Wilhelm Furtwaengler Polydor Recordings Vol. 2 = J. STRAUSS: Der Fledermaus Overture; MOZART: Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio; Overture to The Marriage of Figaro; Serenade No. 13 in G Major, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” K. 525; ROSSINI: The Barber of Seville Overture; Overture to La Gazza Ladra; BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major; Air from Suite No. 3; BRAHMS: Hungarian Dance No. 10; Hungarian Dance No. 1 – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwaengler
Opus Kura OPK 2088, 70:18 [Distr. by Albany] ****:
It seems rather curious that Wilhelm Furtwaengler (1886-1954) conducted few “weighty” compositions–excepting the Beethoven C minor Symphony–for Polydor, preferring popular scores in the light opera or promenade tradition, perhaps a throwback to Furtwaengler’s early training in operetta. The rare excursion (1930) into the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 occurs here without the thick, even leaden, approach that marks his later performances. The style, however, leans toward the intimately galant, and the lines remain overly refined, perhaps precious. The tempo contributes to the feeling of a transcription to full string orchestra, in the manner of Weingartner’s version of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge. The Air on the G String (1929) generates a degree of plaintive mysticism or medievalism in Bach that Furtwaengler could elicit without artifice.
Furtwaengler’s Mozart, on the other hand, evinces supple strength of character and sinewy elasticity of line. The 1936 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik projects rather a symphonic image instead of the casual serenade of modern realizations; but few have molded Mozart’s balanced phrases with more devotion to timbres definition. The Mannheim rockets ascend with feathery lightness, given the mass of sound the BPO can project, the D Major second theme all Viennese lilt. Stately and demure, the Romanza proceeds in C Major with touches of C Minor. The Allegretto Furtwangler drives hard, making this music akin to the spirit in the Menuet from the E-flat Symphony, K. 543. The Berlin strings play with the tip of the bow for the Rondo, a heatedly propulsive rendition with light feet despite the occasional modulation into darker realms. The Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio (1933) moves at a furious pace, the janissary figures and fugal filigree in ceaseless dervish energies, with only a moment spent for tender sentiments. The Marriage of Figaro evokes resplendent pomp and feral ceremony, the Mannheim rockets and brass work incandescent.
The Rossini Overture to the Barber of Seville (1935) opens sostenuto, a bit formal for the madcap main course of the piece, taken at a tempo that can only mean to rival Toscanini’s virtuoso renditions. Lovely turns and ornaments from the BPO woodwinds and horns, the buffa character of the music sweeping and gathering itself into a furious crescendo. The mock-militant La Gazza Ladra (1930) enjoys a grand scale; and the interplay of strings, winds, and horns, along with the ubiquitous side drum, scurries along in an impish manner that the master of the “orchestral lollipop,” Sir Thomas Beecham, could well relish.
The two Brahms Hungarian Dances (1930) alternately lumber and careen wildly, the discipline of the BPO quite able to adjust to Furtwaengler’s mercurial manipulations of tempo and dynamics. If the No. 10 reels, the G Minor pants and twitters in hectic passion. The gypsy blood clearly pulses with fire, the music swelling in the bass as the harmonic rhythm quite explodes with primal energy. The gypsy impetus inflames the surprisingly delicate rendition of the Der Fledermaus Overture (1937), recorded in the last year of Furwaengler’s Polydor contract prior to signing with EMI and German Electrola. The Viennese touches and slides, the sleekly diaphanous timbres, each align Furtwaengler with that same elegance of delivery manifest in Erich Kleiber, Clemens Krauss, and Hans Knappertsbusch in this frothy music.
— Gary Lemco
