Furtwängler Beethoven

Success in Europe quickly followed and he appeared with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras as well as local orchestras in London, Stockholm, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Milan, Salzburg and Paris. It is from this time that the superb recordings in this 21-CD set were made. Here is a special selection of some of EMI's celebrated Furtwängler recordings, some recorded live at concerts and some made in the studios.

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler already enjoyed a worldwide legendary standing during his lifetime - he was considered the German conductor and performances were greeted with rapturous applause. Today, more than 50 years after his death, Wilhelm Furtwangler is still an icon and his work has become an integral part ofthe music scene.

The radio recordings between 1939 and 1945 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Wilhelm Furtwängler are among classical music’s most compelling sound documents. Created at the peak of the collaboration between orchestra and conductor, Furtwängler’s artist personality is conveyed more vividly than anywhere else. What can be heard is music in which inspiration and the expressive will know no bounds and in which, not least, the existential experience of the Second World War reverberates. For the first time, the Berliner Philharmoniker are releasing a complete edition of these recordings on 22 CD/SACD.

Born in Basel but trained in Berlin, Edwin Fischer earned his fame as one of the great piano masters of pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Five full CDs here are devoted to Fischer's brilliant Bach interpretations including Keyboard Concerto in A; Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D; Concerto in C for 3 Keyboards; Harpsichord Concerto; Fantasia in C Minor , and Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor . Those join selections from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor; Piano Concerto No. 25 in C; Rondo in D , and Minuet in G ; from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 and Piano Sonata No. 23 ; from Schubert's 4 Impromptus and 6 Moments Musicaux ; from Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat ; from Furtwangler's Symphonic Concerto in B Minor , and more!