Flashback
to 14-17 April 1954
Sixty-three
years ago today, Furtwängler conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker in a
performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) in the Konzerthaus, Vienna.
The soloists included Anton Dermota, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth
Grümmer, Marga Höffgen and Otto Edelmann and the choirs were the Wiener
Singakademie and Wiener Sängerknaben. It was one of the 4 consecutive nights
from 14 to 17 April when this Passion was performed during Easter.
Furtwängler
has performed the St. Matthew Passion a total of 37 times during his life, 26
times before and 11 times after World War II.
Furtwängler’s
view on Bach
He
held Bach in extremely high regard. He has written: “He remains today what he
has always been – the divine creator on his throne above the clouds, beyond the
reach of all others”. “His music exudes a supreme serenity and assurance, the
product of a perfect blend of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic elements which
never ceases to amaze us.” And referring to the St. Matthew Passion, he
remarked: “In no other works does a single ethos hold such complete sway from
beginning to end, an ethos that issues from the very heart, the very soul of
their creator.” (Furtwängler on Music, edited and translated by Ronald Taylor,
Scolar Press, 1991)
Apple
of discord
St. Matthew Passion is also the piece of music that attracted much discussion concerning his feud with Herbert von Karajan. 1950
was the 200th anniversary of Bach’s death. A Bach Festival would be held in
June in Vienna. Furtwängler had expressed a wish to perform the St Matthew
Passion at a relatively short notice but the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
refused to place its choir, the Wiener Singverein, to Furtwängler’s disposal
because this choir was to perform with Karajan in the coming Bach Festival and
that he was said to have had 50 rehearsals with this choir. This certainly infuriated Furtwängler and he
at once resigned from his post of Concert Director (Konzertdirektor) and his
honorary membership of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Thus the performance
of this Passion in 1952 and 1954 took place in the Konzerthaus rather than the
Musikverein.
Source
Tapes and Recording Date(s)
As
mentioned by Olsen in his discography, according to Christoph Nolte and
Friedhelm Schöning in Berlin, there were 3 complete recordings of Furtwängler’s
1954 St. Matthew Passion stored in the archive of Electrola GmbH, the German
branch of EMI. The concerts were recorded by EMI engineers for broadcast in
German radio stations.
As
such, it is natural that enthusiasts will compare the first commercial CD
release by EMI in 1995 (CHS 5655092) and the 2012 Orfeo release contained in
its 18-CD “Wilhelm Furtwängler – Wiener Philharmoniker” box set (C834118Y). The
recording date in the EMI 2-CD release was stated as 14-17 April, while the
Orfeo one was just a single date, of 15 April.
The
matter was further complicated by the statement in the EMI release that 2
numbers in the Passion “had to be cut because of insurmountable technical
problems in the original recording” when they were “editing and remastering the
tapes for this CD transfer”. My wild guess is that at the time of their new
remastering, the tapes were already 40 to 41 years old, and these magnetic
tapes were quite fragile and prone to breakage with age.
Cuts
From
EMI’s notes, “In the original performance, 14 numbers from the score were
omitted and some of the recitative was slightly trimmed”. The cuts were widely
acknowledged in discographies and record reviews, but which 14 numbers were cut
appeared to escape the attention of these discographers and reviewers. Even the
most complete discography from Japan does not specify them. This fool of mine
spent this morning comparing the EMI and Orfeo recordings to the score and
came up with the answers.
The following 14 movement numbers (according to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe) were omitted in the
performance:
Part
One: Nos. 13, 17, 23. [corresponding to Nos. 19, 23, 29 in the old BWV numbering system]
Part
Two: Nos. 32, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 46, 52, 60, 65, 66. (Strictly speaking, No.
66 was not completely cut. The first part of 66a remained: track 28 of CD2 in
EMI’s, and track 20 of CD18 in Orfeo’s. The cut started from Es war aber allda
Maria Magdalena und die andere Maria.) [corresponding to Nos. 38, 40, 41, 48-51, 55, 61, 70, 75, 76 in the old BWV numbering system]
Trimmed
Rezitativ: Nos. 26 and 28 in Part One, and Nos. 33, 43 and 58 in Part Two. [corresponding to Nos. 32, 34, 39, 52, 67 in the BWV numbering system]
The
two further cuts due to technical reasons referred to in the EMI release are
Nos. 56 and 57 (Nos. 65 & 66 in BWV). They are present in the Orfeo release in tracks 12 and 14 on CD
18.
(Note: It has to be pointed out that if NBA No. 66 (=BWV No. 76) was considered only heavily "trimmed" and not "cut", then according to NBA, only 13 movement numbers were cut in the performance, as NBA No. 41 = BWV No. 49 + No. 50.)
(Note: It has to be pointed out that if NBA No. 66 (=BWV No. 76) was considered only heavily "trimmed" and not "cut", then according to NBA, only 13 movement numbers were cut in the performance, as NBA No. 41 = BWV No. 49 + No. 50.)
 |
| My notes (1) |
 |
| My notes (2) |
EMI-
vs. Orfeo-issued recording
If we
believe that the recording issued by Orfeo is from a performance on a single
day, then on comparative listening, the recording issued by EMI appears to me
to be a mix of recordings from different days, or at least from a day different
from Orfeo’s. The differences between the two are more pronounced in Part One.
Example
1: No. 6 (EMI: CD1, track 10; Orfeo: CD16, track 9)
In
this Aria by the Alto, “Buß und Reu”, EMI’s takes 5’15 while Orfeo’s 3’41.
Moreover, extraneous noises, coughs and others, occur at different times.
Example
2: No. 10 (EMI: CD1, track 16; Orfeo: CD16, track 17)
In
this chorale, EMI’s is 1’28 while Orfeo’s is 1’41. In the EMI recording, there
were 2 obvious coughs in the last line at the word meine, and the last word
Seel was sustained about one second shorter that its counterpart in the Orfeo
recording.
The
performance itself
This
performance is obviously not to the taste of those who insist on HIP. However
there is no argument that it is much spiritually inspired. Furtwängler has
found a memorable fine balance between Teutonic mysticism and theatrical drama.
The way and pace he takes the recitatives is the key to the special spiritual
quality that distinguishes it to most other conductors’ performances.
P.S. For those who are interested in Furtwängler, please take time to visit my Facebook Page: My Furtwängler Journal
Thank you.
Thank you.
