Concerto for violin, cello & orchestra in A minor ("Double"), Op. 102
As with any disc bearing a performance by the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, one has to check carefully with the present performance of Brahms' First Symphony to see when it was recorded and then check even more carefully to see what other labels have released it before. What we have here is Furtwängler's second complete recording of the work taped on July 13, 1950. The January 23, 1945, recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker is of only the finale, while the August 13, 1947, recording with the Wiener ...
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As with any disc bearing a performance by the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, one has to check carefully with the present performance of Brahms' First Symphony to see when it was recorded and then check even more carefully to see what other labels have released it before. What we have here is Furtwängler's second complete recording of the work taped on July 13, 1950. The January 23, 1945, recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker is of only the finale, while the August 13, 1947, recording with the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Salzburg Festival is of doubtful authenticity, thereby leaving only the August 27, 1947, recording with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra with its poor sound and scrappy orchestral performance before this one. And prior to this release, there hadn't been many releases of the 1950 recording, and only one had listenable sound: the Music & Arts release coupled with Furtwängler's awful 1948 Swedish recording of the same composer's Ein Deutsches Requiem.Given this context,...
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