Deutsche Grammophon did not include the Violin Concerto in its collections of Furtwängler recordings, and some have expressed doubts about whether Furtwängler conducted it or not. It is currently available on a few labels specialising in old recordings, and a bit hard to get.
To my ears, the accompaniment built form the bass upwards sounds like Furtwängler. Kulenkampff was a classicist in style, who plays each note at its tonal centre, then decorates or transitions to the next one—from the old German Kapellmeister tradition, but with Furtwängler inspiring him there is also a high level of spontaneity and a personal reaction to the music.
“En Saga” is not about Sibelius and clear spring water. Furtwängler’s view is more about dark pine forests and powerful forces of nature. Like a good Sibelius performance should, the work seems to grow rather than the conductor casting it from some sort of mould. Ravel’s suite from “Daphnis et Chloe” suffers more than the other pieces from the limitations of the early tape technology from which these performances were taken. The climax of “Lever du jour” overloads almost disastrously, but the volume of sound is better managed in the remaining two movement. Despite the recording issues, no other conductor presents such a wonderful depiction of the bird calls at dawn as Furtwängler does. Where I live, I have the real thing for comparison! Although Ravel’s landscape does not include the kookaburras and currawongs of an Australian sunrise.
The recording transfers have come up very well. The dynamic and tonal range reflects the advantages of tape over disc cutters, and the balance engineer of the time has done well with the resources available to him.
16/44 PCM Flac Mono Digital Download
