Furtwangler rehearsals Brahms Symphony No.4 in 1948,London

Furtwangler rehearsals Brahms Symphony No.4 in 1948,London

[@davidheald2639]

What a performance. Never heard the Brahms 4th Symphony played like this. Truly remarkable. Furtwangler was the greatest of conductors, in that he had by some method by where he had a metaphysical connection with the actual music of Brahms. This relationship with the composers music was then imparted to the orchestra by Furtwangler producing a monumental performance

[@Methilde]

​Yes, a magician

[@germanchris4440]

And that means occult, which is demonic. That's the spirit of this fallen world including all of its art, indeed. But I know, in some cases it's really impressive and great.

[@QuickMadeUpName]

this clip never gets old, been re-watching it for years.

[@marcinstepien3920]

me too

[@MahlerBruckner]

I first saw this clip 10 years ago, watched it repeatedly, then managed to forget it for a few years. It's good to be back.

exactly the same feeling... since 25 years ... I am 41 now ;)

[@ragnarostbrok1254]

Ik ook

[@ragnarostbrok1254]

@ I will end like you. I think I was 16 when I found this video

[@denouveaubander2316]

this footage of furtwangler has me in tears every time I see it and I've seen it like 100 times

[@swimmad456]

Thank you Francis for this post. It says something about the British that 3 years after the most awful conflict, we were prepared to invite this cultural icon of our erstwhile enemy to our homeland to show how great art is made.

[@BorisGodunov]

Fantastic. My favorite interpreter of the Brahms 4th. Could the finale ever be so powerful with another? I doubt it.

[@detectivehome3318]

Try Stokowski

[@markdecker7489]

@@detectivehome3318 I have, thanks. My comment stands. :)

[@juanuceda401]

Try Carlos Kleiber in 1994 with BPO and H. v. Karajan in 1988 with BPO.

[@brucevannote5002]

Try Walter in 1960

[@markdecker7489]

@@brucevannote5002 I'm familiar (I think I have about 40 different recordings of the Brahms 4). Walter's is okay, but IMO nothing particularly outstanding. It seems almost too *polite,* with underwhelming (to me, anyway) brass and what seems like a thin string section. Then again, I have never much cared for the Columbia Symphony's sonics, something about the recording studio sounds a bit dead. And I vastly prefer Furtwangler's tempi, especially in the finale. Walter's drags a bit there. But where Furtwangler's really wins is how he brings out every layer and voice in the orchestra so well, making a luscious "fat" sound" while still having a brisk pace. He gets an unparalleled fullness without being *too* thick. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he always got that kind of sound from whatever orchestra he was leading.

[@pedrovski10]

This is incredible you'll never hear anything like this again from these journey man conductors we have now

[@mmarky26]

one of the most incredible and important pieces of classical music histroy. What a recording, what a speed, what a moment, insanity of Brahms truefully painted by Furtwangler. Can't stop looking at it.

[@Classical741]

I've heard or watched many, many performances of the 4th over the last 50 years, and none of them conveys as much pure forward-reaching excitement, passion and formal understanding as this one. If this was a rehearsal, what must have been the actual performance like?

[@violinistoftaupo]

I love the footage of Furtwangler. His unconventional conducting style is well described and is one of his trademarks.

[@violinthief]

Thank you for posting this! Though this rehearsal is in London, I believe it is the Berlin Philharmonic that is playing. Incredible performance.

[@MilaGontcharova]

Моё любимое Божество!!!!! BRAVO!!! Постоянно переслушиваю эту репетицию и слёзы сами наворачиваются от красоты и мощи. Какое счастье, что Бог подарил нам такого гения!

[@Hotrodpiano]

If that's his idea of a rehearsal....imagine the Concert. .. Perfect phrasing, great power to the point of being ominous, forward movement unstoppable as a high speed train, complete control and communion with orchestra, great example of the power of the human spirit

[@justorigores]

Sometimes the rehearsals are better than concerts

[@henkerfastwalker]

Einmalig. Was fuer ein grosser Dirigent. Mein Vater spielte das erste Fagott ! Er war, von den fuenfzigern an einer der bedeutensten Fagottisten in Deutschland und spielte auf einem Heckel Fagott fuer 60 Jahre ! Viele Schallplattenaufnahmen mit beruehmten Saengern und Musikern folgten und Konzerte mit Karl Richter auf der ganzen Welt. Bin sehr stolz auf Dich ! Ich vermisse Dich !

[@uliwidmaier2136]

Mein Gott, da bist Du ja durch Deinen bedeutenden Vater ganz nah dran am größten nachschaffenden Musiker aller Zeiten! Was hat er denn über Furtwängler gesagt?

[@Modernmanx]

Furwängler - the greatest conductor of all times! He creates music during the concert. Every concert is like the birth and creation of the music. His body is showing the musical ideas and not the beat.

[@jasyralozada5852]

Maravilloso material, pese a la época muy buena grabación, es grandioso que hoy podamos admirar de las maravillas de ese tiempo como lo fue Furtwangler. ¡ Danke schÖn!. :)

[@deadlift65]

There are many great conductors (thank God), but Furtwaengler has his own category.

[@Recolation]

Ah, the way the timpanist goes to town in the finale always gets me.

[@paulostroff99]

A rehearsal to end all rehearsals.TY for posting this treasure.

[@photo161]

a performance like no other...incredibly propulsive and dramatic...almost unbearably exciting.

[@scottgiles]

Astonishingly exciting. Really, I've never, never heard this done better!

[@DualThunder]

the venue sounds simply amazing.

[@mattpburke]

I don't know if people can imagine this, it's hard, but imagine this in glorious High Definition with Super Audio sound! Then we would truly hear what this would have sounded like. But....just LISTEN TO THAT!!!

[@АртемийСталобыть]

Crescendo from 4:05 is like tsunami...

[@wlrlel]

Yes it's so incredible...

[@alexandar.jovanovic]

They really do what composer says. This is ALLEGRO, this is ENERGICO, this is PASSIONATO. Don't know why, but many modern Brahms performances lack this dimension of agitation. It's all too clean and elegant.

[@henkerfastwalker]

Einfach einmalig.Von 1948 ! Am ende dieses Filmes, hinter dem Flutisten, erkenne ich meinen Vater ( geboren 1914 ), der nach dem Kriege eine der bedeutensten Fagottisten war. Er war dreieinhalb Jahre in Gefangenschaft, bis 1948 , wo man 1,8 Millionen Deutsche verhungern liss. Er war gerade nach Berlin zuruckgekommen.

[@crescentmoon54]

Up to this point I liked George Szell's Brahms Symphonies with Cleveland... but Furtwangler.... blasts off the earth with this!!

[@TabithaElkins]

Incredibly passionate! Love it!

[@KenKen3593]

Sometimes I just spend a minute watching the first few seconds of this over and over and over

[@MahlerBruckner]

This is just fantastic!

[@MrOlogramma]

wunderbar - wunderbar - wunderbar

[@StrivetobeDust]

Thank you! I wish the makers of The Art of Conducting had used this instead of the British newsreel which has a voice over on this very same rehersal that nearly drowns out the music.

[@FrancisZhou]

Thanks you for your appreciate. And as I know, there is not any Furtwangler's stereo recording left. I am so sorry about that.

[@マリウスパリス7]

Powerful but sensitive beauty buch and Brahms depth and high mood. Is unforgettable

[@隆鳥羽]

A great musician like Furtwangler performs in this way, such as a delight and merry child. Yes, Furtwangler seems as if he were a child, very enormously great child.He is the “Artist“.

[@packer812]

I don't which orchestra this is, but they sound as good as the Vienna Philharmonic. Furtwangler was a magician.

[@franciscomello5419]

The Berliners, in London

[@上田進-r2g]

ブラームス 交響曲第４番ホ短調第４楽章 ベルリン・フィル・ハーモニー交響楽団演奏 ヴィルヘルム・フルトヴェングラー指揮賛 ブラームスの 年 齢についての考察をしたのであります モーツァルト シューマン ショパン シューベルト 皆 若くして 昇 天したのであります ブラームスは 少しだけ 長く生きた のであります シューマンの 愛弟子である ブラームスは 師の教え通りの 美しい 音 楽を 作り上げたのでありますこの 交響曲第４番ホ短調の4楽章は 彼の 究 極の 傑 作であると思うのでありますフルトヴェングラー指揮 熱の入った 渾 身の 名演奏であると言われているのでありますそのように 思い 心を 集 中して 聴く事こそが 何よりも 肝 要であると思う 次 第であります 擱 筆

[@MegaClassicguy]

PS I have written a very long article on wikipedia with a part about the "siritual dimension" in Furtwângler's art where you can find quotations from these musicians. But it is wikipedia in french. If you have similar quotations from great musicians (not journalists or critics) about Kleiber I will be very interested in reading them.

[@MegaClassicguy]

John Ardoin has reported the following discussion he has had with Maria Callas in August 1968 after having listened to Beethoven's Eight with the Cleveland orchestra conducted by George Szell:

[@michaeloneill9020]

Curious what your thoughts on Szell are. Coincidentally, I thought Szell's Beethoven 8 was the finest 8 I have ever heard, particularly the 3rd movement.

[@paulostroff99]

Kleiber did a fabulous recording of Beethoven symphonies 5&7.Although his tempos are somewhat disjointed-the excitement level is tremendous.His Beethoven 9Th.reigns supreme.

[@biznock19]

Haha the first few seconds are hilarious

[@tristan0823]

何と言う集中、熱狂。リハーサルってことが信じられない。 凄い！

[@Methilde]

Amazing orchestra too

[@ilirllukaci5345]

Thanks.

[@maxlorenz24]

You are right. I think Furtwangler made the musicians to play "in state of Grace". He himself was probably in extasis most of the time on stage, I guess...

[@germanchris4440]

Demonic.

[@1401JSC]

Yeah...the doublebass bowing is underarm (continental) not as in England. It was however the position of this section that worried me, I thought that in the 40s, the Basses of the BPO were set behind the 1st violins. Does Fürt really need to rehearse Brahms with this orchestra???

[@MegaClassicguy]

Dear GA4N, I have written the article about Furtwängler on Wikipedia in french. I am french.

[@arachmakalk]

Brahms draws the map, Furtwängler shows us the door by turning the finale into a musical apocalypse, i would have loved visiting a performance by Furtwängler but i m too young!

[@gezbo66]

@pedrovski10 You bet mate. It blew my socks off. Incredible THIS IS CONDUCTING....x

[@StefanBevier]

the best

[@edouardchan8719]

The most fiery rehearsal ever

[@sethleach1]

Kudos for putting Kleiber before Karajan.

[@PinacoladaMatthew]

i thought Karajan's version was powerful, this was on a whole other level

[@carlosmighty]

The best version of the 4th symphony.

[@Hotrodpiano]

Comparison will do justice to neither. What is comparison but an attempt to find an explanation to the unexplainable in art, or putting into words what should remain Music, or unnecessary proof of our limits. Quoting what others said about Furtwaengler is to speak to people's rational proof seeking, whereas in Music only Music can convince the open heart.

[@kirkchau]

I think people over analyze this way too much. This guy is great. End of story. Nobody really has the right to say what kind of person he was. He's not living, what does it matter to us? Just listen to his music. And if you don't have any useful comments about his music, then just shut up. With that being said, Furtwangler was a brilliant conductor. You don't need a textbook example of skill to be any good. Real musicians rely on how they can make an image in a person's mind.

[@germanchris4440]

The sources of music do matter. Starting with the composer's inspiration, of course.

[@adityapurohit8232]

Incredible Brahms 4th under maestro Wilhelm Furthwangler.

[@jefolson6989]

He said a conductor should not beat time , but draw the shape of the music in the air.

[@entelekhia]

Furtwängler did a great job with Brahms. VERY slow first part but insanely good. Kleiber is also great. But my favorite Brahms conductor is Leonard Bernstein with Wiener Philharmoniker.

[@h.s.7734]

It's just a rehearsal! Clearly surpasses many ordinary common live performances at the moment. Recording technology really coudn't follow. C'est veraiment dnmage! 　この、リハ映像、記録の背景（アーカイブ）をはっきりさせてくれないか?歴史的記録だよ。リハでこれって、本番はどんな凄い演奏だったんだ…？録音、記録、残ってないのかな? 　演奏家の何人かが、カメラ目線になっちゃうのは、録画、映像記録がレアだった時代だな…。

[@jhb134]

Edwin: (grandson) - Are you aware that there's still, a Society, in France ... that concerns itself with Wilhelm F's legacy? There was an American (Society) also, but it has been relinquished; I have many of it's Newsletters.

[@carlosmunozsanmartin3401]

y todavia hay algunos que dudan que furt es el mejor director del siglo xx, no hay mejor version de la 4 sinfonia de bramhs y eso que he visto varias

[@edelamsee]

What did Callas say? PS I am granson of Furtwängler

[@larsbrp]

Is it true he had 13 kids before his second marriage? Did he love his kids?

[@chaconne.nipper]

最後の音をノーモーションで終わらせるこの大技！！

[@jin12345678]

is so ideal. he also gives the illusion of minimal control, leaving the orchestra to play uninhibited.

[@wxsty]

@Concertanti my friend on an orchestra told me that some of the best performances do occur during rehearsals. Nevertheless, this one is insurmountable by any standard.

[@luisinhomiranda5058]

el archivo es una joya.

[@MegaClassicguy]

with his friend Claudio Abbado (the name was missing)

[@ewetubeviewer]

@lolmanerik it's not Berlin - it's London.

[@BorisGodunov]

@StarXGamerEX Joy? You think so? The finale of the Brahms 4th is one of the darkest symphony endings. It ends pretty tragically, to my ears.

[@gorankatic40000bc]

What can be said for this mess of his hair and bad technique of combing he used? Nothing. Elisabeth should have done better job with her comb skills as he apparently never used one. Luckily baldness amends all present errors and errors of the past of not not being too much of a combable person.

[@wxsty]

He may deliberately be imprecise. His wanted the conductor and the orchestra to co-creates new music experience in each performance. A clear baton technique destroys the chemistry and liveliness of something that evolves on its own.

[@photo161]

The technique of successfully willing an orchestra to play beyond the limits of their own technique...that's no mean technical accomplishment.

[@malthuswasright]

One of the most moving performances I've seen was Mravinsky and the Leningrad Phil. As a musician I'd have struggled to follow him. But the results were astonishing.

[@cortootify]

what an idiot you are, you dont understand his technical precise.

[@johannesasfaw]

really? A mess? the first 2 bars are the most incredibly precise conducting I've ever seen already! It's a lot of technique - every going up happens exactly in half the time as going down which is v technical and helps to play together. Then he shows direction to the next bar by using slightly less space in going up, whereby the players know (because the baton goes up to a smaller height) they must play slightly faster for that beat. His technique (I only watched one minute so far) is already beyond what I see almost any other conductor ever do. There is great precision in my view (especially if one follows his baton). ... after seeing the whole video I see your point lol

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

You said that you wrote something , and that was in Wikipédia in french . Do you want that I respond to you in french ? It could be easier for us .

[@LuizBHMG]

Ist das eine Probe oder eine endgültig Aufführung?!?

[@ItJamesIs]

Which orchestra is this?

[@BorisGodunov]

Can we have this in English, please?

[@lolmanerik]

@ewetubeviewer ...Berlin Phil. not Londony Symph

[@MegaClassicguy]

Dear GA4N, if you feel this link to God with Kleiber, it is very nice. It is exactly what I feel whith Furtwängler. But more importantly than our two subjectiv points of view, this link to God it is what said musicians such as Menuhin, Schwarzkopf, Fiescher-Dieskau, Schönberg, Maria Callas, Hindemith, etc with Furtwängler...

[@ilbacioditosca]

Mr Furtwangler was a master of masters.There is a book" Furtwangler Recalled" where can read Yehudi Menuhin and his father i think Moshe Menuhin talking about Furtwangler.The world is rediscovering the truth not about him but of the musical concept he and others of the same school had. The Toscanini "legacy" is not a happy option specially for the German repertoire.

[@efghabcd4126]

この曲はフルトヴェングラーが一番いい

[@wxsty]

Who's karajan?

[@phillipecook3227]

Orchestra??

[@ransomcoates546]

90% of it is film of the orchestra playing.

[@BorisGodunov]

Slow??? Furtwangler's tempo is easily one of the fastest for this movement on record. He brings the movement in at ~9>30. Typically it's at least 10 minutes. If you want slow, see Bernstein's VPO performance. He drags it out to more than 11 minutes.

[@bjknobel]

Go to the URL line and cut-and-paste the following in after the last slash: watch?v=yCaaPaQx5zg .

[@MegaClassicguy]

oui bien sûr

[@wxsty]

ALL the other performances pale in the face of this one

[@ilbacioditosca]

the more modern pure and clear orchestra sound is musicaly empty, this is the only possible sound, MUSIC.

[@emtube9298]

lovelymess, of course there are countless preferences and tastes in music. But in this case, please cut Furtwangler a little slack due to the hideous recording. In spite of this primitive audio, the performance he evokes from this orchestra is tremendously moving. I feel elevated just having heard his snippet of a rehearsal!

[@mrshovelbottom7475]

1:58

[@svetlana14s]

Слыша (и видя) Фюртвенглера и Кнаппертсбуша, я начинаю понимать, почему немецкие ракеты в космос не летают.

[@photo161]

You may disagree with any, some or many of the particular interpretive detail of this performance, but in the end it is the overwhelming, the ferocious intensity of the playing that sweeps all before it. Brahm's raging heroic fatalism is conveyed to the absolute max. After hearing this, all other interpretations seem trite and cowardly.

[@jhb134]

The breadth and depth of the great, German conductor ... with a most-responsive Orchestra. IMO, the camera work is VERY fine, as it shows the Orch., and Wilhelm F, as the latter enunciates/leads the Orch., in a most-propulsive way, towards one of the GREATEST finishes, to this great Symphony.

[@ootamanabu6254]

0:01 professor and student communication ...........

[@AfroPoli]

Hahaha xD

[@emtube9298]

He's not playing the notes, he's "channeling" spirit of the music.

[@jin12345678]

watching this video I realize that the precision of this movements and his absolute control - unlike what most people think- is what made his conducting so great. watch as his left hand follows every note of a phrase, dictating exactly the phrasing and the dynamics, being as minimal as klemperer or celibidache while at the same time being as dynamic as toscanini or as richly expressive as stokowski. his conducting

[@TheBallet1]

timeless, organic, mighty Furtwangler.

[@FrancisZhou]

I am really glad to meet so many Furtwangler's Fans through KZbin.

[@HarryOKelly]

Rehearsal !!! He was the best conductor !

[@MilaGontcharova]

The God!!!

[@stephanoszwi3032]

He would almost certainly commit suicide these days, where everything good, beautiful and noble is being neglected and supressed.

[@Lefnuid-k7z]

I went to search other conductors' performance in this final part of movement 4, including Barenboim, Haitink, Bernstein, Ozawa, Karajan, Kleiber....I still find Furtwangler's version is the best. Ferocious, powerful, wild, intensive, impressive, fantastic....it is the best interpretation of Brahms's mind and spirit in his works (full of german's passion and proud for thier musical culture ). I agree with some comments that no one has done such astonishing performance like Furtwangler~. The orchestra was just like a group of uncontrollable horses..violently run very fast on a rubble road but can maintain their elegance and persistence till the end. After watching this video, I can realize why he chose to stay a country controlled by Hitler. He just wanted to protect the culture, spirit, and nature inherited by german musicians. Even he was condemed by some people or jews for not leaving the third reich, I think his strong passion about classical music made him still become one of the best conductor in the world. No wonder that Maria Callas said that he was Beethoven....In this short video, he was also Brahms.

[@filipprott2157]

Bareinboim has idea how to play B. And sure, no comparison to F among mentioned ones.

[@gdp6586]

Hooked on Furtwängler. Anything conducted by him always mesmerising!