What a difference a day makes.

I recently purchased a Lys transfer of Wilhelm Furtwangler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Bruckner’s 8th Symphony. This is the March 14th, 1949 recording. A few months back I also purchased the March 15th recording in a Music & Arts transfer. What a difference. Whereas I had reservations about the first two movements from the March 15th performance, I have no such reservations about the March 14th performance. In fact, I have nothing but admiration for the performance.

Every aspect of the performance is better. The sound, in particular, is so far superior to the M&A transfer that one hears more musical detail in every passage. There are still a few places where the timpani overpower everything else, but at least the strings and brass can be discerned if one tries hard enough. And the audience is so much quieter. As for the performance, the opening movement has so much more impact and such power that the performance on the 15th, and that sets the tone for the rest of the work. The Scherzo is more imposing, more frightening, just as it should be. The third movement is played with beauty and control. And the final movement! Oh what a final movement! Here Furtwangler reveals his genius in a most striking manner. No bland, slavish, by-the-numbers approach to the score hear. He varies the tempi to brilliant effect in some passages, creating a truly intense experience in places. The final recapitulation at the end of the work is amazing. This stands as one of the finest recordings ever of this work. Now, for that 1942 recording . . .

I cannot recommend this performance highly enough.

[This message was edited by Todd Arola on THURSDAY 18 October 2001 at 20:56.]