2019 is the 65th anniversary of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s death, and Deutsche Grammophon is to mark it with the release of a new 35-disc edition: Wilhelm Furtwängler – Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Decca. As we all know, this set comprises 34 CDs and a DVD.
When the release date of 27 September is getting nearer, more information on this edition emerges. Here are some points:
- All recordings in the set will also be available via streaming and download platforms.
- Notes within the set are written by Rob Cowan and Norman Lebrecht (!)
- There will be an accompanying video blog series with interviews contributed by Norman Lebrecht.
- Lebrecht provides an assessment of Furtwängler’s world view, and concludes with: “There is nothing morally admirable about Furtwängler the man…… The music is another matter.”
- Rediscovered photos, contact prints and previously unpublished drawings of Furtwängler will be revealed in this edition and on social media.
- There is no mention of any new remastering yet, but the set does include “a number of rare Japanese remasterings, previously inaccessible outside Japan”.
Rob Cowan’s article on Furtwängler, Man and Myth, published in Gramophone in February 2005 can be viewed here.
Wilhelm Furtwängler Journal 