Credits:

Wilhelm Furtwangler

Description:

Furtwngler and the VPOs Ninth Symphony:Though Incomplete, Is This a New Discovery?Rare Tape Reissue SeriesFrom the ProducerThe audio source for this disc comes from the personal collection (two tracks, 19-centimeter open-reel tape) of Friedhelm Schning (19362021), founder of the German Furtwngler Society. From this collection, we have previously released Beethovens Eroica (GS-2296), Schuberts The Great (GS-225354), Brahmss Symphony No. 1 (GS-2227), Bruckners Symphony No. 5 (GS-2133), Webers complete opera *Der Freischtz* (GS-2225/6), among others.This recording of Beethovens Ninth Symphony was originally part of that collection, but due to two gaps in the tape, it was deemed unfit for CD release and had been shelved.The background of this Ninth Symphony is as follows. On January 23, 1953, Furtwngler collapsed during a performance of the Ninth with the Vienna Philharmonic, shocking both t