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From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here.

BTW

62.108.1.71

I thank this love for Wilhelm completely to mister Patrick Stubbins, Dr. T and some others who hinted at his wartime Beethoven 9 before and yes, those wartime performances are mind-boggling, life-changing performances and I thank every religious entity they were recorded. I've got some of his Tchaikovsky and Schubert from Cairo on vinyl, but this Beethoven box convinced me Furtwangler was the greatest conductor ever, making me listen with different ears to his other recordings and making me bash other conductors. The competition isn't fair, he just was too good. I'm not a great fan of his postwar recordings, although his Scala Ring is among the best available, not to mention the 'Tristan und Isolde', but they are all more calm performances compared with the fire and intensity of the wartime recordings. I've got his Bruckner on order and Brahms will follow. Gergiev once declared that Furtwangler's Brahms were the best recordings he ever heard. That gives hope and also legitimation why Gergiev doesn't dare to record them at the moment. Ripening, maturing and gaining insight is a good thing for conductors and Furtie did it his complete life, experimenting on everything he thought about in music. He also wrote nice essays about Beethoven. Perhaps they aren't the ultimate performances, although I think they are, but they're utterly convincing and still unrivaled after so many years and they will leave you flabbergasted in your chair and spoiled as hell, not able to hear another recording of Beethoven again, spitting on Toscanini, laughing about Karajan, shitting on Haitink, thinking indifferently about Mengelberg and after that the addictive urge comes in - you will want more of his recordings and that's an expensive hobby.

Rob



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  • BTW - Rob 03:05:18 06/07/00 (0)


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