Prelude and Good Friday Music from Parsifal by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) BBC Symphony Orchestra Arturo Toscanini, conductor London, Queen`s Hall 05.VI.1935
I have been listening to this on Good Friday for years. I love the old recordings that I consider heavenly as I like to imagine that these long passed players are now angels creating a similar kind of heavenly music.
The BBC Symphony of the 1930s had the finest wind section in the world, and it shows in this recording. Toscanini saw the long arches of music in a score, and the harmonies straining at each other in this work brought out the best in him, and he the best in the orchestra. This is a stunning performance.
all is possible to speak about toscanini, but in front of parsifal's prelude, so long and unique as interpretation, for me is the toscanini's testament, as for us is to be in front of a great cathedral with gothic prayer before to enter in paradise... carlo lamberti
What I like about this recording is that it was done in a concert hall, with decent reverberation. Much of Toscanini's recorded output was done with the NBC Orchestra, at 30 Rock, and in those days recording engineers thought that all music should be recorded in anechoic environments. So there are many great Toscanini recordings done in absolutely dead rooms, much to the music's detriment.
Un pur moment de magie : recueillement, sentiments poignants ; grandiose ; pur ; mystique ; beauté ; et tant d'autres sentiments... et ressentis.....Depuis si longtemps......
Amazing! Wonderful! A treasure. Thanks so much for uploading this. It so great to hear Toscanini with orchestras other then the NBC Symphony. The sound is remarkably good for 1935. Enjoy - it doesn't get better than this ...
Toscanini um dos maiores maestros de todos os tempos. Ele consegue interpretar esta música com uma perfeição fantástica. A ochestra em briga constante com o concerto de tocidas!
Parts of Parsifal are surprisingly lyrical - the Good Friday music stands out in this regard. Those dissonances in the last several bars are very reminiscent of the Siegfried Idyll.
AWESOME Conducted Wonderfully by Toscanini Astonishing Orchestral Music Thanks for uploading Ahmad Ali Ahmad Heap of thanks "WeicheWotanWeiche" Good Friday 6.04.2018 8:50pm
Increíble. Los "tempi" del supuestamente ultrarápido Toscanini son extraordinarios. Ni que fuera Celibidache. ¡Qué plenitud!. ¡Que musicalidad!. Un Parsifal fuera de serie, aunque la orquesta es manifiestamente mejorable o quizás sea la grabación. Pero, ¡qué música!, ¡qué dirección!.
Well, no one's saying that a (certain) conductor is a "god" ... but the legacies of Toscanini and Furtwangler (among others) might even be MORE-secure than they were, shortly after their deaths, in the 1950s. The discipline, extraordinary (baton) techniques and the overall GREATness of those two, with the great PLAYINGS of their Orchestras are, undoubtedly, the most-enduring parts of a legacy that will NOT be surpassed. OK?
It is such a pity that this music has fallen out of favor for performance. In my 45 years of playing professionally, we have played it once! One will hear Dutchman, Rienzi, Meistersinger, and the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod but Parsifal? Hardly a performance anymore. This takes a lot of sheer technique on the part of both conductor and orchestra to pull off, never mind thoughtful interpretation.
Che linea,che tensione armonica!!! Non c'è un buco...peccato un po' l' intonazione dei fiati, ma da quegli anni sono cambiate tante cosa sia a livello tecnico che meccanico stesso degli strumenti.Pensando la data di questa registrazione,ha del.miracoloso l'effetto e la resa.Stupendo!
Somewhat pre-modern brass, and some very odd woodwind intonation. But a valuable document. It had been only four years before that AT conducted the whole thing at Bayreuth. Management was star-struck, even though he set records for slow elapsed time. When he opted out in 1933, Richard Strauss took over and trimmed a half hour off the first act.
The brass are only marginally better than with the NBC, where they blare mercilessly at the expenses of one's ears. But only Toscanini could adopt such a broad the tempo in the first two phrases without dragging (like Muck).
("just a part") - It's a pity, in a way ... but we're very-fortunate to have the Muck recordings of PARTS of Parsifal, esp. the excerpts with Ludwig Hoffman ("Gurnemanz"). The latter are some of the GREAT recordings of Wagner, even though they might seem "old" (from 1927, or thereabouts).
I have heard this recording more than 15 years ago : it is as fantastic as in my memory. Toscanini was really a prodigious conductor, although Furtwängler in 1938 for Parsifal is even better.
At some point this appears to have been remastered in stereo. And acoustically heavily tweaked as well. Late 1930s recordings made in the Queen's Hall and released in the day don't sound much like this. But it probably is Toscanini conducting. Another issue at a slightly different pitch but purporting to be the same performance, claims the orchestra is not the BBCSO at all but the LSO. I have to say that neither sounds much like either of them. But the original MIGHT just have been the BBC orchestra, if we are to believe it really is a London recording ( and the coughs suggest that - but on the other hand the EMI on-the-spot recordings with the equipment in the Hall itself were NOT public performances. Live performances were recorded from land-line links). There are one or two points in the Prelude which sound very like the NBCSO brass at work with pinpoint "sung" chording ensemble the BBCSO of the thirties just didn't use. ButToscanini made no Wagner recordings in London intended for commercial issue, ever, so it can't be ruled out that he might have got this effect in performance with a British orchestra, though it sounds very American - particularly after around 15 minutes of the Prelude where the level is reduced almost exactly in the RCA style to avoid overloading at the climax in a way Gaisberg - who was in charge in London - usually didn't have to do.
aboutr randy ross's comment: toscanini was a vehement anti fascist and anti nazi. he supported mussolini before 1919 when the dictator advocated a socialist platform. when mussolini switched to the extreme right, toscanini broke with mussolini. when furtwangler decided to remain in germany and conduct for hitler, toscanini broke with furtwangler.
For the relationship between Toscanini and Furtwängler, it is much more complicated. Toscanini was angry awithFurtwängler because Furtwängler did not go to New York to suceed him in 1936. Furtwängler has never been a nazi and saved many Jews. Anyway that's true that Toscanini has had an examplary political behavior but it has nothing to do with musics.
Eriq Koontz It's just the way I speak. Some have accused me of being too polite. That said, I reiterate: why does this recording sound a half step lower than written? Anyone?
This version here differs from recording made with his NBC Orchestra. I guess Toscanini as a guest conductor here did not have enough time to rehears this Wagner music piece with BBC orchestra.
(Toscanini/Furtwangler) - That's right, beyond ANY shadow of a doubt ... but have you ever listened-to a forgotten conductor ... Karl Muck ... in this music?
Following the rigorous moral arguments agst. Furtwangler presented here, I wonder whether it's ethically acceptable to listen to Shostakovich? "He received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947-1962) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death)." Hmm. Or Prokoviev. Or the famed Soviet conductor, Kurt Sanderling. How selective moral judgements are in the West!
Arbiter - Well, let's NOT forget that Shostakovich composed, even after the Stalin-type crackdown ... and produced MANY works, worthy of his (Shostakovich's) name. THOSE works, incl. the Symphonies 1 through 3, are some of the most-ORIGINAL of all of a Russian composer of the 20th Century, and we could include the originality of Prokofiev, also. ... Stalin wanted certain composers to CONFORM to a socialist/realist type of false framework, that great, Russian composers could NEVER accept, explicitly.
John B I take your point, but I was commenting on the moral situation of a Furtwangler or Strauss who remained in Germany duting the NAZi era, as Shos. remained within and continued to work and produce music in the Soviet Union. Not the quality or "independence" of their work.
Höchste Konzentration und größte Diffusion spiegeln in Inhalt und Form als Tonmalerei Sein und Wesen des Menschen. Das ist das Geheimnis des Werkes Wagners ... aber auch dieser unbeschreiblichen Interpretation Toskaninis (die einem das Herz zerreißt). czcams.com/video/2sBtSOCWDC8/video.html
Furtwangler was insanely jealous of Toscanini, yet another indication of his inferiority, Toscanini took no notice of him and hardly considered him a rival.
I wonder about the 1936 endorsement. It might have been a trap Barbirolli fell into when Furtwangler declined. Toscanini poisoned the Orchestra against Furtwangler and Barbirolli's career was collateral damage.
Cesare - W/all due respect, I don't think that Furtwangler ever wanted to "glorify" Hitler and the Nazis. It's been said that the relationship with Hitler was of a benefit to them, both. In other words, the madman could use Wagnerian music for HIS purposes, and Furtwangler could be allowed to continue as head of a GREAT Orchestra.
Furtwangler stayed ijn Germany and conducted for Hitler and allowed himself to be used to glorify the Nazis and Hitler. That decision cost Furtwangler his relationship with Toscanini, who found this decision unacceptable behavior.
I think all of you people need to chill out on thinking some conductor is a god. You know Richard Wagner was one of Hitlers favorite composers and his music was played in Dachau concentration camp to "re-educate" the prisoners. And dont forget toscanini ran for Fascist parliamentary candidate in Milan....
No, he never ran for office. He supported Mussolini early on when M. was a socialist. When M. became a fascist, T. broke with him, and stood up to him courageously.
Hai scritto una serie di cazzate Studia che è meglio....Toscanini era socialista come lo era Pertini all' epoca,e Mussolini dirigeva il giornale socialista : l'Avanti...quando Mussolini mostro' il suo vero volto,Toscanini divenne il suo più feroce oppositore.
I have been listening to this on Good Friday for years. I love the old recordings that I consider heavenly as I like to imagine that these long passed players are now angels creating a similar kind of heavenly music.
The euphemism nurses use when a patient passes: JOINED THE ANGELS.
The BBC Symphony of the 1930s had the finest wind section in the world, and it shows in this recording. Toscanini saw the long arches of music in a score, and the harmonies straining at each other in this work brought out the best in him, and he the best in the orchestra. This is a stunning performance.
i realize Im kinda randomly asking but do anybody know of a good place to stream new series online ?
@Kody Baker Flixportal :)
@Colton Genesis thank you, I signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I appreciate it!!
@Kody Baker happy to help :)
"Sehr langsam" (very slow) wrote Wagner on the score, and Toscanini respects this marvellous.
YES
WEIHEVOLL‼️
Of course...!
most magnificent music ever!
Just the best....it makes one feel alive
all is possible to speak about toscanini, but in front of parsifal's prelude, so long and unique as interpretation, for me is the toscanini's testament, as for us is to be in front of a great cathedral with gothic prayer before to enter in paradise...
carlo lamberti
What I like about this recording is that it was done in a concert hall, with decent reverberation. Much of Toscanini's recorded output was done with the NBC Orchestra, at 30 Rock, and in those days recording engineers thought that all music should be recorded in anechoic environments. So there are many great Toscanini recordings done in absolutely dead rooms, much to the music's detriment.
Regrettably, how true
The textures shimmering
Un pur moment de magie : recueillement, sentiments poignants ; grandiose ; pur ; mystique ; beauté ; et tant d'autres sentiments... et ressentis.....Depuis si longtemps......
Amazing! Wonderful! A treasure. Thanks so much for uploading this. It so great to hear Toscanini with orchestras other then the NBC Symphony. The sound is remarkably good for 1935. Enjoy - it doesn't get better than this ...
just i love parsifal, is the most beautyful work of wagner! i love his work so much!!
Bruckner kissed Wagner's hand after hearing this and said MASTER, I ADORE YOU.
I can only say that this F.........AWESOME -JUST TOO INCREDIBLE !!!
Awesome!
The quality of this 1935 recording is impressive.
Toscanini um dos maiores maestros de todos os tempos. Ele consegue interpretar esta música com uma perfeição fantástica.
A ochestra em briga constante com o concerto de tocidas!
Parts of Parsifal are surprisingly lyrical - the Good Friday music stands out in this regard. Those dissonances in the last several bars are very reminiscent of the Siegfried Idyll.
The extracts of parsifal by Karl Muck are very good indeed. It is a pitty that we have just a part of the opera.
wonderful respectful version of that Wagner piece
AWESOME
Conducted Wonderfully by Toscanini
Astonishing Orchestral Music
Thanks for uploading
Ahmad Ali Ahmad
Heap of thanks "WeicheWotanWeiche"
Good Friday 6.04.2018
8:50pm
Great conduction, great tempo
Increíble. Los "tempi" del supuestamente ultrarápido Toscanini son extraordinarios. Ni que fuera Celibidache. ¡Qué plenitud!. ¡Que musicalidad!. Un Parsifal fuera de serie, aunque la orquesta es manifiestamente mejorable o quizás sea la grabación. Pero, ¡qué música!, ¡qué dirección!.
Perfeito! Exatamente minha impressão.
So many film scores sprouted from this music…
Always great...
Well, no one's saying that a (certain) conductor is a "god" ... but the legacies of Toscanini and Furtwangler (among others) might even be MORE-secure than they were, shortly after their deaths, in the 1950s. The discipline, extraordinary (baton) techniques and the overall GREATness of those two, with the great PLAYINGS of their Orchestras are, undoubtedly, the most-enduring parts of a legacy that will NOT be surpassed. OK?
Bravo.
It is such a pity that this music has fallen out of favor for performance. In my 45 years of playing professionally, we have played it once! One will hear Dutchman, Rienzi, Meistersinger, and the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod but Parsifal? Hardly a performance anymore. This takes a lot of sheer technique on the part of both conductor and orchestra to pull off, never mind thoughtful interpretation.
Che linea,che tensione armonica!!! Non c'è un buco...peccato un po' l' intonazione dei fiati, ma da quegli anni sono cambiate tante cosa sia a livello tecnico che meccanico stesso degli strumenti.Pensando la data di questa registrazione,ha del.miracoloso l'effetto e la resa.Stupendo!
Toscanini is singing and crying!
Somewhat pre-modern brass, and some very odd woodwind intonation. But a valuable document. It had been only four years before that AT conducted the whole thing at Bayreuth. Management was star-struck, even though he set records for slow elapsed time. When he opted out in 1933, Richard Strauss took over and trimmed a half hour off the first act.
The brass are only marginally better than with the NBC, where they blare mercilessly at the expenses of one's ears.
But only Toscanini could adopt such a broad the tempo in the first two phrases without dragging (like Muck).
("just a part") - It's a pity, in a way ... but we're very-fortunate to have the Muck recordings of PARTS of Parsifal, esp. the excerpts with Ludwig Hoffman ("Gurnemanz"). The latter are some of the GREAT recordings of Wagner, even though they might seem "old" (from 1927, or thereabouts).
I have heard this recording more than 15 years ago : it is as fantastic as in my memory. Toscanini was really a prodigious conductor, although Furtwängler in 1938 for Parsifal is even better.
At some point this appears to have been remastered in stereo. And acoustically heavily tweaked as well. Late 1930s recordings made in the Queen's Hall and released in the day don't sound much like this. But it probably is Toscanini conducting. Another issue at a slightly different pitch but purporting to be the same performance, claims the orchestra is not the BBCSO at all but the LSO. I have to say that neither sounds much like either of them. But the original MIGHT just have been the BBC orchestra, if we are to believe it really is a London recording ( and the coughs suggest that - but on the other hand the EMI on-the-spot recordings with the equipment in the Hall itself were NOT public performances. Live performances were recorded from land-line links). There are one or two points in the Prelude which sound very like the NBCSO brass at work with pinpoint "sung" chording ensemble the BBCSO of the thirties just didn't use. ButToscanini made no Wagner recordings in London intended for commercial issue, ever, so it can't be ruled out that he might have got this effect in performance with a British orchestra, though it sounds very American - particularly after around 15 minutes of the Prelude where the level is reduced almost exactly in the RCA style to avoid overloading at the climax in a way Gaisberg - who was in charge in London - usually didn't have to do.
tempo is brilliant, quite similar to James Levine´s conduction
aboutr randy ross's comment: toscanini was a vehement anti fascist and anti nazi. he supported mussolini before 1919 when the dictator advocated a socialist platform. when mussolini switched to the extreme right, toscanini broke with mussolini. when furtwangler decided to remain in germany and conduct for hitler, toscanini broke with furtwangler.
Furtwangler stayed in Germany to conduct for the German people most of whom were not NAZI s
VOICI LE SEUL TEMPO DE PARSIFAL
For the relationship between Toscanini and Furtwängler, it is much more complicated. Toscanini was angry awithFurtwängler because Furtwängler did not go to New York to suceed him in 1936. Furtwängler has never been a nazi and saved many Jews. Anyway that's true that Toscanini has had an examplary political behavior but it has nothing to do with musics.
It has to do with MEN, their mentalities and personalities.
Forgive me but, does anyone know why this sounds a semi-tone lower than what is written!?
Why would you need forgiveness for this question?
Eriq Koontz
It's just the way I speak. Some have accused me of being too polite. That said, I reiterate: why does this recording sound a half step lower than written? Anyone?
+Ricardo Cox Jr maybe they used baroque tuning? ;-)
Porque el diapasón de afinamiento en Inglaterra así se acostumbraba. Pero en realidad no afecta la música, ¿o sí?
I can't tell. I have no sense of absolute pitch.
This version here differs from recording made with his NBC Orchestra. I guess Toscanini as a guest conductor here did not have enough time to rehears this Wagner music piece with BBC orchestra.
(Toscanini/Furtwangler) - That's right, beyond ANY shadow of a doubt ... but have you ever listened-to a forgotten conductor ... Karl Muck ... in this music?
Que dire?
Following the rigorous moral arguments agst. Furtwangler presented here, I wonder whether it's ethically acceptable to listen to Shostakovich? "He received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947-1962) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death)." Hmm. Or Prokoviev. Or the famed Soviet conductor, Kurt Sanderling. How selective moral judgements are in the West!
Arbiter - Well, let's NOT forget that Shostakovich composed, even after the Stalin-type crackdown ... and produced MANY works, worthy of his (Shostakovich's) name. THOSE works, incl. the Symphonies 1 through 3, are some of the most-ORIGINAL of all of a Russian composer of the 20th Century, and we could include the originality of Prokofiev, also. ... Stalin wanted certain composers to CONFORM to a socialist/realist type of false framework, that great, Russian composers could NEVER accept, explicitly.
John B I take your point, but I was commenting on the moral situation of a Furtwangler or Strauss who remained in Germany duting the NAZi era, as Shos. remained within and continued to work and produce music in the Soviet Union. Not the quality or "independence" of their work.
Should you buy a lotto ticket from a Muslim at a convenience store?
Arbiter Veritatis - As a fine flower, one can either bloom where planted, or wither and die with the lack of water.
Eriq Koontz I can agree with that observation. That is why it is perilous to make moral judgements about concrete, flesh and blood human beings.
Höchste Konzentration und größte Diffusion spiegeln in Inhalt und Form als Tonmalerei Sein und Wesen des Menschen. Das ist das Geheimnis des Werkes Wagners ... aber auch dieser unbeschreiblichen Interpretation Toskaninis (die einem das Herz zerreißt).
czcams.com/video/2sBtSOCWDC8/video.html
"bloody time beater" Furtwangler said..... be, non del tutto!!!!
Furtwangler was insanely jealous of Toscanini, yet another indication of his inferiority, Toscanini took no notice of him and hardly considered him a rival.
I wonder about the 1936 endorsement. It might have been a trap Barbirolli fell into when Furtwangler declined. Toscanini poisoned the Orchestra against Furtwangler and Barbirolli's career was collateral damage.
Cesare - W/all due respect, I don't think that Furtwangler ever wanted to "glorify" Hitler and the Nazis. It's been said that the relationship with Hitler was of a benefit to them, both. In other words, the madman could use Wagnerian music for HIS purposes, and Furtwangler could be allowed to continue as head of a GREAT Orchestra.
Can't they edit out that coughing now?
I don't mind a few coughs.
Blah - blah- blah. All I care about is the music.
On peut y mettre des mots pour dire ce que l'on ressent.
Queen's Hall was great. Too bad the Luftwaffe destroyed it.
Great democrat conductor.May he rest in peace!
Toscanini was not a democrat. Do not smear the name of this genius.
Furtwangler stayed ijn Germany and conducted for Hitler and allowed himself to be used to glorify the Nazis and Hitler. That decision cost Furtwangler his relationship with Toscanini, who found this decision unacceptable behavior.
I think all of you people need to chill out on thinking some conductor is a god. You know Richard Wagner was one of Hitlers favorite composers and his music was played in Dachau concentration camp to "re-educate" the prisoners. And dont forget toscanini ran for Fascist parliamentary candidate in Milan....
No, he never ran for office. He supported Mussolini early on when M. was a socialist. When M. became a fascist, T. broke with him, and stood up to him courageously.
Hai scritto una serie di cazzate Studia che è meglio....Toscanini era socialista come lo era Pertini all' epoca,e Mussolini dirigeva il giornale socialista : l'Avanti...quando Mussolini mostro' il suo vero volto,Toscanini divenne il suo più feroce oppositore.