felt. The same is true, especially with his 1943 seventh. Personally, I am reliving the agony of the Berlin bombing when I was between 12 and 15.

[robertarnold]

What shines through here most dazzlingly is intellectual honesty and beauty paired in synchronicity.

[levoyageurdenice]

Heil furtwrangler! Fantastic reccirding, ! Si clear! Incredible!

[albertocuadros]

La mejor interpretacion de Beethoven´que he escuchado magistral.que gran director.

[__________________________]

La millor versio mai enregistrada d'aquesta obra

[andreysimeonov]

This performance reveals why Furthwangler is very properly considered the God of conducting!

[nicoolabulfone]

Impressionante esecuzione, semplicemente meravigliosa

[TheVisualMusicShow]

Nice photo of F. with Arnold Rosé, Mahler's concertmaster in the Vienna Philharmonic.

[quentind]

Quelle claque😯
La meilleure interprétation de la 5ème que je connaisse

[min]

It's so beautiful. The music seems magical.

[MegaClassicguy]

This is the first time I can listen to this recording on YouTube for ages. I am surprised that it was posted in 2020.

Anyway I had doubts about the extraordinary quality of this recording. I love Furtwangler’s recordings of 1937, 1939, 1947 and 1954 (especially in Vienna in 1954).

I have also the highest opinion of Toscanini’s recordings in the 1930s and of the extraordinary recording by Carlos Kleiber (by far the best in stereo).

But I realize once more that this one is really the best ever. Can you simply imagine this with the extraordinary sound of Carlos Kleiber’s recording? With a genius, any detail is extraordinary.

I understand that for many, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Barenboim, Celibidache, , Carlos Kleiber, Furtwangler was the God of the conductors and that even his worst enemies (Toscanini, Karajan) had to recognize that they were overwhelmed by Furtwangler. These guys could attend his concerts and hear him in reality with a perfect sound !

More than ever, as stated many times by Carlos Kleiber, Furtwangler is the conductor that cannot be equaled.

[CésarUreñaGutiérrez]

Marvelous. Absolutely magical. It makes real, tangible, material, the spiritual, intangible, incorporeal of this inexpressible and ineffable. music.

[jamesbrennan]

The end of June 1943 in Berlin was close to one of the most important turning points of the European war - within the next three weeks would come the fall of Mussolini and the failure of the Wehrmacht at Kursk to overcome the effect of the surrender at Stalingrad, after which events on the Eastern Front would come out more or less consistently in favour of Russia. The Hamburg firestorm raid was less than a month away, and the heavy bombing of Berlin would begin shortly afterwards. It could be that this performance isn't quite reproduced at pitch, but even without that there seems to be an overwhelming sense of foreboding and loss here. None of Furtwangler's post-war performances of the Fifth remotely matches this.

[sfd]

A genius conducting the music of a genius. This music shows that a god exists.