The “WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon & Decca” 35-disc edition will also be available via streaming and download platforms.
The digital download or streaming format will be available in 7 volumes. At present 4 out of these 7 volumes have already been released.
Many Furtwängler fans must have already got a large part, if not all, of the releases in this Edition, and some of you may not want too many repetitions in their collection. The digital download format may be a good choice to fill the gaps in your collection, which would otherwise not be available in CD format because the CDs in this Edition are apparently not available in separate smaller sets, at least in the near future.
The table below shows the CD numbers in the box set which correspond to the digital volumes, and hopefully it will help some to make their choices.
I guess most will be satisfied with streaming alone for the bonus disc, i.e. CD34, in the box set, which is available in Spotify. This perhaps applies to the Early Polydor Recordings as well. The Wartime Recordings, Post-war Radio Recordings and DGG Recordings have been released by DG previously and are quite easily available even now. Perhaps the most coveted part is the Decca Recordings which have not been widely available in CD format, thus a digital download of Volume 7 may be an economical method to complete one’s collection.
What will be missing in the digital downloads or streaming is the pretty booklet in the box set with rediscovered photos, contact prints, previously unpublished drawings and essays by Rob Cowan and Norman Lebrecht, although some of the photos will be available for viewing on social media.
Wilhelm Furtwängler Journal 