Furtwängler Symphony No.2

[Alan Howe]

Long may this champion of the almost forgotten be with us.

Hear! Hear!

[Febct]

Any opinions on the Furtwängler/VPO Second on Orfeo?

[Alan Howe]

Any opinions on the Furtwängler/VPO Second on Orfeo?

Depends whether you want modern sound...

If you're starting from scratch, I'd strongly advise searching out Barenboim which is as good as it gets - and is in superb sound.

[Febct]

Any opinions on the Furtwängler/VPO Second on Orfeo?

Depends whether you want modern sound...

If you're starting from scratch, I'd strongly advise searching out Barenboim which is as good as it gets - and is in superb sound.

Hardly starting from scratch.  I've lived with this recording and never have considered an alternative.  I simply was interested in other opinions.

[Alan Howe]

I simply was interested in other opinions.

Well, if sonics are important, then Barenboim. If not, the composer's own recording with the VPO would seem to be a good choice. It's just not for me in such a richly-textured symphony.

[Febct]

I simply was interested in other opinions.

Well, if sonics are important, then Barenboim. If not, the composer's own recording with the VPO would seem to be a good choice. It's just not for me in such a richly-textured symphony.

Yes, indeed.  That makes sense.  Thanks.

[Ilja]

I just listened to the new Furtwängler recording by Neeme Järvi and the Estonians (on Presto Streaming) and quite honestly, I'm shocked. 

At his best, Järvi can imbue over-played warhorses with a new energy, or elevate more obscure works to a higher level; the Raff 2&5 recording is a good example. At his worst, he rushes through everything with almost criminal nonchalance, and it just sounds as though he wants it all to be over with as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is the Järvi we get here in what is quite possibly his worst recording I've heard sofar. Because it's not just Järvi, it's the orchestra and the sound engineer who all seem to have dropped the ball.

Furtwängler's 2nd Symphony is a complex and demanding piece (and I have to be honest, far from my favorite piece of music) but the Estonian National SO is apparently not up to it. How much they're not up to it is difficult to assess because the sonics are murky and the recording is oddly balanced, mostly to the detriment of everything further back in the orchestra. That causes an already breathless sounding (and not in a good way) performance to sound almost suffocating.

Caveat: I listened to this on a stream; possibly other media will yield different results. But don't throw out your Barenboim recording just yet.

[Alan Howe]

I'm glad you've posted this review, Ilja. Don't think I'll be adding this after all. Barenboim is superb anyway - great orchestra, great sound and more in sympathy with the idiom.