It's always a great pleasure to hear/see my friend and mentor, Yehudi Menuhin talk about music or anything. I was only 9 years old when Furtwaengler passed. I learned a lot from him anyway and also through my collaborations with Menuhin. Serious high art classical music is, in 2024, at a very low ebb.
Those who listen the music by the tact of Maestro Furtwangler weep for their country Gemany, for the maestro's respect and love are so deep and passionate.
Prof. Keller is absolutely right when he says that tempo is a by-product of structure and phrasing. The first movement of Mozart No. 40 is marked Allegro molto, certainly open to wide interpretation. Furtwaengler’s interpretation makes sense, though one might disagree with his tempo, because all pertinent details can be heard. Nothing is blurred or distorted. Furtwaengler’s various performances of the Brahms symphonies all have in common a careful attention to phrasing and letting the music breathe.
Dearest jkircher314, What a magnificent historical documentary. I never knew or heard of Wilhelm Furtwängler until late last night when I saw your video about his life. Your wonderful channel has connected me to some of the most amazing and important phenomenons in contemporary history of music. Your rich channel is informative, engaging and thought provoking. I've learned so much from your channel. Please accept my sincere gratitude for all of your great presentations here. They are truly unique in youtube and provide a great service to music and art. Please continue the wonderful work and never stop. I have to admit that I have not yet responded to your meaningful and lovely letter, because it requires time, energy and serious reflection that its a luxury for me. I apologize. Thanks to your hints, recently I have done some serious and in depth critical research about the life and the music of Stravinsky that I have not been able to write down my interpretations. All because of a lack of time. Warm greetings from Canada, Gene
After reading some of his stories, I don’t think he was a weak man. He just wanted to protect the cultural and artistic nature inside of classical music in his own country. He suffered lots of stress from Nazi officials, but also tried to protect Jew musicians as possible as he could. I don’t understand some Jews (mainly in US) condemned his stay in Germany when ruled by Nazi. However, if he had not chosen to stay there, and kept his conductor’s life, the BPO would not have went so well after the end of WWII.
I'm a musician and have been playing and listening to music for over sixty years. I'm a huge fan of Beethoven. I'm shocked that I had not heard of Furtwängler until a few days ago; when he was mentioned by the fictional conductor "Tár," in the film of the same name. I find his story fascinating.
I just can´t believe you are a musician, have been playing and listening music for over sixty years and moreover you haven´t heard of Furtwängler. I suppose you haven´t heard of Toscanini, Böhm or Karajan either.
@@kerrgal That´s OK, There are more of those you´ve probably never heard of and who are not so frequent in these days. Schuricht, Knappertsbusch... And they are really worth listening to.
I admit to have had a wrong idea about Furtwängler as a person. Had first, long time ago, to get rid of all those Nazi-myths around him. Now, having seen images from his earlier years and listened to the excellent commentaries in this documentary I am now a facionado. This teenager like Goethes Werther, this poet in spé, hyperintelligent, manifold artistic man. I start to feel great sympathy for him. i understand now what Furtwängler aimed at. And this in itself is enough to put his choice to stay in Germany during Hitler's reign (Hitler who diliked him as he did von Karajan) in a more positive light. Bearer in a utterly personal way of German culture in times of barbarism on fronts he didn't understand.
Pablo: fragment from Richard Strauss' Symphonic Poem 'Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche' (1894). After some excisting story. Very much a virtuoso piece. / Where are you from ? Spain ?
Hitler knew enough bout music to be dangerous and a nuisance. He exploited great musicians such as Furtwangler, Kna and Karajan, just as he exploited the music of Wagner, Beethoven and R Strauss. Furtwangler rescued Jewish musicians from the 3rd Reich. For that he needs to be treated with every bit the same reverence as Oskar Schindler, as well as of course to be considered THE greatest conductor from his era. As for the Furtwangler sound, it is magic. In terms of precesion in and of itself if one gives those Toscanini recordings everyone from the come scritto cult raves about one will hear plenty of blurred string playing, robbed beats, and lack of precision as well, along with the dry, unimaginative interpretations. Furtwangler took risks with the music because that's what conductors are actually supposed to do. Any group can read the black dots. A conductor is supposed to bring out something beyond those dots. Furtwangler did that better than anyone else in the history of conducting.
@@vijinanadu1962 Actually, though Hitler loudly proclaimed his love of Richard Wagner in public, according to Albert Speer (who spent a lot of time with him and sat through innumerable dinners at which Hitler talked, talked and talked some more), Hitler's favorite composer was Franz Lehár, best known for "The Merry Widow."
How marvelous to see here the young Barenboim, just as compelling at the keyboard as he was on the podium! If there is a recording of him playing the Furtwaengler concerto in concert, it should be offered to the public. He obviously got into the music and made it a part of his stream of consciousness. Didn’t he have some instruction from Furtwaengler when he was a boy?
Furtwangler: Not a Nazi, just a naïve genius that the Third Reich manipulated in a subtle and cautious manner for propaganda purposes, as they were fully cognizant of his publicly recognized artistic greatness which was rooted in his singularly-minded devotion to German culture.
Lol, he certainly wasn't naïve nor was he manipulated by the Third Reich, you nitwit; in fact, he was a constant thorn in their sides. You're probably thinking of Mengelberg, if you're thinking at all.
You understand Nazi wrongly: it is National Socialism, as socialism based on the idea of nation, not Soviet socialism based on the idea of class. Their social welfare system is the best at that time, which pressured the British to adopt the welfare state after the War. Have deep study of Hitler and Nazi, be fair, compare it with Stalin and Soviet Union at that time. Leave out the propoganda against Hitler and Nazi, take it as a natural product of WW1, the injustices done the the German people.
Thank you, I cannot wait to watch this, as I am slightly influenced by the film with Harvey Keitel and whilst I do not expect this documentary to address these issues fully, I want to shake off that story.
It seems his detractors wanted him to curb his talents just because he was German. No artist can ever do that. All strive for perfection and are their own most severe critic.
Entendía perfectamente lo que los compositores deseaban expresar. Es un Director genial. De hecho como Director de Orquesta fué un genio. Muy pocos como él. Amo a este hombre.
All these anti-Nazi intellectuals who fled Germany and then - from their relative comfort & safety - criticize those who stayed behind, don't have a clue what they had to endure. The refugee conductor here who says that Furtwangler "was a weak man" doesn't know what he's talking about. Who is weaker, one who runs away and throws stones from a safe distance, or one who stays, walking a fine line of resistance, risking regular persecution?
@@2Uahoj Nitpicking, that's not the point. You are saying the "refugee conductor" who called Furtwangler (a great musician and) a weak man, ran away from Germany to "throw stones from a safe distance". That's absurd, the conductor was Furtwangler's assistant, knew him well and admired him more than you do. He did not "run away", he was forced out. Exile is not a "safe" place.
@@mishoren Nonsense, that's your narrative. People who stayed in Germany were under enormous pressure. It's really absurd to judge from our completely safe and comfortable life today.
Hans Keller: "which is of course what Beethoven wanted": how the heck does he know? From an emotional standpoint, I agree with him, but that is only an opinion! I very much enjoyed seeing this again after many years. Furtwangler was a figure apart: the only conductor who came close was Celibadache - in Bruckner, he even exceeded Furtwangler's achievements in my opinion.
In the past I think Furtwangler is the best conductor of the 20th century: his Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart, recently, thanks to UA-cam, i found that his disciple: Celibidache stands higher than he does, just compare their 3 Bs and M, the touching stones, and you will understand what i mean. Zen is more subtle than anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner.
This is a tiny bit advanced for me a non composer or musician but only interested in music education, though not beyond my capacity to learn but advanced in the sciences of music. What are those tiny little tadpole things for?
Yes, Goebels hated him. And Furtwrangler never became a member of the nazi party. He neither accepted to salute no one in the nazi Dr. Strangelove way. And for sure there's much worst than him. Just think about the despicable Karajan, who was a member of the Nazi Party and did not hesitate to work gladly for that criminal "regime". But Karajan was never as prominent as Furtwrangler, he never had the size of a Kleiber, a Celibidache or of course, the unforgettable Furtwrangler. He played in another league, inspite his many sellings. After all, wasn't K, the jet set favourite Conductor basically a marketing product?? - would say that Deutsche Gramophone chose Karajan to be launched on big sales because of being so difficult to sell the great Celibidache. For this one did not wanted to make studio recordings. But, Furt could have escaped, and worked for the free world. It was quite rare that he remained under the horror of the nazi criminal regime. It remains difficult to understand, and in this sense, I understand Toscanini (as Horowitz, Rubinstein, Szell, Mann, Stern and others who never pardoned Furt staying) hard critics on him. Toscanini deeply disliked Furtwrangler, for what I know, because of having stayed working under those criminals. It's stated that he went very depressed because what was going on, in the nazi Germany. Well, would say it was to go nuts, if you stayed there. It's also said that Furt was a quite naive person. I would then ask if naive enough as not to realise he was being used for those criminal's propaganda ⁉️ - how could he ever tolerated that and remain there? - The explanation that says that he loved so much his Berlin Philarmoniker Orchestra and his mother, is not a good enough one. Not for me. And to say his position as Conductor was there, and he could separate well enough music from politics, is neither a good explanation. So, it becomes really difficult to understand why and how, could he have kept working under the daily terror that was the nazi criminal "regime". It's quite a subjective Conductor, that is truth, but never mind, for Beethoven there's nothing better than his war Symphonies recordings. His Wagner Tristan und Isolde was an excellent one, and his Brahms is also remarkable. Furtwrangler was a weird character, anyway. Genius or not, this is out of doubt. As Celibidache and Kleiber, Furtwrangler was a rare bird. 🐦🤔🙄😔👍😇
Actually in 1936 Arturo Toscanini, a princioledn anti-fascist who had been assaulted by Mussolini, tried to get Furtwängler the job of succeeding him at the New York Philharmonic. But the members of the orchestra's board of directors, many of whom were Jewish, rejected him over his Nazi affiliations One wonders how differently we would see Furtwänbgler today if he had got that job and fled Germany. In his 1947 book "The Other Side of the Record," Charles O'Connell claims that one reason the Nazis were able to keep Furtwängler in Germany was by essentially holding his father., anthropologist Adolf Furtwängler, hostage and threatening the old man with bodily harm if his son did anything to displease them.
@@mgconlan But if Furtwrangler was somehow forced to stay with the nazis because they had his father and so he was under thread, if this was so, he would have said it... And he never told nothing about...why⁉️ instead, he gave other explanations. As basically, his love for his Orchestra and him indifferent to politics... Don't know, but he could and should have gone on time. I never understood him. 🙄😳😔🙏
+eugene mathlong - second piece (at 2:48) from final movement of Beethoven's 6th symphony (Pastorale) - third piece (at 6:06) "Air" by J.S. Bach from 3. Suite für Orchester (D-Dur; BWV 1068), 2. Satz
Well in 1942 he did in fact conduct the Berlin Philharmonic for Hitler's birthday. So that claim is incorrect. Whilst not a Nazi at all, Hitler nevertheless expressed admiration for Furtwangler. This kind of white-washing historical facts is quite pathetic.
Desperately trying to see past Hans Keller's supercilious manner, but his habit of making a series of very contestable statements as if they are indisputable fact is very frustrating. Of his time I guess.
You mean when real personalities with clear statements were still a normality? -Unpleasantly, of course ... At least for many of today's so sensitive ears. But how nice that the times and the attitude of the people in them have improved considerably in this absolutely unspeakable 21st century in which we have now been allowed to end up. You people are just crazy now. - I'm sorry if this outdated way of saying things frustrates you too. Would an addition that is common today perhaps help? E.g. "But that's just my opinion." - After all, everyone is right in the post-postmodern age, right?
He wasn't inhumane when he rescued Jewish musicians from the Nazis. More nonsense gets said about Furtwangler in respect to WWII than any musician I can think of...including Richard Wagner (and there is much nonsense about Wagner as well)
Furtwangler is the only well known conductor whom I ignore as performer because [unlike Adolf Busch for one great example] he was quite happy to serve the Nazi cause by serving the NAZI PROMI and not letting his artistic prowess serve freedom rather than a terrible dictatorship. He could have left as late as 1942 when in Sweden. He was a vane and weak fellow in the moral sense, and musically he was not all that phenomenal either.
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. The "history" you produce in support of your provincial opinioneering has absolutely nothing to do with reality.
And What's the problem if he served the Nazi cause? Yes, what's the problem? Worse is to serve today the cause of Merkel (the destruction of the German people) idiot.
I think he was a fine conductor who pushed the regime somewhat but eventually came to terms with it in some fashion. An odd combination of subversion and it seems at least a tacit condoning of the regime.
George Johnson You are a parochial idiot. So was Shostakovich morally bankrupt because Stalin ruled the Soviet Union during much of his life ? Should he have been a collective farmer instead of a composer, in protest ? And what of the American musicians during whose lives continual wars are waged on lying pretexts ? According to your perspective there would never be art at all, because no government would ever be noble enough to be its context.
This documentary is a work of art in and of itself.
A brilliant documentary that shows the complexity of this great obsessive musician
This is a wonderful gift offered to all of us. Thank you. I especially cherished the opportunity to think and appreciate WF's playing Bach.
An exceptional documentary. Fascinating interviews and more than glimpses of his conducting, Thank you for making it available.
It's always a great pleasure to hear/see my friend and mentor, Yehudi Menuhin talk about music or anything. I was only 9 years old when Furtwaengler passed. I learned a lot from him anyway and also through my collaborations with Menuhin. Serious high art classical music is, in 2024, at a very low ebb.
A great gift to our musical world.......many thanks.
Как бы хотелось русские субтитры! Великий Фуртвенглер!
Those who listen the music by the tact of Maestro Furtwangler weep for their country Gemany, for the maestro's respect and love are so deep and passionate.
Correction: listen the music→listen to the music
Prof. Keller is absolutely right when he says that tempo is a by-product of structure and phrasing. The first movement of Mozart No. 40 is marked Allegro molto, certainly open to wide interpretation. Furtwaengler’s interpretation makes sense, though one might disagree with his tempo, because all pertinent details can be heard. Nothing is blurred or distorted. Furtwaengler’s various performances of the Brahms symphonies all have in common a careful attention to phrasing and letting the music breathe.
Dearest jkircher314,
What a magnificent historical documentary. I never knew or heard of Wilhelm Furtwängler until late last night when I saw your video about his life. Your wonderful channel has connected me to some of the most amazing and important phenomenons in contemporary history of music. Your rich channel is informative, engaging and thought provoking. I've learned so much from your channel. Please accept my sincere gratitude for all of your great presentations here. They are truly unique in youtube and provide a great service to music and art. Please continue the wonderful work and never stop.
I have to admit that I have not yet responded to your meaningful and lovely letter, because it requires time, energy and serious reflection that its a luxury for me. I apologize. Thanks to your hints, recently I have done some serious and in depth critical research about the life and the music of Stravinsky that I have not been able to write down my interpretations. All because of a lack of time.
Warm greetings from Canada,
Gene
Another Canadian here, so appreciative for this document of musical history. Thank you so much!
Thank you for uploading this, sheds some light on a man I previously knew little about.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have many of his recordings, all of them superb.
After reading some of his stories, I don’t think he was a weak man. He just wanted to protect the cultural and artistic nature inside of classical music in his own country. He suffered lots of stress from Nazi officials, but also tried to protect Jew musicians as possible as he could. I don’t understand some Jews (mainly in US) condemned his stay in Germany when ruled by Nazi. However, if he had not chosen to stay there, and kept his conductor’s life, the BPO would not have went so well after the end of WWII.
Wonderful! Thank you for posting!
I'm a musician and have been playing and listening to music for over sixty years. I'm a huge fan of Beethoven. I'm shocked that I had not heard of Furtwängler until a few days ago; when he was mentioned by the fictional conductor "Tár," in the film of the same name. I find his story fascinating.
I just can´t believe you are a musician, have been playing and listening music for over sixty years and moreover you haven´t heard of Furtwängler. I suppose you haven´t heard of Toscanini, Böhm or Karajan either.
@@edhanslick5630 It happens. I’ve heard of, and listen to all of those mentioned.
@@kerrgal That´s OK, There are more of those you´ve probably never heard of and who are not so frequent in these days. Schuricht, Knappertsbusch... And they are really worth listening to.
I admit to have had a wrong idea about Furtwängler as a person. Had first, long time ago, to get rid of all those Nazi-myths around him. Now, having seen images from his earlier years and listened to the excellent commentaries in this documentary I am now a facionado. This teenager like Goethes Werther, this poet in spé, hyperintelligent, manifold artistic man. I start to feel great sympathy for him. i understand now what Furtwängler aimed at. And this in itself is enough to put his choice to stay in Germany during Hitler's reign (Hitler who diliked him as he did von Karajan) in a more positive light. Bearer in a utterly personal way of German culture in times of barbarism on fronts he didn't understand.
+Nanno Jonkers 44:08 that musical is this?
Pablo: fragment from Richard Strauss' Symphonic Poem 'Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche' (1894). After some excisting story. Very much a virtuoso piece. / Where are you from ? Spain ?
Hitler knew enough bout music to be dangerous and a nuisance. He exploited great musicians such as Furtwangler, Kna and Karajan, just as he exploited the music of Wagner, Beethoven and R Strauss. Furtwangler rescued Jewish musicians from the 3rd Reich. For that he needs to be treated with every bit the same reverence as Oskar Schindler, as well as of course to be considered THE greatest conductor from his era.
As for the Furtwangler sound, it is magic. In terms of precesion in and of itself if one gives those Toscanini recordings everyone from the come scritto cult raves about one will hear plenty of blurred string playing, robbed beats, and lack of precision as well, along with the dry, unimaginative interpretations.
Furtwangler took risks with the music because that's what conductors are actually supposed to do. Any group can read the black dots. A conductor is supposed to bring out something beyond those dots. Furtwangler did that better than anyone else in the history of conducting.
@@pablopedace4865 I was about to say Til Eulenspiegel but someone beat me to it.
For an artist to find himself under a tyranny is a terrible thing.
mais c’est pire de faire carriére pendant que le collégues vont dans le lager
@@lyolevrich Hitler's favourite composer is Bruckner, so he is musical, not some ignorant tyrant.
@@vijinanadu1962 nothing to do with my comment:try to answer if you can
@@vijinanadu1962 Actually, though Hitler loudly proclaimed his love of Richard Wagner in public, according to Albert Speer (who spent a lot of time with him and sat through innumerable dinners at which Hitler talked, talked and talked some more), Hitler's favorite composer was Franz Lehár, best known for "The Merry Widow."
@@mgconlan Brahms favorite composer is actually Johann Strauss Jr.
How marvelous to see here the young Barenboim, just as compelling at the keyboard as he was on the podium! If there is a recording of him playing the Furtwaengler concerto in concert, it should be offered to the public. He obviously got into the music and made it a part of his stream of consciousness. Didn’t he have some instruction from Furtwaengler when he was a boy?
Furtwangler: Not a Nazi, just a naïve genius that the Third Reich manipulated in a subtle and cautious manner for propaganda purposes, as they were fully cognizant of his publicly recognized artistic greatness which was rooted in his singularly-minded devotion to German culture.
Lol, he certainly wasn't naïve nor was he manipulated by the Third Reich, you nitwit; in fact, he was a constant thorn in their sides. You're probably thinking of Mengelberg, if you're thinking at all.
You understand Nazi wrongly: it is National Socialism, as socialism based on the idea of nation, not Soviet socialism based on the idea of class. Their social welfare system is the best at that time, which pressured the British to adopt the welfare state after the War. Have deep study of Hitler and Nazi, be fair, compare it with Stalin and Soviet Union at that time. Leave out the propoganda against Hitler and Nazi, take it as a natural product of WW1, the injustices done the the German people.
@@kennethdower7425 most correct response. 😁
@@kennethdower7425 why he was a thorn in their sides?
Thank you, I cannot wait to watch this, as I am slightly influenced by the film with Harvey Keitel and whilst I do not expect this documentary to address these issues fully, I want to shake off that story.
that Brahms 4 finale though
It seems his detractors wanted him to curb his talents just because he was German. No artist can ever do that. All strive for perfection and are their own most severe critic.
Shostakovich certainly "angled" his gifts towards Sowjet propaganda and Mother Russia, admittedly during a War but same with Furty...
Entendía perfectamente lo que los compositores deseaban expresar. Es un Director genial. De hecho como Director de Orquesta fué un genio. Muy pocos como él. Amo a este hombre.
Thank you.
Era muy guapo de joven
puo' piacere non piacere ..... quando lo ascolto , sto male , in estasi e questo , solo con lui !
superb
Hay que ver eso para comprender la cultura y animo de alemanos .
All these anti-Nazi intellectuals who fled Germany and then - from their relative comfort & safety - criticize those who stayed behind, don't have a clue what they had to endure. The refugee conductor here who says that Furtwangler "was a weak man" doesn't know what he's talking about. Who is weaker, one who runs away and throws stones from a safe distance, or one who stays, walking a fine line of resistance, risking regular persecution?
Bravo! You said it all!
@2Uahoj You know nothing about history. Jewish musicians did not "run away" from Germany to "throw stones from a safe distance", they were forced out.
@@mishoren Never said "Jewish intellectuals."
Try harder to read posts accurately before you comment.
@@2Uahoj Nitpicking, that's not the point. You are saying the "refugee conductor" who called Furtwangler (a great musician and) a weak man, ran away from Germany to "throw stones from a safe distance". That's absurd, the conductor was Furtwangler's assistant, knew him well and admired him more than you do. He did not "run away", he was forced out. Exile is not a "safe" place.
@@mishoren Nonsense, that's your narrative. People who stayed in Germany were under enormous pressure. It's really absurd to judge from our completely safe and comfortable life today.
Does no one realize the same guy in this video interviewed Pink Floyd?
where? I would be interesting to know his name
Hans Keller: "which is of course what Beethoven wanted": how the heck does he know? From an emotional standpoint, I agree with him, but that is only an opinion! I very much enjoyed seeing this again after many years. Furtwangler was a figure apart: the only conductor who came close was Celibadache - in Bruckner, he even exceeded Furtwangler's achievements in my opinion.
In the past I think Furtwangler is the best conductor of the 20th century: his Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart, recently, thanks to UA-cam, i found that his disciple: Celibidache stands higher than he does, just compare their 3 Bs and M, the touching stones, and you will understand what i mean. Zen is more subtle than anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner.
@@vijinanadu1962 Fool.
Bavarian TV/BBC production, directed by Florian Furtwängler (ca. 1970)
This is a tiny bit advanced for me a non composer or musician but only interested in music education, though not beyond my capacity to learn but advanced in the sciences of music. What are those tiny little tadpole things for?
La Sacra Arte Germanica!
Tú lo has dicho, die heil'ge deutsche Kunst.
5:39 this incredibly beautiful visage ......
The rehearsal of Schubert 8 (52:49) is looking like going for some days at that rate!
Thanks! That was that I was looking for :)
Yes, Goebels hated him. And Furtwrangler never became a member of the nazi party. He neither accepted to salute no one in the nazi Dr. Strangelove way. And for sure there's much worst than him. Just think about the despicable Karajan, who was a member of the Nazi Party and did not hesitate to work gladly for that criminal "regime". But Karajan was never as prominent as Furtwrangler, he never had the size of a Kleiber, a Celibidache or of course, the unforgettable Furtwrangler. He played in another league, inspite his many sellings. After all, wasn't K, the jet set favourite Conductor basically a marketing product?? - would say that Deutsche Gramophone chose Karajan to be launched on big sales because of being so difficult to sell the great Celibidache. For this one did not wanted to make studio recordings. But, Furt could have escaped, and worked for the free world. It was quite rare that he remained under the horror of the nazi criminal regime. It remains difficult to understand, and in this sense, I understand Toscanini (as Horowitz, Rubinstein, Szell, Mann, Stern and others who never pardoned Furt staying) hard critics on him. Toscanini deeply disliked Furtwrangler, for what I know, because of having stayed working under those criminals. It's stated that he went very depressed because what was going on, in the nazi Germany. Well, would say it was to go nuts, if you stayed there. It's also said that Furt was a quite naive person. I would then ask if naive enough as not to realise he was being used for those criminal's propaganda ⁉️ - how could he ever tolerated that and remain there? - The explanation that says that he loved so much his Berlin Philarmoniker Orchestra and his mother, is not a good enough one. Not for me. And to say his position as Conductor was there, and he could separate well enough music from politics, is neither a good explanation. So, it becomes really difficult to understand why and how, could he have kept working under the daily terror that was the nazi criminal "regime". It's quite a subjective Conductor, that is truth, but never mind, for Beethoven there's nothing better than his war Symphonies recordings. His Wagner Tristan und Isolde was an excellent one, and his Brahms is also remarkable. Furtwrangler was a weird character, anyway. Genius or not, this is out of doubt. As Celibidache and Kleiber, Furtwrangler was a rare bird. 🐦🤔🙄😔👍😇
Actually in 1936 Arturo Toscanini, a princioledn anti-fascist who had been assaulted by Mussolini, tried to get Furtwängler the job of succeeding him at the New York Philharmonic. But the members of the orchestra's board of directors, many of whom were Jewish, rejected him over his Nazi affiliations One wonders how differently we would see Furtwänbgler today if he had got that job and fled Germany. In his 1947 book "The Other Side of the Record," Charles O'Connell claims that one reason the Nazis were able to keep Furtwängler in Germany was by essentially holding his father., anthropologist Adolf Furtwängler, hostage and threatening the old man with bodily harm if his son did anything to displease them.
@@mgconlan But if Furtwrangler was somehow forced to stay with the nazis because they had his father and so he was under thread, if this was so, he would have said it... And he never told nothing about...why⁉️ instead, he gave other explanations. As basically, his love for his Orchestra and him indifferent to politics... Don't know, but he could and should have gone on time. I never understood him. 🙄😳😔🙏
Karajan was never a nazi, read the biography by Richard Osborne. It addresses that issue in great detail.
Are you able to listen to his performances?
Almeno i sottotitoli
With due respect, at 20:00, are we seriously to think that Ludwig did not know what a tremolo was, or how to indicate one?
Please what are the second and third pieces of music from?
+eugene mathlong
- second piece (at 2:48) from final movement of Beethoven's 6th symphony (Pastorale)
- third piece (at 6:06) "Air" by J.S. Bach from 3. Suite für Orchester (D-Dur; BWV 1068), 2. Satz
C'est chiant, pourquoi aucune traduction en français ????
What does the narrator say in the beginning? “The conductor has one archenemy to fight: the _____” ??
Routine
Well in 1942 he did in fact conduct the Berlin Philharmonic for Hitler's birthday. So that claim is incorrect. Whilst not a Nazi at all, Hitler nevertheless expressed admiration for Furtwangler. This kind of white-washing historical facts is quite pathetic.
1:02:10 Mozart was always the exception :).
Very interesting. Does anyone know what the name of the work is that opens the documentary?
4th movement of Brahms symphony No.4
lone violist (brahms 4th) i recommend the 1943 recording with the berlin philharmonic
Desperately trying to see past Hans Keller's supercilious manner, but his habit of making a series of very contestable statements as if they are indisputable fact is very frustrating. Of his time I guess.
You mean when real personalities with clear statements were still a normality? -Unpleasantly, of course ... At least for many of today's so sensitive ears.
But how nice that the times and the attitude of the people in them have improved considerably in this absolutely unspeakable 21st century in which we have now been allowed to end up.
You people are just crazy now. - I'm sorry if this outdated way of saying things frustrates you too.
Would an addition that is common today perhaps help? E.g. "But that's just my opinion." - After all, everyone is right in the post-postmodern age, right?
By the way, no one Jew in orchestra, that's perfect
A little less of Hans Keller would gave been welcome.
グレイを連想するんだけど。
What is the piece called that the video starts with?
Brahms' 4th, last movement,ending
Brahms symphonie n°4 en mi mineur op.98 mouvement 4 finale Piu allegro
@silverbud :D
So viel Neid.
Tee hee.......
I wonder if she has indoor heating and plumbing....we might be soul mates with out knowing it yet
shapeshifter
" . . . a weak man." Who proved that even great art can be inhumane.
He wasn't inhumane when he rescued Jewish musicians from the Nazis. More nonsense gets said about Furtwangler in respect to WWII than any musician I can think of...including Richard Wagner (and there is much nonsense about Wagner as well)
🐢
dried insensitive fish
Yes,, indeed. He was a genius but still.Mazi. This fact made him satanic.
And what are today's people? Times in general were never more satanic than right now in the day we have ended up in.
Furtwangler is the only well known conductor whom I ignore as performer because [unlike Adolf Busch for one great example] he was quite happy to serve the Nazi cause by serving the NAZI PROMI and not letting his artistic prowess serve freedom rather than a terrible dictatorship. He could have left as late as 1942 when in Sweden. He was a vane and weak fellow in the moral sense, and musically he was not all that phenomenal either.
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. The "history" you produce in support of your provincial opinioneering has absolutely nothing to do with reality.
And What's the problem if he served the Nazi cause? Yes, what's the problem? Worse is to serve today the cause of Merkel (the destruction of the German people) idiot.
I think he was a fine conductor who pushed the regime somewhat but eventually came to terms with it in some fashion. An odd combination of subversion and it seems at least a tacit condoning of the regime.
@@GBADCD
Thank you for your comment.
George Johnson You are a parochial idiot. So was Shostakovich morally bankrupt because Stalin ruled the Soviet Union during much of his life ? Should he have been a collective farmer instead of a composer, in protest ? And what of the American musicians during whose lives continual wars are waged on lying pretexts ? According to your perspective there would never be art at all, because no government would ever be noble enough to be its context.
His own music proves the point. It has no soul at all.
seems that you know nothing about classic music at all