Wagner from Furtwängler and Flagstad

Richard Wagner in 1871

Continuing a series of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler in programs of famous works, today we hear him and the Vienna Philharmonic in the music of Richard Wagner.

The program concludes with (and switches orchestras for) the final scene of Götterdämerung, with soprano Kirsten Flagstad as Brünnhilde. The Philharmonia is the orchestra for this famous recording.

These overtures, preludes and other excerpts are all what are sometimes called "bleeding chunks," an epithet that seems to have driven them from the concert hall. Well, I happen to love these pieces as the brilliant works they are. And these Furtwängler recordings are among the finest of their kind.

It is often said that Furtwängler's live performances were more powerful than his records. The critic Andrew Porter referred to this in his obituary for the conductor:

His monument, so far as the gramophone is concerned, is the complete Tristan und Isolde. Fidelio, the Beethoven and Brahms symphonies, will be treasured; the Mozart, the Schubert and the Haydn discs are valuable. But something of the incandescence that one knew in the concert hall and the opera house is gone from them. In the Tristan it remains, and also in those Wagner extracts, the final scene from Götterdämmerung with Flagstad and the Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded at the same time as Tristan, and the Rhine Journey and Funeral Music with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It is to these records that we shall turn first when we wish to show our children what manner of great conductor he was.

And it is to many of those records that we turn today. 

Die Meistersinger: Prelude and Dance of the Apprentices

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is famed as Wagner's only comedy. Set in the 16th century Reformation, it concerns the guilds of the time, with the Mastersingers devoting their talents to music.

The Prelude is an intricate piece of music that stands marvelously well on its own (as do most of the works in this program). Of this performance, W.R. Anderson in The Gramophone wrote: "Our friends [i.e., the conductor and orchestra] at their best, I think: scarcely a twinge, and above all, dignity, breadth, and a reproduction conveying full tonal virility and blend. The reverberation period of the chamber seems just right."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1950

This transfer comes from a German EMI (Electrola) reissue "Unvergessen (Unforgettable) Wilhelm Furtwängler." The LP was processed in the label's then-popular synthetic stereo, which I have turned into mono. The sound is quite good for 1949.

The Prelude is accompanied by short and delightful "Dance of the Apprentices" from Act III. This is followed in the opera and on most concert programs by the "Procession of the Masters." But not here - the dance was used as a fill-up on the 78 set and apparently there wasn't room for the Masters to promenade on that particular side.

Lohengrin Prelude; Tannhäuser Overture

Furtwängler's 1954 recording of the Prelude to Lohengrin is coupled here with his 1952 traversal of the Overture to Tannhäuser. These are splendid performances of what used to be concert staples. Denis Stevens wrote in The Gramophone that they are "well played and excellently recorded, and there is an impressively wide dynamic range in the Tannhäuser Overture, where the woodwind engages our attention by its splendid ensemble work."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1955

Stevens also makes me happy by casting aspersions on the LP's bedmate, Liszt's Les Preludes (not included here): "One of Furtwängler's most remarkable qualities was his ability to lend an air of epic majesty even to the relatively meretricious productions of certain 19th century composers who should have known better."

Siegfried Idyll

Let me call in Wikipedia to set the scene of this Romantic masterwork: "Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 25 December 1870, by a small ensemble of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at Tribschen (today part of Lucerne), Switzerland. Cosima awoke to its opening melody."

The composer wrote the piece for a small ensemble, later publishing a version for an orchestra of 35. I suspect Furtwängler (like many conductors) employed a larger ensemble for his 1949 recording.

Lionel Salter was taken with the performance in The Gramophone: "The immediate thing which strikes one about this recording is the sensuous beauty of the string tone, warm and caressing, pure and beautifully controlled. The violins in the Vienna Phil. not only have perfect unanimity ... but they are obviously all real artists."

Note: this now contains the complete performance. Originally I inadvertently posted a truncated version. Thanks to dgrb for his note about this!

Götterdämmerung - Siegfried's Rhine Journey and Funeral Music

The program notes of the Los Angeles Philharmonic set the scene: "'Siegfried’s Rhine Journey' functions as an orchestral interlude between the Prologue and Act I of Götterdämmerung, as Brünnhilde sends Siegfried off to seek new adventures, riding her horse and carrying her shield toward the Rhine and his fate. The music progresses from the near silence of the dawn (in the brass) to moments of intense string writing that gives way to the 'Hero' motive as Siegfried sets out on his river journey."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1949

Götterdämmerung is of course the final opera in Wagner's so-called "Ring cycle" - more formally Der Ring des Nibelungen. And Siegfried here is not Wagner's son, he is the son of Siegmund, the mortal son of Wotan, king of the gods. Brünnhilde, Siegfried's lover, is the immortal daughter of Wotan and Erda, the goddess of earth, wisdom and prophecy.

More from the LA Philharmonic: "Following his murder at the hands of Hagen, the death knell of 'Siegfried’s Funeral March' opens with funereal timpani as Siegfried’s body is placed on his shield and carried off by the vassals. The music vacillates from deep mourning and rage-filled outbursts to the majesty of the 'Hero' motif, brought out in bold relief at the center of the movement."

Alec Robertson in The Gramophone on this performance: "Siegfried’s Journey is not so brightly recorded as on Toscanini’s disc and seems a little foggy at the start: but the noble performance of the Funeral Music, in which the conductor dispenses with the ritardandos that very slightly marred his earlier 78's recording, is better recorded than before, and is, indeed, excellent. Be warned to listen to these pieces first of all. The Closing Scene is so tremendous that nothing can be heard after it for some considerable time!"

This comment leads us on to the end of this program, below.

Götterdämmerung - Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene

Wilhelm Furtwängler and Kirsten Flagstad

The LA Phil annotator again: "Upon removing the ring from Siegfried’s finger, Brünnhilde orders his funeral pyre to be built and launches into the 'Immolation' aria. The fire spreads to Valhalla, bringing about the death of the gods and the destruction of the old order, accompanied by many of the leitmotifs heard throughout all four operas."

As I mentioned above, this is a renowned recording. Alec Robertson's comments in The Gramophone: 

This magnificent recording of the Closing Scene from Die Götterdämmerung awakens the keenest regret that steps were not taken to record the whole of The Ring before Kirsten Flagstad’s retirement. Brünnhilde was her finest part and one with which she identified herself more completely than she was always able to do with Isolde, wonderful though her singing of that part was. But we must be thankful for what we have. There is the superb complete recording of Tristan: and now with the great singer in as fine a voice, Furtwängler and the orchestra as inspired as in that set, and a recording as worthy of them all, there is this outstanding issue. As the first bars sound, one feels the thrill that heralds a great performance: and it is indeed, and superlatively, that.

The download includes texts and English translations of the scene.

The LPs above were made for the German market; the notes are entirely in that language. I've included Google Translate versions of each back cover, which provide English versions.

LINK to the complete Furtwängler Wagner program

More from Furtwängler and Flagstad

One of the finest vocal compositions of the 20th century was the set of Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. We are fortunate to have an exceedingly beautiful and touching live recording of the first performance, given in 1950 by Flagstad, Furtwängler and the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Albert Hall. The problem is that the only surviving copy of the recording was a set of battered transcription disks, which have been transcribed several times over the years.

I have now revisited and improved the gritty sound on my copy of the recording, which I first offered in 2018. The results can be found in the original post here, together with a more modern recording of the songs featuring soprano Elisabeth Söderström.