Wilhelm Furtwangler - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique" (1938) [2007]

Furtwängler's classic 1938 Berlin recording

Astonishing sound from amazing Japanese pressings and XR remastering

Dates for this recording are unusually hard to pin down. Most discographies simply opt for October-November 1938, which seems an unusually vague assertion. Dr .Duffy wonders whether part, if not all, of the recording was made immediately following the notorious Kristallnacht in Germany: "I know he spent a lot of energy & took many risks opposing Nazism & Hitler. I heard that the unusual power of his 1938 Pathétique was because he recorded it in the emotional wake following Kristallnacht."



Whether or not there is a direct connection to Kristallnacht, or to unfolding events in general, this remains one of the most powerful readings of this symphony ever set to disc. The release of this newly remastered recording, almost 70 years to the day since those dreadful events in Germany, will I hope bring an opportunity to remember those who suffered and lost their lives at what is often seen as a beginning to one of the darkest periods in human history, and perhaps to consider whether the passionate tragedy of Tchaikovsky's grim finale, recorded in Berlin at the time, was a fitting musical response to the unfolding tragedy of Germany in 1938.


Tracks:

TCHAIKOVSKY:
Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique"

Personnel:

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler