Wilhelm Furtwängler

Who was Wilhelm Furtwängler?

Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is considered to be one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Furtwängler was one of the leading conductors in Europe. He became the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1922 and principal conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was also a major guest conductor of other leading orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic. He was the leading conductor who remained in Germany during the Second World War and, although not an adherent to the Nazi regime, this decision caused controversy for the rest of his life. The extent to which his presence lent prestige to the Third Reich is still debated. Furtwängler's interpretive art is well documented in commercial and off-air recordings and this has led to him being revered by countless musicians, critics and record collectors since his death.

Furtwängler's conducting style is often contrasted to that of his older contemporary Arturo Toscanini, whose work during this period is also widely documented. Like Toscanini, Furtwängler was a major influence on many later conductors, and his name is often mentioned when discussing their interpretive styles. However, unlike Toscanini, Furtwängler sought a weighty, less rhythmically strict, more bass-oriented orchestral sound, with more conspicuous use of tempo inflections, not indicated in the printed score.