THE FURTWÄNGLER CARACAS CONCERT, 20 MARCH 1954 скачать в хорошем качестве

THE FURTWÄNGLER CARACAS CONCERT, 20 MARCH 1954

The March 1954 concert conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler in Caracas, Venezuela, the sole extant recorded example of the conductor working with an orchestra from the American Continent, as well as his only presentation ever in an open air venue (more on this, kindly read on). PROGRAMME 1. George Frideric Handel: CONCERTO GROSSO IN D MINOR, Op. 6 N° 10. 2. Johannes Brahms: FIRST SYMPHONY, IN C MINOR, Op. 68 (at 16.15 into the video). 3. Richard Strauss: DON JUAN, Op. 20 (at 62.45 into the video). [Actually the concert opened with Wagner's TANNHÄUSER OVERTURE but that segment of the tape seems to have significantly deteriorated since 1954, rendering it unusable]. In the photograph: PEDRO ANTONIO RIOS-REYNA (left), Concertmaster of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra from 1930 (the year of the orchestra's creation) until 1963; WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER (centre); Mr INOCENTE PALACIOS (right), arts supporter and promoter, art collector, amateur musician and developer of the Colinas de Bello Monte neighbourhood where the José Angel Lamas Amphitheatre (the concert's venue) is located. Furtwängler and open-air concert venues: as told to me by Mr. Inocente Palacios himself a few years before his death, when the conductor arrived in Caracas he asked to be taken to the venue where the concert would take place, in order to acquaint himself with its accoustics and to rehearse the concert's programme with the orchestra. As he was apparently unaware that the José Angel Lamas Amphitheatre was an open-air venue, he got quite angry when he arrived and flatly refused to conduct, requesting to be immediately taken back to his hotel and telling Mr Palacios and the orchestra's management to seek another, suitable venue (i.e. a regular concert hall) if they wanted the concert to actually happen for, as he stated to Mr Palacios, "he never conducted in open-air venues, not even in Greece". As the story told by Mr Palacios goes, Maestro Ríos-Reyna and other musicians persuaded Furtwängler to walk with them around the amphitheatre's surroundings at his leisure, whilst Mr Palacios quietly assembled the orchestra on the stage and asked them to play Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, Mr Palacios himself conducting. Apparently Furtwängler sat down and listened, alongside the handful of orchestra members who had gone to walk with him. According to Mr Palacios, fairly soon Furtwängler appeared by his side at the podium and told him he'd accept to conduct the concert, thoroughly satisfied with the Amphitheatre's acoustics.