Matthaus-Passion (CD 1 of 2)  (78:01)
	01	Kommt, ihr Tochter - O Lamm Gottes unschuldig						08:08
	02	Da Jesus diese Rede vollendet hatte						00:53
	03	Herzliebster Jesu						01:40
	04	Da versammelten sich die Hohenpriester						00:31
	05	Ja nicht auf das Fest						00:17
	06	Da nun Jesus war zu Bethanien						00:37
	07	Wozu dienet dieser Unrat?						00:37
	08	Da das Jesus merkete, sprach er zu ihnen						01:55
	09	Du lieber Heiland du						01:23
	10	Buss und Reu						05:15
	11	Da ging hin der Zwolfen Einer						00:43
	12	Blute nur, du liebes Herz!						05:40
	13	Aber am ersten Tage						00:15
	14	Wo willst du						00:28
	15	Er sprach: Gehet hin in die Stadt						02:00
	16	Ich bin's, ich sollte bussen						01:28
	17	Er antwortete und sprach: Der mit der Hand						04:17
	18	Wiewohl mein Herz in Tranen schwimmt						01:54
	19	Und da sie den Lobgesang gesprochen hatten						01:32
	20	Erkenne mich, mein Huter						01:57
	21	Petrus aber antwortete und sprach zu ihm						01:17
	22	Da kam Jesus						02:14
	23	O Schmerz! - Was ist die Ursach						03:04
	24	Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen						06:25
	25	Und ging hin ein wenig						00:57
	26	Der Heiland fallt						01:33
	27	Und er kam zu seinen Jungern						01:39
	28	Was mein Gott will						02:03
	29	Da kam er zu seinen Jungern						02:43
	30	So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen - Lasst ihn, haltet, bindet nicht!						04:41
	31	Zu der Stund' sprach Jesus zu den Scharen						01:28
	32	O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sunde gross						08:27
Matthaus-Passion (CD 2 of 2)  (72:13)
	01	Ach, nun ist mein Jesus hin!						05:30
	02	Die aber Jesum gegriffen hatten						00:45
	03	Und der Hohepriester stand auf und sprach zu ihm						00:36
	04	Und der Hohepriester antwortete						01:38
	05	Da speieten sie						01:04
	06	Wer hat dich so geschlangen						01:36
	07	Petrus aber sass draussen im Palast						01:20
	08	Da hub er an, sich zu verfluchen						01:38
	09	Erbarme dich, mein Gott						09:02
	10	Jesus aber stand vor dem Landpfleger						01:06
	11	Befiehl du deine Wege						01:55
	12	Auf das Fest aber hatte						02:49
	13	Der Landpfleger sagte						00:15
	14	Er hat uns allen wohlgetan						01:40
	15	Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben						05:16
	16	Sie schrieen aber noch mehr						02:21
	17	Erbarm' es Gott!						01:48
	18	Da nahmen die Kriegsknechte des Landpflegers						01:23
	19	O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden						02:23
	20	Und da sie ihn verspottet hatten						00:55
	21	Und da wurden zween Morder mit ihm gekreuziget						01:00
	22	Desgleichen schmaheten ihn auch die Morder						01:36
	23	Ach, Golgatha						02:29
	24	Und von der sechsten Stunde						02:43
	25	Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden						02:31
	26	Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel zerriss in zwei Stuck						02:52
	27	Am Abend, da es kuhle war						02:27
	28	Und Joseph nahm den Leib						00:40
	29	Nun ist der Herr zur Ruh' gebracht						02:37
	30	Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder						08:18

Original mono recording - April 1954

Wilhelm Furtwangler
Birth - Jan 25, 1886 in Berlin, Germany
Death - Nov 30, 1954 in Baden-Baden, Germany

Biography by David Brensilver

Although born in Berlin, conductor Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler spent his childhood in Munich, where his father was a professor. After his talents were recognized at an early age, he was removed from school and educated privately. Furtwa"ngler's teachers included the composer Joseph Rheinberger and the conductor Felix Mottl. By the age of 17 the young musician had written numerous works and had his conducting debut three years later with the Kaim Orchestra, where he directed the opening Largo from his own first symphony, Beethoven's overture Die Weihe des Hauses, and Bruckner's Ninth Symphony. The ambivalent response to his music and the financial instability that composition offered caused him to focus his energies on conducting.

Furtwa"ngler's first position was at the Breslau Stadttheater in 1906 and 1907. He went to Zurich the next season, followed by an apprenticeship at the Munich Court Opera under the auspices of his teacher Mottl. From 1911 to 1921, Furtwa"ngler served as music director of various ensembles in Lu"beck, Mannheim, Frankfurt, and Vienna. From 1920 to 1922, he served as conductor of the Berlin Staatskapelle. At the age of 35, the conductor took the baton at the celebrated Berlin Philharmonic and concurrently held the same position at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, where he remained until 1928. Furtwa"ngler led the New York Philharmonic from 1927 to 1929, but eventually declined an offer to remain there. It was during those years that Furtwa"ngler was appointed music director of the Vienna Philharmonic. As the 1920s drew to a close, he held positions throughout Europe, including those at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals (1931-32) and the Berlin State Opera (1933). In 1932, he was awarded the Goethe Gold Medal.

When the Nazis came into power in 1933, Furtwa"ngler strongly and publicly opposed the Nazi agenda, despite pride in his German heritage, and refused to give the Nazi salute, even in Hitler's presence. In 1934, when Hindemith's Mathis de Maler was banned by the Nazi party, Furtwa"ngler unilaterally resigned from all of his posts, aided numerous Jewish musicians under Nazi persecution, and refused to conduct in Nazi-occupied areas. Furtwa"ngler eventually fled to Switzerland at the suggestion of Albert Speer. When, in 1936, the New York Philharmonic offered him the position of music director, he was dissuaded from accepting the position by anti-Nazi sentiment. After the war's conclusion, the Allied command cleared Furtwa"ngler of charges of being a Nazi sympathizer, although the American government did not "denazify" Furtwa"ngler until 1946. In 1949, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra courted the German conductor, but its board of directors quickly withdrew its offer under the heavy and largely unjustified criticism from the orchestra's musicians.

Always welcomed in Europe, Furtwa"ngler enjoyed continued success throughout the region. While uninterested in recording live performances, citing the impossibility for technology to capture a mood or aesthetic, he was responsible for countless recordings, most of which were made after the war. His dedication to the works of Beethoven was unsurpassed, and his enthusiasm towards the contemporary compositions of the time impressive, evidenced by his aggressive programming. Furtwa"ngler's idiosyncratic approach to the repertoire and spontaneous interpretations were unique to say the least. Furtwa"ngler remained a popular artist and kept a busy schedule conducting throughout Europe until his death in Baden-Baden in 1954. According to his second wife Elisabeth Ackermann, he died a darkened and melancholy man, troubled by the atrocious history his beloved Germany had written.



Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler (Conductor)

Born: January 25, 1886 - Berlin, Germany
Died: November 30, 1954 - Baden-Baden, Germany

The German conductor, Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler, who was the son of the archaeologist Adolf Furtwa"ngler, spent his youth in Munich, where his father lectured at the university. He grew up in a humanistically influenced home. His musical education was provided by Anton Beer-Waldbrunn, Joseph Rheinberger and Max von Schillings. Konrad Ansorge made him a good pianist.

In 1906 Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler became the second rehearsal assistant in Berlin. At the age of twenty, he conducted Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in Munich before he moved first to Breslau (Wroclaw), then to Zu"rich, where he conducted a choir from 1907-1909. He then returned to Munich and filled the same post under Felix Mottl. When Hans Pfitzner took over the directorship of the Strasbourg Opera, he appointed Furtwa"ngler as the third conductor. In 1911, Furtwa"ngler conducted the orchestra of the Society of Friends of Music in Lu"beck. In 1915 he succeeded Arthur Bodanzky at the court theatre in Mannheim. In 1920, he took over the directorship of the symphony concerts of the Berlin Opera from Richard Strauss. Within two years he gained such renown that he was appointed as the successor of Arthur Nikisch as the director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1925 he went on his first tour of the USA. In 1928 he succeeded Felix Weingartner as the director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, but refused to take on the directorship of the opera at the same time. In 1931 he became the joint musical director of the Bayreuth Festival on an equal footing with Arturo Toscanini. In the same year he was responsible for the first performance of Hans Pfitzner's opera Das Herz in Berlin. Two years later he became the director of the establishment; he took on numerous Jewish artists, which was strongly criticised by the National Socialist regime. In December 1934 he resigned his post 'for political reasons'. After that he received invitations from all over the world to conduct symphony concerts and operas as a guest conductor, mainly for the works of Richard Wagner. Philadelphia, New York and Vienna offered him the directorship of their opera houses, but Furtwa"ngler refused because he did not want to leave Germany. He wanted to live in freedom and to conduct those works abroad which he considered to be significant. The 'Hindemith Affair' was one of the most difficult moments of his career (Adolf Hitler and Hermann Go"ring had forbidden him to perform Mathis der Maler at the Berlin Opera, and for this reason he had resigned). In 1936, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra offered him the opportunity to succeed Arturo Toscanini. He was willing to go into exile. But in a mysterious report from the Berlin branch of the Associated Press it was alleged that Furtwa"ngler was willing to be reinstated as the director of the Berlin Opera. This incorrect report triggered a hefty polemic reaction to the conductor in New York, who then decided not to take over the New York orchestra. In the same year, he again conducted in Bayreuth for the first time since 1931. He conducted there again in 1937, 1943 and 1944. In between, he conducted in Paris during the world exhibition in 1937, and he conducted concerts and operas in London. But the Second World War made foreign contacts impossible and he had to limit himself to very few concerts in Berlin. In 1945 his position became increasingly difficult, because the Gestapo put increasing pressure on him. He fled to Switzerland. At this time he mainly worked on composing. His works included the Symphonic concert for piano and orchestra (1937), the Sonata in E minor for piano and violin (1938) and the Sonata in E major for piano and violin (1940). Not until December 1946 was he cleared of all allegations of collaborating with the National Socialists. Two musicians acted as particularly vocal advocates for him: Yehudi Menuhin and Ernest Ansermet.

In 1947 Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler resumed the directorship of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. At the reopening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 he conducted a notable performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. From 1947 he had worked untiringly for the Salzburg Festival. Tours through South America, to Switzerland (especially to the festivals in Lucerne), to Italy (including Milan’s La Scala) and to Paris and London had come in quick succession. In 1948 he completed his Symphony No. 2 in E minor. After his death, three movements of an incomplete third symphony were found among his papers.

We are indebted to Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler for numerous first performances: 5 orchestral pieces op. 16 (2nd version 1922) and Variations for orchestra op. 31 (1928) by Arnold Schoenberg, Concert for piano No. 1 by Be'la Barto'k (1927), Concert music for solo viola op. 48 (1930), Philharmonic concert (1932) and the symphony Mathis der Maler (1934) by Paul Hindemith, Mouvement symphonique Nr. 3 by Arthur Honegger (1933), Concert for piano and orchestra No. 5 by Sergey S. Prokofiev (1932) and Vier letzte Lieder by Richard Strauss (1950).






Bach: Matthaus-Passion - V-3


Matthaus-Passion BWV 244

Wilhelm Furtwa"ngler

Wiener Singakademie
Wiener Sangerknaben (Chorus Master: Hans Gillesberger)
Wiener Philharmoniker

Tenor [Evangelist]: Anton Dermota;
Baritone [Jesus]: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau;
Soprano [Arias, Maids, Pilati Weib]: Elisabeth Grummer;
Contralto: Marga Hoffgen;
Bass [Arias, Judas, Petrus, High Priest, Pilatus]: Otto Edelmann

EMI Classics
April 1954


2-CD / TT: 90:40

3rd recording of Mattha"us-Passion BWV 244 By W. Furtwa"ngler. Recorded at Gro?er Konzerthaussaal, Vienna. Abridged version [omits 19, 23, 29, 38, 40, 41, 48-51, 55, 61, 64, 70, 75; abridges 32, 34, 39, 52, 63, 67, 73, 76]. In the original performances 14 numbers from the score were omitted, and some of the recitative was slightly trimmed. When editing and remastering the tapes for the CD transfer, a further 2 items had to be cut because of the insurmountable technical problems in the original recording.