Pristine Classical: Furtwängler's 1952 live Brahms Symphony 2, Double Concerto

[Andrew Rose]

Two major live Brahms recordings from Furtwängler in 1952

Furtwängler's Brahms has never sounded as superb as this!




PASC 341 FURTWÄNGLER conducts Brahms

Recorded 1952/49
Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Andrew Rose


BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
BRAHMS Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Willi Boskovsky violin
Emanuel Brabec cello
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Wilhelm Furtwängler conductor



Web page: http://tinyurl.com/PASC341w





Short notes


"The performance is incomparable ... for the moment I confess I know no
performance of this symphony which more strikingly illuminates those
points where this symphony is palpably at its greatest."
- Gramophone, 1985, on Furtwängler's Brahms Symphony No. 1

The quote above referred to the First Symphony issued here a week ago -
which came from the same concert as this week's Double Concerto
recording. It's coupled with another tour de force from Furtwängler, a
concert recording from May of the same year, 1952, in which he conducted
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Brahms' Second Symphony

XR remastering by Pristine has revealed both to hold excellent sound
quality far beyond that which has been heard these past 60 years. This
really is musical gold!




Notes On this recording

Both of these live recordings were made in the year of 1952 at a time
when technical sound quality was undergoing a revolutionary step forward
thanks to the advent both of tape and vinyl LP technologies almost
simultaneously. However the equipment of the day was not without its
sonic shortcomings, and both of these recordings suffered a slightly
harsh, boxy sound quality in their original states. Fortunately this can
now be largely remedied by Pristine's 32-bit XR remastering system,
which has made great strides in improving the tonal qualities of both
the Symphony and Concerto recordings.

In both cases the orchestras played slightly sharper than the standard
A=440Hz, and I've used careful analysis of electrical tones captured in
both recordings from mains interference as a guide to set pitch
precisely to that heard at each concert. The end result of this work is
to bring us closer than ever before to the sound of these concerts as
heard by Furtwängler and his 1952 audiences.

Note that the lack of applause and movement breaks were as found on my
source material.

Andrew Rose




Review Double Concerto

The Double Concerto was recorded at a live performance. Willi Boskovsky
had been the VPO's concertmaster since 1939, and Emanuel Brabec was the
orchestra's principal cellist. The acoustic is a little confined, and
the solo cello seems to catch the microphone slightly, but the balance
is reasonably good and the sound itself quite clear. The performance
starts unpromisingly, with fairly ordinary contributions from the
soloists and a rather heavy tutti from Furtwangler, but as the first
movement procedes a greater spirit grows, and soon soloists and
conductor establish a good rapport. The stow movement is given a lovely,
serene performance, although the finale is taken at a dangerously slow
tempo. There are some good touches here but a somewhat strained,
impatient quality in the solo playing, as if Boskovsky and Brabec wanted
to escape from the orchestra's somewhat lumbering presence. This is a
flawed performance, then, but it has thought-provoking and stimulating
qualities too.

A.S., Gramophone, September 1990





MP3 Sample Symphony No. 2, 1st mvt http://tinyurl.com/PASC341