Wilhelm Furtw?ngler has left us with 112 live concert recordings. Many connoisseurs consider that his most unforgettableperformance was that of 7th October 1944 in the Berlin Beethoven-Saal, attended by Hermann G?ring. The programmefeatured Bruckner’s last (unfinished) symphony, and closed with the adagio from Symphony No 7. This slow movement is heavy with Wagnerian Weltschmerz. It was written in the weeks preceding Wagner’s death in February 1883, and whennews reached Bruckner that Wagner had indeed died in Venice, he added the deeply poignant coda as an explicit tribute.This original recording represents Furtw?ngler's most inspired performance and is a compelling testimony to his legacy. It took Furtw?ngler to recognise and recreate an absolutely perfect depiction of Bruckner's tortured mind and, by extension, an entire world on the brink of collapse.
