Responding to the huge demand for the LP version of their internationally successful Furtwängler 12-CD boxed set, Audite now presents a selection of recordings in LP format for audiophile vinyl enthusiasts. This LP boxed set comprises 14 LPs on 180g vinyl and presents the principal works of the CD boxed set.

The majority of the concerts given by Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic between 1947 and 1954 were recorded by the RIAS Berlin. The original tapes from the RIAS archives have been made available for the first time for this edition so these recordings also offer unsurpassed technical quality.

These RIAS recordings are documents of historical value: they contain a major part of Furtwängler’s late oeuvre as a conductor. His core repertoire was the symphonic works of Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner (CD & LP box), supplemented by works by Bach and Handel and also by topical composers of the time, including Hindemith, Blacher and Fortner (CD box only).

His interpretations demonstrate extremely high levels of focus: concentration and focus for him meant a contemporary decoding, a re-creation, which would express the fundamental content of a work.

A number of works – the Third, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies by Beethoven as well as Brahms’ Third Symphony – are included in two interpretations. They reveal how Furtwängler was able to accentuate different aspects of a work whilst maintaining the same, clear basic conception – and how the actual interpretation depended on the context of the particular programme.

Theses are legendary recordings.

Contents:
Ludwig van Beethoven
- Symphony No.6 in F major, Op.68 ‘Pastorale’ (25-05-1947)
- Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67 (25-05-1947)
- Symphony No.6 in F major, Op. 68 ‘Pastorale’ (23-05-1954)
- Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67 (23-05-1954)
- Symphony No.3 in E-flat major, Op.55 ‘Eroica’ (20-06-1950)
- Symphony No.3 in E-flat major, Op.55 ‘Eroica’ (08-12-1952)

Anton Bruckner
- Symphony No.8 in C minor 2nd Version 1890, Edition Robert Haas (15-03-1949)

Franz Schubert
- Symphony No.8 in B minor, D.759 ‘Unfinished’ (15-09-1953)
- Symphony No.9 in C major, D.944 ‘The Great’ (15-09-1953)

Johannes Brahms
- Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98 (24-10-1948)
- Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90 (18-12-1949)
- Variations on a theme by Joseph Haydn, Op.56a (20-06-1950)
- Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90 (27-04-1954)

Richard Wagner
- Tristan und Isolde (27-04-1954)

Live recordings: Titania-Palast, Berlin (1947-1954)