thumb|upright|Furtwängler in 1912

Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , ; ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major influence for many later conductors, and his name is often mentioned when discussing their interpretative styles.

Furtwängler was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic between 1922 and 1945, and from 1952 until 1954. He was also principal conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (1922–26), and was a guest conductor of other major orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic.

Although not an adherent of Nazism, he was the foremost conductor to remain in Germany during the Nazi era. Despite his open opposition to antisemitism and the ubiquity of Nazi symbolism, the regime did not seek to suppress him, at Joseph Goebbels' insistence, for propaganda reasons. This situation caused lasting controversy, and the extent to which his presence lent prestige to Nazi Germany is still debated.

Early life

thumb|upright|Furtwängler in 1925

Wilhelm Furtwängler was born into a prominent family in Schöneberg, Germany (now a district/borough of Berlin). His father, Adolf Furtwängler, was an archaeologist, and his mother was a painter. Most of his childhood was spent in Munich, where his father taught at the city's Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). He was given a musical education from an early age, and developed a great love for Ludwig van Beethoven, a composer with whose works he remained closely associated throughout his life.

As a boy he sometimes stayed with his grandmother in Mannheim. Through her family he met the Geissmars, a Jewish family who were leading lawyers and amateur musicians in the town. Berta Geissmar later wrote, "Furtwängler became so good at [skiing] as to attain almost professional skill... Almost every sport appealed to him: he loved tennis, sailing and swimming... He was a good horseman..." She also said that he was a strong mountain climber and hiker.

Career

Although Furtwängler achieved fame chiefly from his conducting, he regarded himself foremost as a composer. He began conducting in order to perform his own works. By age of twenty, he had composed several works. However, they were not well received, and that, combined with the financial insecurity of a career as a composer, led him to concentrate on conducting. He made his conducting debut with the Kaim Orchestra (now the Munich Philharmonic) in Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony. He subsequently held conducting posts at Munich, Strasbourg, Lübeck, Mannheim, Frankfurt, and Vienna.

Furtwangler succeeded Artur Bodanzky as principal conductor of the Mannheim Opera and Music Academy in 1915, remaining until 1920.

Berta Geissmar subsequently became his secretary and business manager, in Mannheim and later in Berlin, until she was forced to leave Germany in 1935. From 1921 onwards, Furtwängler shared holidays in the Engadin with Berta and her mother. In 1924 he bought a house there. After he married, the house was open to a wide circle of friends.

In 1920 he was appointed conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin succeeding Richard Strauss. In January 1922, following the sudden death of Arthur Nikisch, he was appointed to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic, again in succession to Nikisch. Furtwängler made his London debut in 1924, and continued to appear there before the outbreak of World War II as late as 1938, when he conducted Richard Wagner's Ring. Goebbels and Göring ordered their administration to listen to Furtwängler's requests and to give him the impression that they would do what he asked. This led him to believe that he had some positive influence to stop the racial policy. He subsequently invited several Jewish and anti-fascist artists (such as Yehudi Menuhin, Artur Schnabel, and Pablo Casals) to perform as soloists in his 1933/34 season, but they refused to come to Nazi Germany. Furtwängler subsequently invited Jewish musicians from his orchestra such as Szymon Goldberg to play as soloists.

The Gestapo built a case against Furtwängler, noting that he was providing assistance to Jews. Furtwängler gave all his fees to German emigrants during his concerts outside Germany. The German literary scholar Hans Mayer was one of these emigrants. Mayer later observed that for performances of Wagner operas in Paris prior to the war, Furtwängler cast only German emigrants (Jews or political opponents to the Nazis) to sing. Georg Gerullis, a director at the Ministry of Culture remarked in a letter to Goebbels, "Can you name me a Jew on whose behalf Furtwängler has not intervened?"

As Nazi Germany increased the persecution of Jews, Jewish musicians were forced out of work and began to leave Germany. The Nazis were aware that Furtwängler was opposed to the policies and might also decide to go abroad, so the Berlin Philharmonic, which employed many Jews, was exempted from the policies. In 1933, when Bruno Walter was dismissed from his position as principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Nazis asked Furtwängler to replace him for an international tour. Their goal was to show to the world that Germany did not need Jewish musicians. Furtwängler refused, and it was Richard Strauss who replaced Walter.

Furtwängler never joined the Nazi Party. He refused to give the Nazi salute, to conduct the Horst-Wessel-Lied, or to sign his letters with "Heil Hitler", even those he wrote to Hitler. During the universal exposition held in Paris in 1937, a picture of the German delegation was taken in front of the Arc de Triomphe. In the picture, Furtwängler is the only German not giving the Nazi salute (he has his hand on his shoulder). This picture was suppressed at the time. The photo was, however, carefully preserved by the Gestapo, providing new proof that Furtwängler was opposed to Nazi policy.

On 25 November 1934, he wrote a letter in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, "Der Fall Hindemith" ("The Hindemith Case"), in support of the composer Paul Hindemith. Hindemith had been labelled a degenerate artist by the Nazis. Furtwängler also conducted a piece by Hindemith, Mathis der Maler, although the work had been banned by the Nazis. The concert received enormous acclaim and unleashed a political storm. The Nazis (especially Alfred Rosenberg, the Nazi Party's chief racial theorist) formed a violent conspiracy against the conductor, who resigned from his official positions, including as the vice-president of the Reichsmusikkammer and as a member of the Prussian State Council. His resignation from the latter position was refused by Göring. He was also forced by Goebbels to give up all his artistic positions.

Furtwängler decided to leave Germany, but the Nazis prevented him. They seized the opportunity to Aryanise the orchestra and its administrative staff. Most of the Jewish musicians of the orchestra had already left the country and found positions outside Germany, with Furtwängler's assistance.

The main target of the Nazis was Berta Geissmar. She wrote in her book about Furtwängler that she was so close to the conductor that the Nazis had begun an investigation to know if she was his mistress. After being harassed for a period of two years, she moved to London when she became Sir Thomas Beecham's main assistant. In the book she wrote on Furtwängler in England in 1943, she said:

<blockquote>Furtwängler, although he had decided to remain in Germany, was certainly no Nazi.... He had a private telephone line to me which was not connected via the exchange ... Before going to bed, he used to chat with me over telephone. Sometimes I told him amusing stories to cheer him up, sometimes we talked about politics. One of the main threats the Nazis used against Furtwängler and myself later on was the assertion that they had recorded all these conversations. I should not have thought that it was possible! Was there enough shellac? If the Nazis really did this, their ears must certainly have burnt, and it was not surprising that Furtwängler was eventually put on their black list, let alone myself.</blockquote>

Goebbels refused to meet Furtwängler to clarify his situation for several months. During the same period, many members of the orchestra and of his public were begging him not to emigrate and desert them. In addition, Goebbels sent him a clear signal that if he left Germany he would never be allowed back, frightening him with the prospect of permanent separation from his mother (to whom he was very close) and his children. Furtwängler considered himself responsible for the Berlin Philharmonic and for his family, and decided to stay.

Compromise of 1935

On 28 February 1935, Furtwängler met Goebbels, who wanted to keep Furtwängler in Germany, since he considered him, like Richard Strauss and Hans Pfitzner, a "national treasure". Goebbels asked him to pledge allegiance publicly to the new regime. Furtwängler refused. Goebbels then proposed that Furtwängler acknowledge publicly that Hitler was in charge of cultural policy. Furtwängler accepted: Hitler was a dictator and controlled everything in the country. But he added that it must be clear that he wanted nothing to do with the policy and that he would remain as a non-political artist, without any official position. The agreement was reached. Goebbels made an announcement declaring that Furtwängler's letter on Hindemith was not political: Furtwängler had spoken only from an artistic point of view, and it was Hitler who was in charge of the cultural policy in Germany.

Goebbels did not reveal the second part of the deal. However, the agreement between them was largely respected. At his subsequent denazification trial, Furtwängler was charged with conducting only two official concerts for the period 1933–1945. Furtwängler appeared in only two short propaganda films.

Other Nazi leaders were not satisfied with the compromise, since they believed that Furtwängler had not capitulated: Rosenberg demanded in vain that Furtwängler apologise to the regime.

Hitler now allowed him to have a new passport. When they met again in April, Hitler attacked Furtwängler for his support of modern music, and made him withdraw from regular conducting for the time being, save for his scheduled appearance at Bayreuth. However, Hitler confirmed that Furtwängler would not be given any official titles, and would be treated as a private individual. But Hitler refused Furtwängler's request to announce this, saying that it would be harmful for the "prestige of the State".

Furtwängler resumed conducting. On 25 April 1935, he returned to the Berlin Philharmonic with a program dedicated to Beethoven. Many people who had boycotted the orchestra during his absence came to the concert to support him. He was called out seventeen times. Furtwängler was so furious that he ripped the wooden panelling off a radiator. Franz Jastrau, the manager of the orchestra, suggested that he keep his baton in his right hand all the time. When he entered the hall, all the Nazi leaders were present making the Hitler salute, but Furtwängler kept hold of his baton and began the concert immediately. Hitler probably could not have imagined that such an affront was possible but decided to put up a good show: he sat down and the concert went on. Furtwängler accepted the post, but his telephone conversations were recorded by the Gestapo. On reading the American press reaction, Furtwängler chose not to accept the position in New York. Nor did he accept any position at the Berlin Opera.

1936 to 1937

Furtwängler consistently included Jewish and other non-Aryan musicians in his overseas tours during the 1930s, even as the Nazi regime tightened its grip. This was evident during his performances in France in April 1934, where he conducted Wagner operas. Hans Mayer, a professor of literature and a communist Jew who had fled Germany, reported after the war that Furtwängler had deliberately chosen a cast made up almost entirely of Jews or individuals who had been driven out of Germany for these concerts.

Arturo Toscanini, a prominent anti-fascist, was furious to learn that Furtwängler would be at the Festival. He accepted his engagement in Salzburg on the condition that he would not have to meet Furtwängler. But the two did meet, and argued over Furtwängler's actions. Toscanini argued: "I know quite well that you are not a member of the Party. I am also aware that you have helped your Jewish friends ... But everyone who conducts in the Third Reich is a Nazi!" Furtwängler emphatically denied this and said: "By that, you imply that art and music are merely propaganda, a false front, as it were, for any Government which happens to be in power. If a Nazi Government is in power, then, as a conductor, I am a Nazi; under the communists, I would be a Communist; under the democrats, a democrat... No, a thousand times no! Music belongs to a different world, and is above chance political events." Toscanini disagreed and that ended the discussion.

Furtwängler returned to the Bayreuth Festival, his relationship with Winifred Wagner worse than ever. He did not appear again in Bayreuth until 1943. This clear attack on Hitler caused a sharp reaction: Hitler wanted to drop Furtwängler from Bayreuth after all. A young, gifted Austrian conductor now appeared in Nazi Germany: Herbert von Karajan. Karajan had been a member of the Nazi Party since 1935, and was much more willing to participate in the propaganda of the new regime than Furtwängler.

Furtwängler had attended several of Karajan's concerts, praising his technical abilities but criticizing his conducting style. At the time, Furtwängler did not view Karajan as a serious competitor. However, this perception changed when Karajan conducted Fidelio and Tristan und Isolde in Berlin in late 1938. Göring, recognizing an opportunity, decided to take the initiative.

The article was part of a broader campaign targeting Furtwängler. Shortly after the Anschluss, Furtwängler discovered that a massive Swastika flag had been displayed in the hall of the Musikverein. Outraged, he refused to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, declaring, "as long as the rag is visible." His stance eventually led to the flag being removed.

Goebbels sought to dismantle the Vienna Philharmonic and transform the Vienna Opera and the Salzburg Festival into subsidiaries of the Berlin Opera and the Bayreuth Festival, respectively. Additionally, he aimed to confiscate the world's largest musical collection, housed by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, and relocate it to Berlin. Hitler's ultimate goal was to erase the notion that Austria had developed its own distinct cultural identity, separate from Germany. In response, Austrian musical circles turned to Furtwängler, who served as the honorary president of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, urging him to help protect their heritage.

This concert, along with another he conducted in Berlin in 1942 for Hitler's birthday, led to significant criticism of Furtwängler after the war. However, Furtwängler had successfully avoided participating in the Party Congress itself. Moreover, he had managed to preserve the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as the musical collections of Vienna and the Vienna Opera. Through his efforts, he persuaded Hitler and Goebbels to approve the appointment of Karl Böhm as artistic director of the Vienna Opera. During this period, Goebbels remarked that Furtwängler was "willing to place himself at my disposal for any of my activities," describing him as "an out-and-out chauvinist." However, Goebbels frequently lamented that Furtwängler continued to assist Jews and "half-Jews," a source of ongoing frustration throughout the war.

In his diary, Goebbels accused Furtwängler of attempting to undermine Nazi cultural policy. For example, he wrote that Furtwängler supported the Salzburg Festival as a counterbalance to the Bayreuth Festival, which was a cornerstone of the Nazi regime's cultural propaganda.

World War II

During the war, Furtwängler tried to avoid conducting in occupied Europe. He said: "I will never play in a country such as France, which I am so much attached to, considering myself a 'vanquisher'. I will conduct there again only when the country has been liberated". He refused to go to France during its occupation, although the Nazis tried to force him to conduct there. where he conducted the Symphony No. 9 of Antonín Dvořák. He conducted in Oslo in 1943, where he helped the Jewish conductor Issay Dobrowen to flee to Sweden. However, following the German army's defeat during the Battle of Moscow, Goebbels decided to deliver a lengthy speech on the eve of Hitler's birthday to rally the German nation. The speech was to be followed by a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which Goebbels wanted Furtwängler to conduct to lend a transcendent dimension to the event. Shortly before the performance, Goebbels called Furtwängler and urged him to agree to conduct, but Furtwängler refused, citing a lack of time to rehearse and his prior commitments to perform in Vienna.

Enraged, Goebbels used threats and intimidation to force the organizers in Vienna to cancel the concerts, with some even being physically assaulted by the Nazis. Furtwängler was then ordered to return to Berlin to conduct the symphony. Determined to prevent such situations in the future, Furtwängler began providing false medical certificates in advance during 1943 and 1944 to ensure he would not be compelled to participate in similar events.

It is now known that Furtwängler continued to use his influence to help Jewish musicians and non-musicians escape Nazi Germany. He managed to have Max Zweig, a nephew of conductor Fritz Zweig, released from Dachau concentration camp. Others, from an extensive list of Jews he helped, included Carl Flesch, Josef Krips and the composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Furtwängler refused to participate in the propaganda film Philharmoniker. Goebbels wanted Furtwängler to feature in it, but Furtwängler declined to take part. The film was finished in December 1943 showing many conductors connected with the Berlin Philharmonic, including Eugen Jochum, Karl Böhm, Hans Knappertsbusch, and Richard Strauss, but not Furtwängler. Goebbels also asked Furtwängler to direct the music in a film about Beethoven, again for propaganda purposes. They quarrelled violently about this project. Furtwängler told him "You are wrong, Herr Minister, if you think you can exploit Beethoven in a film." Goebbels gave up his plans for the film.

In April 1944, Goebbels wrote:

<blockquote>Furtwängler has never been a National Socialist. Nor has he ever made any bones about it, which Jews and emigrants thought was sufficient to consider him as one of them, a key representative of so-called 'inner emigration'. Furtwängler['s] stance towards us has not changed in the least.</blockquote>

Friedelind Wagner, a vocal opponent of the Nazis, recounted a conversation with her mother, Winifred Wagner, a staunch supporter of Hitler and a close friend of his. During the war, Friedelind reported that Hitler neither trusted nor liked Furtwängler, and that both Göring and Goebbels were frustrated by Furtwängler's continued support for his 'undesirable friends.' Despite this, Hitler, in recognition of Furtwängler's refusal to leave Berlin even as it came under bombardment, ordered Albert Speer to construct a special air raid shelter for the conductor and his family. Furtwängler declined the offer, but Speer went ahead and built the shelter in the house against Furtwängler's wishes.

Speer later revealed that in December 1944, Furtwängler asked him whether Germany had any chance of winning the war. Speer responded in the negative and advised Furtwängler to flee to Switzerland to avoid potential Nazi retribution. In 1944, Furtwängler stood apart as the only prominent German artist to refuse to sign the brochure "We Stand and Fall with Adolf Hitler".

Furtwängler's name appeared on the Gottbegnadeten list ('God-Gifted List') of September 1944 as one of only three musicians in the special category designated as unersetzliche Künstler ("indispensable artists"), alongside Richard Strauss and Hans Pfitzner. However, he was removed from the list on 7 December 1944 due to his connections with the German resistance, which had organized the 20 July plot. During his denazification trial, Furtwängler stated that while he was aware of the plot to assassinate Hitler, he did not play a role in its organization. He had a close relationship with Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key conspirators, and his doctor, Johannes Ludwig Schmitt, who provided him with numerous false health prescriptions to circumvent official requirements, was a member of the Kreisau Circle.

After World War II

thumb|Furtwängler in 1950s

In February 1946, Furtwängler met Curt Riess, a German Jew who had fled Germany in 1933, in Vienna. Riess, a musician, writer, and journalist, later authored a book about Furtwängler. At the time, Riess was working as a correspondent for American newspapers in Switzerland. Initially, he viewed Furtwängler as a Nazi collaborator and opposed his conducting in Switzerland in 1945. However, when Furtwängler requested a meeting, Riess thoroughly examined the documents related to Furtwängler's case. This led to a complete change of heart: Riess realized that Furtwängler had never been a Nazi and had, in fact, helped many people of Jewish origin. Riess subsequently became Furtwängler's "denazification advisor" and devoted the next two years to securing his exoneration. As Roger Smithson concludes in his article 'Furtwängler's Silent Years (1945–1947)': "Ultimately Furtwängler's return to conducting was very largely the result of skill and stubbornness of Curt Riess. Furtwängler's admirers owe him a great debt."

Furtwängler initially suggested that Riess write articles about him based on the extensive documentation he had provided, leveraging Riess's background as a journalist. However, Riess preferred to take a more direct approach and met with General Robert A. McClure, who was responsible for Furtwängler's case. After reviewing the documents, which had been translated into English, and meeting with Riess, General McClure concluded that no serious charges could be brought against Furtwängler. He acknowledged that the conductor had been the subject of a mistake and described him as 'a very good man.' McClure requested that Riess advise Furtwängler not to speak to the press, as it might create the impression that pressure was being exerted on the Allied forces. He assured Riess that the case would be resolved within weeks. Although Riess sent a telegram to Furtwängler conveying this message, it arrived too late, having been delayed en route.

In the meantime, Furtwängler made a serious misstep by traveling to Berlin, which was under Soviet occupation at the time. The Soviets welcomed him as a Head of State, as they sought to recruit the man described by Arsenyi Gouliga, the Soviet representative at Furtwängler's trial, as the "greatest conductor in the world" to lead a grand cultural initiative in Berlin. Specifically, they offered him the position of director of the Berlin State Opera, located in the Soviet zone. This development forced General Robert A. McClure to subject Furtwängler to the standard denazification process. McClure explained to Curt Riess, via telephone, He was accused of conducting two official Nazi concerts during the period 1933–1945. Furtwängler countered by stating that these two concerts, which he claimed were "extorted" from him, had allowed him to avoid conducting sixty others. The first concert took place on 3 February 1938 for the Hitler Youth. It was presented to Furtwängler as an opportunity to introduce younger generations to classical music. However, as Fred Prieberg recounts: "When he looked at the audience, he realized that this was more than just a concert for schoolchildren in uniform; a whole collection of prominent political figures were sitting there as well... and it was the last time he raised his baton for this purpose." The chair of the commission, Alex Vogel, known for being a communist, started the trial with the following statement:

<blockquote>The investigations showed that Furtwängler had not been a member of any [Nazi] organization, that he tried to help people persecuted because of their race, and that he also avoided... formalities such as giving the Hitler salute. Von Benda claimed that during an argument with another German musician, he overheard Furtwängler say: "A Jew like Sabata cannot play Brahms' music." However, this accusation quickly unraveled. Furtwängler had frequently performed Brahms' music with Jewish musicians, particularly those in his own orchestra, making the claim either a mistake or a misunderstanding. It was far more likely that Furtwängler harbored no anti-Semitic feelings toward Sabata, who had been a close friend. Furthermore, Hans von Benda admitted that he had not been directly present when the alleged statement was made, which undermined the credibility of his testimony and led the prosecution to dismiss it.

The motivations behind von Benda's actions became clearer over time. He had been dismissed from his position as artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic on 22 December 1939 due to numerous serious instances of professional misconduct.</blockquote>

As part of his closing remarks at his denazification trial, Furtwängler said:

<blockquote>I knew Germany was in a terrible crisis; I felt responsible for German music, and it was my task to survive this crisis, as much as I could. The concern that my art was misused for propaganda had to yield to the greater concern that German music be preserved, that music be given to the German people by its own musicians. These people, the compatriots of Bach and Beethoven, of Mozart and Schubert, still had to go on living under the control of a regime obsessed with total war. No one who did not live here himself in those days can possibly judge what it was like. Does Thomas Mann [who was critical of Furtwängler's actions] really believe that in 'the Germany of Himmler' one should not be permitted to play Beethoven? Could he not realize that people never needed more, never yearned more to hear Beethoven and his message of freedom and human love, than precisely these Germans, who had to live under Himmler's terror? I do not regret having stayed with them.</blockquote>

The prosecution itself acknowledging that no charge of anti-Semitism or sympathy for Nazi ideology could be brought against the conductor, Furtwängler was cleared on all the counts.</blockquote>

In 1949 Furtwängler accepted the position of principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. However the orchestra was forced to rescind the offer under the threat of a boycott from several prominent musicians including Arturo Toscanini, George Szell, Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Isaac Stern, and Alexander Brailowsky.

According to a New York Times report, Horowitz said that he "was prepared to forgive the small fry who had no alternative but to remain and work in Germany." But Furtwängler "was out of the country on several occasions and could have elected to keep out".

Wilhelm Furtwängler died on 30 November 1954 of pneumonia, in Baden-Baden. He was buried in Heidelberg cemetery, the Bergfriedhof, in his mother's vault. A large number of personalities from the artistic and political world were present, including Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

After Furtwängler's death, the Jewish writer and theater director Ernst Lothar said:

<blockquote>He was totally German and he remained so, despite the attacks. This is why he did not leave his defiled country, which was later counted to him as a stain by those who did not know him well enough. But he did not stay with Hitler and Himmler, but with Beethoven and Brahms.</blockquote>

At the end of his life, Yehudi Menuhin said of Furtwängler, "It was his greatness that attracted hatred".

Conducting style

Furtwängler possessed a unique and deeply personal philosophy of music. He viewed symphonic works as creations of nature, which could only be realized subjectively through sound. Neville Cardus, writing in the Manchester Guardian in 1954, eloquently described Furtwängler’s conducting style: "He did not regard the printed notes of the score as a final statement, but rather as so many symbols of an imaginative conception, ever changing and always to be felt and realized subjectively..." Similarly, conductor Henry Lewis remarked: "I admire Furtwängler for his originality and honesty. He liberated himself from the slavery of the score; he understood that the notes printed on the page are nothing but SYMBOLS. The score is neither the essence nor the spirit of the music. Furtwängler had the rare and extraordinary gift of transcending the written notes to reveal the true essence of music."

Many commentators and critics regard him as the greatest conductor in history. Musicologist Walter Frisch, in his book on the symphonies of Johannes Brahms, describes Furtwängler as "the finest Brahms conductor of his generation, perhaps of all time." Frisch highlights Furtwängler’s recordings as demonstrating "at once a greater attention to detail and to Brahms' markings than his contemporaries, and at the same time a larger sense of rhythmic-temporal flow that is never deflected by individual nuances." He praises Furtwängler’s ability "not only to respect, but to make musical sense of, dynamic markings and the indications of crescendo and diminuendo."

Frisch concludes that Furtwängler possessed "the rare combination of a conductor who understands both sound and structure." He notes Vladimir Ashkenazy who says that his sound "is never rough. It's very weighty but at the same time is never heavy. In his fortissimo you always feel every voice.... I have never heard so beautiful a fortissimo in an orchestra", and Daniel Barenboim says he "had a subtlety of tone color that was extremely rare. His sound was always 'rounded,' and incomparably more interesting than that of the great German conductors of his generation."

On the other hand, the critic David Hurwitz sharply criticizes what he terms "the Furtwängler wackos" who "will forgive him virtually any lapse, no matter how severe", and characterizes the conductor himself as "occasionally incandescent but criminally sloppy". Unlike conductors such as Carlos Kleiber or Sergiu Celibidache, Furtwängler did not try to reach the perfection in details, and the number of rehearsals with him was small. He said:

<blockquote>I am told that the more you rehearse, the better you play. This is wrong. We often try to reduce the unforeseen to a controllable level, to prevent a sudden impulse that escapes our ability to control, yet also responds to an obscure desire. Let's allow improvisation to have its place and play its role. I think that the true interpreter is the one who improvises. We have mechanized the art of conducting to an awful degree, in the quest of perfection rather than of dream.

<p>

As soon as rubato is obtained and calculated scientifically, it ceases to be true. Music making is something else than searching to achieve an accomplishment. But striving to attain it is beautiful. Some of Michelangelo's sculptures are perfect, others are just outlined and the latter ones move me more than the first perfect ones because here I find the essence of desire, of the wakening dream. That's what really moves me: fixing without freezing in cement, allowing chance its opportunity. Instead of perfection in details, Furtwängler was looking for the spiritual in art. Sergiu Celibidache explained,

<blockquote>Everybody was influenced at the time by Arturo Toscanini – it was easy to understand what he was trying to do: you didn't need any reference to spiritual dimension. There was a certain order in the way the music was presented. With Toscanini I never felt anything spiritual. With Furtwängler on the other hand, I understood that there I was confronted by something completely different: metaphysics, transcendence, the relationship between sounds and sonorities ... Furtwängler was not only a musician, he was a creator ... Furtwängler had the ear for it: not the physical ear, but the spiritual ear that captures these parallel movements.</blockquote>

thumb|Furtwängler commemorated on a stamp for [[West Berlin, 1955]]

Furtwängler's art of conducting is considered the synthesis and the peak of the so-called "Germanic school of conducting". This "school" was initiated by Richard Wagner. Unlike Mendelssohn's conducting style, which was "characterized by quick, even tempos and imbued with what many people regarded as model logic and precision ..., Wagner's way was broad, hyper-romantic and embraced the idea of tempo modulation". Wagner considered an interpretation as a re-creation and put more emphasis on the phrase than on the measure.

The fact that the tempo was changing was not something new; Beethoven himself interpreted his own music with a lot of freedom. Beethoven wrote: "my tempi are valid only for the first bars, as feeling and expression must have their own tempo", and "why do they annoy me by asking for my tempi? Either they are good musicians and ought to know how to play my music, or they are bad musicians and in that case my indications would be of no avail". Beethoven's disciples, such as Anton Schindler, testified that the composer varied the tempo when he conducted his works.

Wagner's tradition was followed by the first two permanent conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic. Hans von Bülow highlighted more the unitary structure of symphonic works, while Arthur Nikisch stressed the magnificence of tone. The styles of these two conductors were synthesized by Furtwängler. Furtwängler read Schenker's famous monograph on Beethoven's Ninth symphony in 1911, subsequently trying to find and read all his books. Furtwängler met Schenker in 1920, and they continuously worked together on the repertoire which Furtwängler conducted. Schenker never secured an academic position in Austria and Germany, in spite of Furtwängler's efforts to support him. Schenker depended on several patrons including Furtwängler. Furtwängler's second wife certified much later that Schenker had an immense influence on her husband. Schenker considered Furtwängler as the greatest conductor in the world and as the "only conductor who truly understood Beethoven".

Furtwängler's recordings are characterized by an "extraordinary sound wealth According to Furtwängler, he learned how to obtain this kind of sound from Arthur Nikisch. This richness of sound is partly due to his "vague" beat, often called a "fluid beat". This fluid beat created slight gaps between the sounds made by the musicians, allowing listeners to distinguish all the instruments in the orchestra, even in tutti sections. Vladimir Ashkenazy once said: "I never heard such beautiful fortissimi as Furtwängler's." According to Yehudi Menuhin, Furtwängler's fluid beat was more difficult but superior than Toscanini's very precise beat.

Unlike Otto Klemperer, Furtwängler did not try to suppress emotion in performance, instead giving a hyper romantic aspect to his interpretations. The emotional intensity of his World War II recordings is particularly famous. Conductor and pianist Christoph Eschenbach has said of Furtwängler that he was a "formidable magician, a man capable of setting an entire ensemble of musicians on fire, sending them into a state of ecstasy".

Furtwängler desired to retain an element of improvisation and of the unexpected in his concerts, each interpretation being conceived as a re-creation. More precisely, he said once: "You know, he’s simply the best. There’s no one like him… It’s hopeless. Kleiber was once asked why de didn't conduct Beethoven's ninth symphony. His reported reply was something to the effect of: "It's all been said already... by him [Furtwängler]". Similar remarks by Kleiber can be found about Bruckner's 8th, Bruckner's 4th, etc.

George Szell, whose precise musicianship was in many ways antithetical to Furtwängler's, always kept a picture of Furtwängler in his dressing room. Even Arturo Toscanini, usually regarded as Furtwängler's complete antithesis (and sharply critical of Furtwängler on political grounds), once said – when asked to name the World's greatest conductor apart from himself – "Furtwängler!". Herbert von Karajan, who in his early years was Furtwängler's rival, maintained throughout his life that Furtwängler was one of the great influences on his music making, even though his cool, objective, modern style had little in common with Furtwängler's white-hot Romanticism. Karajan said:

<blockquote>He certainly had an enormous influence on me ... I remember that when I was Generalmusikdirektor in Aachen, a friend invited me to a concert that Furtwängler gave in Cologne ... Furtwängler's performance of the Schumann's Fourth, which I didn't know at the time, opened up a new world for me. I was deeply impressed. I didn't want to forget this concert, so I immediately returned to Aachen.</blockquote>

And Claudio Abbado said in an interview about his career (published in 2004):

<blockquote>Furtwängler is the greatest of all […]; Admittedly, one can sometimes dispute his choices, his options, but enthusiasm almost always prevails, especially in Beethoven. He is the musician who had the greatest influence on my artistic education.</blockquote>

Furtwängler's performances of Beethoven, Wagner, Bruckner, and Brahms remain important reference points today, as do his interpretations of other works such as Haydn's 88th Symphony, Schubert's Ninth Symphony, and Schumann's Fourth Symphony. He was also a champion of modern music, notably the works of Paul Hindemith and Arnold Schoenberg and conducted the world premiere of Sergei Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto (with the composer at the piano) on 31 October 1932 as well as the world premiere performances of Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 1 in July 1927 at the ISCM Festival in Frankfurt (again with the composer at the piano).

The musicians who have expressed the highest opinion about Furtwängler are some of the most prominent ones of the 20th century such as Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, or Arthur Honegger. Soloists such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Yehudi Menuhin Pablo Casals, Kirsten Flagstad, Claudio Arrau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf who have played music with almost all the major conductors of the 20th century have clearly declared upon several occasions that, for them, Furtwängler was the most important one. For instance, Fischer-Dieskau said:

<blockquote>"For me, Wilhelm Furtwängler was the greatest conductor I have ever met. His art of conducting was the realization of a spiritual and intellectual conception. He was no 'time-beater'; his technique, often so much discussed and criticized, served solely to bring out the metaphysical aspect of the music. When he conducted, it was as if the work were being created anew, in a process of spiritual and intellectual revelation."</blockquote>

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

<blockquote>"Well", she sighed, "you see what we have been reduced to. We are now in a time when a Szell is considered a master. How small he was next to Furtwängler." Reeling this disbelief – not at her verdict, with which I agreed, but from the unvarnished acuteness of it – I stammered, "But how do you know Furtwängler? You never sang with him." "How do you think?" she stared at me with equal disbelief. "He started his career after the war in Italy [in 1947]. I heard dozens of his concerts there. To me, he Beethoven."</blockquote>

Notable recordings

There are a huge number of Furtwängler recordings currently available, mostly live. Many of these were made during World War II using experimental tape technology. After the war they were confiscated by the Soviet Union for decades, and have only recently become widely available, often on multiple labels. In spite of their limitations, the recordings from this era are widely admired by Furtwängler devotees.

The following represents only a small selection of some of Furtwängler's most famed recordings.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach, St Matthew Passion (first half only), live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, 1952 (Südwestfunk)
  • Bartók, Violin Concerto No. 2, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1953 (EMI)
  • Beethoven, Third Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, December 1944 (Music and Arts, Preiser, Tahra)
  • Beethoven, Third Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, December 1952 (Tahra)
  • Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, June 1943 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Enterprise, Music and Arts, Opus Kura, Tahra)
  • Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, May 1954 (Tahra)
  • Beethoven, Sixth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, March 1944 (Tahra)
  • Beethoven, Seventh Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1943 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts, Opus Kura)
  • Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, March 1942 with , Elisabeth Höngen, Peter Anders, Rudolf Watzke, and the Bruno Kittel Choir (Classica d'Oro, Music and Arts, Opus Kura, Tahra, SWF)
  • Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, live performance at the 29 July 1951 re-opening of Bayreuther Festspiele (not to be confused with EMI's release) with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen, Hans Hopf and Otto Edelmann. (Orfeo D'or, 2008).
  • Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, ostensibly a live performance at the 29 July 1951 re-opening of Bayreuther Festspiele but purported by the president of the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society of America to actually be dress-rehearsal takes edited by EMI into one recording, all performed prior to the actual public performance. (EMI, 1955).
  • Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, live performance at the 1954 Lucerne Festival with the London Philharmonia, Lucerne Festival Choir, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger and Otto Edelmann (Music and Arts, Tahra).
  • Beethoven, Violin Concerto, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, 1947 (Testament)
  • Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5, studio recording with Edwin Fischer and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1951 (Naxos)
  • Beethoven, Fidelio, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Kirsten Flagstad, Anton Dermota, Julius Patzak, Paul Schoeffler, Josef Greindl, and Hans Braun, August 1950 (Opus Kura)
  • Beethoven, Fidelio, both live and studio recordings, with Martha Mödl, his preferred soprano, in the title role, and Wolfgang Windgassen, Otto Edelmann, Gottlob Frick, Sena Jurinac, Rudolf Schock, Alfred Poell, Alwin Hendriks, Franz Bierbach, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
  • Brahms, First Symphony, live performance with the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg, October 1951 (Music and Arts, Tahra).
  • Brahms, Second Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, January 1945 (Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts)
  • Brahms, Third Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, December 1949 (EMI).
  • Brahms, Fourth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, December 1943 (Tahra, SWF)
  • Brahms, Fourth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1948 (EMI)
  • Brahms, Violin Concerto, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, 1949 (Tahra, Naxos)
  • Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2, live performance with Edwin Fischer and with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942 (Testament)
  • Bruckner, Fourth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1941 (WFCJ)
  • Bruckner, Fifth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1942 (Classica d'Oro, Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts, Testament).
  • Bruckner, Sixth Symphony (the first movement is missing), live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, November 1943 (Music and Arts)
  • Bruckner, Seventh Symphony (adagio only), live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic] April 1942 (Tahra).
  • Bruckner, Eighth Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, October 1944 (Deutsche Grammophon, Music and Arts)
  • Bruckner, Ninth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, October 1944 (Deutsche Grammophon)
  • Franck, Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, 1945 (SWF)
  • Furtwängler, Second Symphony, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, February 1953 (Orfeo)
  • Gluck, Alceste Ouverture, studio recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, 1954 (SWF)
  • Haendel, Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No. 10, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, February 1944 (Melodiya)
  • Haendel, Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No. 10, live performance with the Teatro Colón Orchester, 1950 (Disques Refrain)
  • Haydn, 88th Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 5 December 1951 (Deutsche Grammophon)
  • Hindemith, Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 16 September 1947 (Deutsche Grammophon, Urania)
  • Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, live performance with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Vienna Philharmonic, 1951 (Orfeo)
  • Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, studio recording with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1952 (Naxos, EMI)
  • Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, studio recording with Yehudi Menuhin and with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1952 (Naxos, EMI)
  • Mozart, Don Giovanni, the 1950, 1953 and 1954 Salzburg Festival recordings (in live performance). These have been made available on several labels, but mostly EMI. A filmed performance of Don Giovanni is also available, featuring Cesare Siepi, Otto Edelmann, Lisa Della Casa, Elisabeth Grümmer, and Anton Dermota.
  • Mozart, Die Zauberflöte, a live performance from 27 August 1949, featuring Walther Ludwig, Irmgard Seefried, Wilma Lipp, Gertrud Grob-Prandl, Ernst Haefliger, Hermann Uhde, and Josef Greindl.
  • Schubert, Eighth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, December 1944 (SWF)
  • Schubert. Ninth Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1951 (Deutsche Grammophon). The first movement is a supreme example of Furtwaengler's style. Note the sharp accelerandi at the end of the introduction and the middle of the recapitulation.
  • Schubert, Ninth Symphony, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942 (Deutsche Grammophon, Magic Master, Music and Arts, Opus Kura)
  • Schubert, Die Zauberharfe Overture, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, September 1953 (Deutsche Grammophon)
  • Schumann, Fourth Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon, May 1953 (Deutsche Grammophon).
  • Sibelius, En saga, live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic, February 1943 (SWF)
  • Tchaikovsky, Fourth Symphony, studio recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, 1951 (Tahra)
  • Tchaikovsky, Sixth Symphony Pathétique, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, His Master's Voice, 1938 (EMI, Naxos).
  • Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, studio recording with Flagstad, His Master's Voice, June 1952 (EMI, Naxos).
  • Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1950 (live recording from La Scala in Milan with Kirsten Flagstad)
  • Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen with Wolfgang Windgassen, Ludwig Suthaus, and Martha Mödl, 1953 (EMI) (recorded live in the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) studios).
  • Wagner, Die Walküre, his last recording in 1954. EMI planned to record "Der Ring des Nibelungen" in the studio under Furtwängler, but he only finished this work shortly before his death. The cast includes Martha Mödl (Brünnhilde), Leonie Rysanek (Sieglinde), Ludwig Suthaus (Siegmund), Gottlob Frick (Hunding), and Ferdinand Frantz (Wotan).

Notable premieres

  • Bartók, First Piano Concerto, the composer as soloist, Theater Orchestra, Frankfurt, 1 July 1927
  • Schoenberg, Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin, 2 December 1928
  • Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5, the composer as soloist, Berlin Philharmonic, 31 October 1932
  • Hindemith, Symphony: Mathis der Maler, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin, 11 March 1934
  • Richard Strauss, Four Last Songs, Kirsten Flagstad as soloist, Philharmonia Orchestra, London, 22 May 1950

Notable compositions

Orchestral

Early works

  • Overture in E Major, Op. 3 (1899)
  • Symphony in D major (1st movement: Allegro) (1902)
  • Symphony in B minor (Largo movement) (1908; the principal theme of this work was used as the leading theme of the 1st movement of the Symphony No. 1, in the same key)

Later works

  • Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1937, rev. 1952–54)
  • Symphony No. 1 in B minor (1941)
  • Symphony No. 2 in E minor (1947)
  • Symphony No. 3 in C minor (1954)

Chamber music

  • Piano Quintet (for two violins, viola, cello, and piano) in C major (1935)
  • Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor (1935)
  • Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major (1939)

Choral

(all early works)

  • Schwindet ihr dunklen Wölbungen droben (Chorus of Spirits, from Goethe's Faust) (1901–1902)
  • Religöser Hymnus (1903)
  • Te Deum for Choir and Orchestra (1902–1906) (rev. 1909) (first performed 1910)
  • British playwright Ronald Harwood's play Taking Sides (1995), set in 1946 in the American zone of occupied Berlin, is about U.S. accusations against Furtwängler of having served the Nazi regime. In 2001 the play was made into a motion picture directed by István Szabó and starring Harvey Keitel and featuring Stellan Skarsgård in the role of Furtwängler.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Furtwängler's full discography up to 2010 at Youngrok Lee's Classical Music page