{"product_id":"furtwangler-brahms-symphony-no-1-haydn-variations-1951-pasc563","title":"FURTWÄNGLER Brahms: Symphony No. 1, Haydn Variations (1951) - PASC563","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBRAHMS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eHaydn Variations\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBRAHMS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 1\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eLive broadcast recording, 1951\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 68:44\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eSinfonieorchester des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eWilhelm Furtwängler\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare magazine review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fIf I dreamed of the ideal Brahms First Symphony and Variations on a Theme of Haydn, it would sound just like this578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eWhen I first encountered this performance of the Brahms First Symphony in the 1990s, I reviewed it in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eFanfare \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e18:5,\n20:3, and 35:6, the latter two in a fine transfer by Tahra. I\ncommented: “If I had to choose a single recorded performance to convince\na listener that Wilhelm Furtwängler was one of the greatest conductors\nto make records, I would most likely choose this one, in part because of\nthe strength of the performance and in part because of its superior\nsound quality when compared to other Furtwängler recordings. Both works\ncome from the same concert, and together they should completely\noverwhelm anyone who cares about music.” (Also on the same program was\nthe Double Concerto with soloists Erich Röhn and Arthur Troester, which\ndoes not seem to have survived in recorded form). \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eNothing that I have heard in the ensuing years has\nchanged my mind. This is a classic concert recording adored by\nvirtually all who admire the conducting of Furtwängler and even some who\ndo not. Those who already own it in one of Tahra’s editions will want\nto know if Pristine’s is better enough to warrant replacement. After\nextensive A-B comparing of specific spots, and then listening through\nfrom beginning to end, my answer is yes. This has always been one of the\nsonically best of Furtwängler’s recordings, with a more natural\norchestral sonority and less dynamic compression than most. But as\nAndrew Rose points out in his “producer’s note,” restoration technology\ncontinues to improve. What this edition does is to clarify the texture\nof the bass (evident in the low brass, timpani, and the double basses),\nwhich was a bit wooly and unfocused in the Tahra, and Rose provides a\nmore natural warmth to the string sound. Even the woodwinds, always one\nof the best features of this recording, have a bit more color and\nvibrancy now. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eAll of these improvements work to demonstrate that\none of Furtwängler’s strengths was an orchestral colorist. He cared\nabout the variety of intensity possible in applying vibrato, and about\nthe exact balance between instruments, which affects orchestral timbre.\nParticularly in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eHaydn Variations\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e we hear the conductor shading dynamic adjustments with incredible subtlety and bridging tempo changes with impeccable logic. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003ePristine’s XR Ambient Stereo process gives the\nrecording a natural sense of space and warmth without ever sounding like\nartificial reverberation has been added. There are any number of\nrecordings carefully made under studio conditions in 1951 that do not\nsound as good as this does. Although in 1980 I entered a 1952 Berlin\nPhilharmonic\/Furtwängler Brahms First in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e’s\nHall of Fame, this release supersedes that one. Not only would I use\nthis recording to introduce any music lover to Furtwängler, but I would\nprobably also use it to introduce a newcomer to Brahms. If I dreamed of\nthe ideal Brahms First Symphony and Variations on a Theme of Haydn, it\nwould sound just like this. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003eHenry Fogel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"dateBlockDiv\"\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eThis article originally appeared in Issue 43:1 (Sept\/Oct 2019) of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003e Magazine.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC563.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\"...\u003ci\u003eFinally, we come to the Brahms disc. The Haydn Variations is a fine performance once again strengthened by the improvement in sonic clarity. But the First Symphony is even more than that. If you already know this performance and recording, you probably need not read further. But if you are unfamiliar with it, a few words are in order. This is the performance (in Tahra's prior transfer) I use most often to introduce Furtwängler to someone unfamiliar with his art. It has long been recognized as one of his greatest recorded documents, surprising since it is with neither of the two orchestras he worked with most regularly, but instead with the Hamburg Radio forces. The orchestra had been recently formed (under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt), and Furtwängler was invited to lead an all-Brahms concert on October 27, 1951, culminating with this grand and mesmerizing performance of the First Symphony. From the intensity of the strings and timpani at the opening to the final chords, this is Brahms that grabs you by the throat and won't let go. It is at once dramatic and lyrical, genial and stern, heaven-storming, and intimate. It has always been one of Furtwängler's best-sounding recordings, and was Tahra's first release over 10 years ago (FURT 1001). It was mightily impressive then, but now, shorn of the excessive \"ambience\" that had been added, it sounds even more natural and powerful. No one who loves this symphony should be without this recording\u003c\/i\u003e...\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHenry Fogel, Fanfare magazine, 2001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eReview of 2001 release as part of Tahra CD set\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Fanfare review of a previous remastering of these recordings offers great praise not only for the superlative performance, but also the advances in sound quality that were achieved between 1991 and 2001. A decade is a long time in sound restoration technology in the digital age. And so, nearly two decades on from the reviewed release, we can hear in the present Ambient Stereo XR-remaster just how much further progress has been made since the beginning of the present century. Sound once described as \"natural and powerful\" sounds today somewhat brittle and shrill, if certainly clean. There's an unnatural tubbiness and boxiness to the recording and a distinct lack of warmth and lower end heft. These are among the undesireable qualities the present release aims to deal with.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe early 1950s might well be regarded as the dawn of the hi-fi era. With the advent of vinyl long-playing records the home listener was finally starting to hear what recording engineers had known possible since the late 1930s, and things were improving apace across the world of recorded sound quality. Nevertheless there was still quite some way to go, and while the microphones used here in 1951 certainly were capable of capturing fine sound they were far from perfect. Rebalancing this sound using today's cutting-edge digital technology reveals the full depth and breadth of Furtwängler's orchestra, something only previously hinted at, as well as revealing hidden colours and detail previously obscured. It really is a total transformation; anyone who's ever loved this recording in the past really must hear it again in this fabulous new incarnation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrew Rose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 24px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFURTWÄNGLER\u003c\/b\u003e conducts Brahms\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eBRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn\u003c\/b\u003e, Op.56 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Theme. Andante  (2:24)\u003cbr\u003e2. Variation 1. Poco più animato  (1:20)\u003cbr\u003e3. Variation 2. Più vivace  (1:08)\u003cbr\u003e4. Variation 3. Con moto  (2:10)\u003cbr\u003e5. Variation 4. Andante con moto  (2:56)\u003cbr\u003e6. Variation 5. Vivace  (1:00)\u003cbr\u003e7. Variation 6. Vivace  (1:34)\u003cbr\u003e8. Variation 7. Grazioso  (3:23)\u003cbr\u003e9. Variation 8. Presto non troppo  (1:09)\u003cbr\u003e10. Finale. Andante  (4:07)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eBRAHMS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSymphony No. 1\u003c\/b\u003e in C minor, Op. 68 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e11. 1st mvt. - Un poco sostenuto - Allegro  (14:59)\u003cbr\u003e12. 2nd mvt. - Andante sostenuto  (10:09)\u003cbr\u003e13. 3rd mvt. - Un poco allegretto e grazioso  (5:13)\u003cbr\u003e14. 4th mvt. - Adagio - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio  (17:12)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSinfonieorchester des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks    \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003econducted by \u003cb\u003eWilhelm Furtwängler\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXR remastering by Andrew Rose\u003cbr\u003eCover artwork based on a photograph of Furtwängler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLive broadcast recording, 27 October 1951\u003cbr\u003eMusikhalle, Hamburg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTotal duration:  68:44    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC563.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC563.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932360724819,"sku":"jfs1789302643290","price":13.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932360757587,"sku":"siu1789302643291","price":9.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":54932360790355,"sku":"yms1789302643292","price":7.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/1833\/9155\/files\/furtwangler-brahms-symphony-no-1-haydn-variations-1951---pasc563_1.jpg?v=1789302651","url":"https:\/\/vendnora.com\/products\/furtwangler-brahms-symphony-no-1-haydn-variations-1951-pasc563","provider":"luckagni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}