Credits:

Mahler

Description:

Brahms Symphony No. 2 (1952 BPO) from Furtwängler's heyday in vivid sound quality! The Furtwängler and the Berliner Philharmoniker performed mainly in Germany during April and May 1952. The performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 2 recorded in Munich just before Furtwängler fell ill can be described as a performance at the peak of his career, and its wild and violent intensity reminds us of a live performance during the war. This time, a 2-track, 38 cm open-reel tape was used to reproduce the information on the tape as faithfully as possible. The bonus track (on a two-track, 19 cm tape) is the overture to "The Magic Bullet" from Salzburg in 1954. It includes the thunderous applause when Furtwängler appears in the pit, and the way the overture begins solemnly after a long pause gives the listener a realistic impression of having been there. In the second movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 2, there is a tape malfunction at around 0:47 from the beginning. This is a defect in the original tape, which is also included in existing LPs and CDs, and was not caused in the production process of this CD. However, please note that the defects are somewhat more noticeable because the overall sound quality is clearer.(Naoya Hirabayashi) King International