Beethoven & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos
Beethoven & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos
表演者: Wilhelm Furtw?ngler/Yehudi Menuhin
介质: Compact Disc
发行时间: 1984
唱片数: 1
出版者: EMI
条形码: 0077774711920
专辑简介
YEHUDI MENUHIN,
Violin
Philharmonia Orchestra (Beethoven Violin Concerto, Op. 61)
Berliner Philharmoniker (Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Op. 64)
Cadenzas: Kreisler (Beethoven Violin Concerto, Op. 61)
Conductor:
Wilhelm Furtw?ngler
EMI Records Ltd.
Hayes, Middlesex
England
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Producers:
Lawrance Collingwood & David Bicknell (Beethoven Violin Concerto, Op. 61)
Unknown (Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Op. 64)
Balance Engineers:
Douglas Larter (Beethoven Violin Concerto, Op. 61)
Robert Beckett (Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Op. 64)
(P) 1954 Original sound recordings made by EMI Records Ltd.
This compilation (P) 1984 by EMI Records Ltd.
Printed in U.S.A.
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Wilhelm Furtw?ngler - Yehudi Menuhin
Beethoven & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos
Wilhelm Furtw?ngler, born 1886 In Berlin, always has been one of the most eminent conductors of our century Although his greatest ambition was and remarried throughout his life to be a composer, it is as a conductor that he achieved would-wide renown. His first job was at the Opera in Breslau, where he was appointed first repetiteur in 1905 (aged 19) and then followed appointments in Zürich, Munich, and Lübeck. It was in Lübeck that his talents first became recognized thereafter Mannheim, and then followed that great event after the death of Arthur Nikisch in 1922, Furtw?ngler at the age of 36, became his successor as Conductor both of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras. A meteoric career indeed, and there seemed to be no stop to it – until Hitler came. His artistic fame remained unimpaired, but unfortunately Furtw?ngler was as innocent as a babe as far as worldly affairs and particularly political events were concerned, which landed him in untold trouble. He made valiant attempts to save German culture, to protect Jewish musicians and other ‘undesirable’ elements from Himmler’s claws on the strength of his standing and prestige, but In the end the Hitler ‘establishment’ caught up with him and he had to take refuge in Switzerland In February 1945 – the country which remained the place of his residence up to his death in 1954.
We must now turn to Menuhin, Born in New York In 1916 of Jewish parents, an unashamed and outspoken Jew himself, he got to know Furtw?ngler through his recordings only, and though his greatest wish was to play under Furtw?ngler, political circumstances – understandably – prevented any such ambition. After the advent of Hitler he never entered Germany again until the ‘Thousand Years’ Reich’ was a thing of the past but when he came back to Berlin he made his own, private enquiries regarding Furtw?ngler. He came to the positive result that there was nothing that could in honesty be said against Furtw?ngler. When there was a big shout that Furtw?ngler should not be allowed to come to the U.S. in order to prevent ‘an invasion of Nazis’ Menuhin came to Furtw?ngler defence in a public interview: ‘As far as Nazis coming into America is concerned, my position and the ideas for which I have fought should raise me above all suspicion that I might try to smuggle Nazis into the United States.’ In the same way he became one of the star witnesses in Furtw?ngler’s defence when Furtw?ngler had to undergo the unnecessary and degrading process of ‘denazification.’ The two men first met, with their wives, at the Hotel Trois Couronnes on Lake Geneva in 1946, and it was inevitable that a spark had to pass between two equally great musicians, equally cultured and educated, equally humanistic in their outlook.
In August 1947 Furtw?ngler first accompanied Menuhin in the Brahms Concerto in Salzburg, and in September they played the Beethoven Concerto together In Berlin. There was an amusing episode: the Titania-Palast, a former cinema and at this time the temporary home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, still belong to the American army, and in the evening they has some sort of show for the soldiers. During the rehearsal an American MP came in and slapped Furtw?ngler on the shoulder, saying ‘It’s time to finish!’ Furtw?ngler was aghast. Menuhin stopped playing and took one step towards the MP, hissing: ‘Stop that nonsense!’ Then he looked at Furtw?ngler, smiled, lifted his violin, and within seconds they were both again engulfed in Beethoven. (Quoted from Curt Riess: Furtw?ngler – Musik und Politik). Karla H?cker reports that, after this first performance of the Beethoven Concerto under Furtw?ngler, Menuhin had given himself the promise never to play this Concerto again under any other conductor, but he added: ‘Of course, this is impossible, and I have often played it again under others and also with joy. But at the time I was so impressed that I never wanted this precious, this unique moment in time to become obliterated – I just wanted the sound to fade away in my ears – the way in which Furtw?ngler had conducted this Concerto.’
Fortunately the sound has not faded away, for over the span of the decades it has been preserved for us on record, as has the sound of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. It goes without saying that Furtw?ngler, with his opera experience, with his innate musicianship, with his human sensitivity, was a perfect accompanist. But when he accompanied Menuhin and certain other soloists with whom he was in personal and artistic rapport there is that feeling of immediacy, of sympathy, of at-one-ness which makes for the perfect performance. Also I have heard it said from more than one artist (and I am sure that Menuhin would agree with this) that Furtw?ngler had that magical power of accompanying in such a way that he forced the soloist to play and sing even better than they knew themselves to be capable of.
I am sure that if Beethoven or Mendelssohn had been able to hear these performances of what, in both cases, are masterworks of theirs, they would have burst into tears: the long, unbroken lines; sentiment never being debased to sentimentality; concise form and rhythm; classical severity; joie de vivre – what more can any composer expect.
Furtw?ngler died in 1954. In 1955 the Atlantis Verlag, Zürich, published a book Furtw?ngler im Urteil seiner Zeit which contains a number of tributes by many famous musicians. In this context I think it is right and apt to quote excerpts from what Yehudi Menuhin had to say in this ‘epitaph’: ‘Furtw?ngler was perhaps the last exponent of a tradition carrying us as far back as the Indians and the Greeks; a tradition of music as a hallowed link with divinity, with the Gods. As we all too tritely say, nothing is sacred today, but I believe something should be and some music should be. Furtw?ngler accomplished a sacred rite each time he conducted a Beethoven or a Brahms or a Bach work. … For Furtw?ngler music was a world, a cosmos, which encompassed all others. He was really complete and himself only when immersed in this ethereal medium of pure energy and pure light. He almost suffocated when submersed within the day-to-day world, as would we if we were plunged in the ocean. … We must find in ourselves the devotion and the conviction necessary to carry on to future generations the mystic position he embodied. The age old concept of music and the link between man and God. We must find inspiration in his memory, for our ears and eyes can still recall the grandeur, dignity and intensity of Furtw?ngler on his podium and in the recordings he has left. In our harassed world we are not likely to find similar inspirations again so quickly. I am grateful to fate, that enabled me to share his last years. …’
To get back to factual matters, the Beethoven Violin Concerto was recorded on 7/8 April 1953 In the Kingsway Hall, London, and the Mendelssohn Concerto on 26 May 1952 in the Jesus-Christus-Kirchek, Berlin. In the discography of Henning Smidth Olsen (2nd Ed.), which is indispensible for any Furtw?ngler lover, these recordings are numbered 327 and 302 respectively. There was no audience present at either recording.
? Hans-Hubert Sch?nzeler, 1984
曲目
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 - I. Allegro ma non troppo - Cadenza - Tempo I
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 - II. Larghetto
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 - III. Rondo (Allegro) - Cadenza Tempo I
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 - I. Allegro molto appassionato - Cadenza - Tempo I - Presto
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 - II. Andante
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 - III. Allegretto ma non troppo - Allegro molto vivace