Grand Slam label's Furtwangler

Thursday, January 31st 2008

GRAND SLAM RECORDS
WILHELM FURTWANGLER SERIES

Grand Slam Records was established by the Japanese music critic Naoya Hirabayashi in 2000. Hirabayashi was born in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, after graduated Hihon University, he had been working as an edtior of Disc Report and CD jouranl for 10 years. Since 1993, he began to writing pieces for various Japanese magazines, and he once navigated quartely magazine called "Classic Press" (1999-2003). His most interests are great conductors and old or modern vilolinists. He is a member of ARSC and his holdings are 78s, LPs, CDs, CDRs, old books, discographies and sheet music. Grand Slam so far released mostly Furtwangler CDs, and Walter and Schuricht. His remastered sound highly acclaimed not onyl in Japan but also in Korea and Taiwan.
(Oversea review of Grand Slam CDs, see CRC Autumn 2006, No. 46, P.69)

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
Symphony in D minor
1�TLento
2�UAllegretto
3�VAllegro non troppo

Wolgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No.39 in E flat major, K. 543
4�TAdagio-Allegro
5�UAndante
6�VMenuetto. Allegretto
7�WFinale. Allegro

WILHELM FURTWANGLER, conductor
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded:1-3 28 or 29 January 1945, Grosser saal, Musikverein, Vienna
4-7 1942/1943, Berlin
Source: 1-3 Vox (U.S.A.) PL 7230, 4-7 Eterna (East Germany) 720158

Reissue Producer: Naoya Hirabayashi

Cover photo: Wilhelm Furtwangler ca. 1940
PHOTO: NAOYA HIRABAYASHI COLLECTION
Special thanks to Takuya Nagai of La Voce Kyoto

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GS2025
GRAND SLAM RECORDS
WILHELM FURTWANGLER SERIES

Brahms: Symphony No.1 / FURTWANGLER VPO (1947)

Producer's notes

The two bonus tracks on this CD are excerpts from the LP DXM-163 released in Japan by Nippon Columbia in January 1973. This LP was supposed to contain a recording of Brahms's Symphony No. 1 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler. According to the sleeve notes, this DXM-163 was quite different from the 1947 HMV recording. However, soon after, many critics and collectors judged that the DXM-163 was identical with the HMV recording. John Hunt, chairman of the Furtwangler Society U.K., mentioned in his book Furtwangler Sound (6th edition, 1999), that this DXM-163 probably contained the 1944 Electrola recording by Karl Bohm and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, Gerard Gefen, who wrote the biography Wilhelm Furtwangler: La Puissance Et La Gloire (L'Archipel, 2001; the Japanese translation was published by the Ongakuno-tomo-sha Corp. in 2007), also mentioned that this DXM-163 may have been identical with Bohm's recording. Although the DXM-163 was described as being licensed from American Vox, strangely enough, the original American Vox LP was never released in the U.S.

Naoya Hirabayashi

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op. 68
1�TUn poco sostenuto-Allegro
2�UAndante sostenuto
3�VUn poco allegretto e grazioso
4�WAdagio-Allegro non troppo ma con brio

　Hungarina Dance No.1

　Hungarian Dance No.3

　1st movement from Symphony No.1

Excerpt of 4th movement from Symphony No.1

WILHELM FURTWANGLER
1-4, 7, 8 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
5, 6 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded: 1-4 17, 18, 19, 20 November 1947, Grossersaal Musikverein, Vienna
5, 6 1930, Hochschule fur Musik, Berlin

Source:1-4 HMV (France, LA VOIX DE SON MAITRE) DB 6634, 6638, DBS 6639 (2VH7083-1, 7084-2, 7085-1, 7086-2, 7087-2, 7088-2, 7091-1, 7092-1, 7093-1, 7099-1, 7100-1)
5, 6 Polydor (Germany) 90190 (2530 1, 2BH1, 2587　1, 2BH1)
7, 8 Nippon Columbia (Japan) DXM-163-VX

Reissue Producer: Naoya Hirabayashi
Cover photo: Wilhelm Furtwangler in 1940s
PHOTO: NAOYA HIRABAYASHI COLLECTION
Special thanks to Eiko Ishikawa, Alan Sanders
GRAND SLAM RECORDS

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