BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 9

 

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen, Hans Hopf, Otto Edelmann

Festspielorchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Wilhelm Furtwängler

 

Live Recording 1951

 

In 1951 Wilhelm Furtwängler demonstrated his inspired approach to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony twice, within a matter of only a few weeks: at the Salzburg Festival (Orfeo C533001B) and to reopen the first post-war Bayreuth Festival. For a long time, the latter legendary performance, broadcast live was believed lost. It is now issued by Orfeo in a carefully restored pressing. This was only the second time that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony had been performed in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, the first being the foundation-stone-laying ceremony under Wagner's own direction in 1872, so this 1951 performance was like a rebirth of the Festival myth.

 

A musical high point of post-war history.

 

Orfeo C754081B