"Furtwängler's last performance of Beethoven's First Symphony, given in Berlin in September 1954, shows no sign of failing powers, despite his hearing problems. It glows with youthful vigour. In Munich a year previously he conducted the Fourth Symphony and Egmont Overture with the VPO in renderings that are in his later, Olympian style - serene, broad and wise. The contrast with his earlier recordings of these works is striking, but how could one chooose one rather than another? This disc concludes with an excerpt from the well-known BBC interview from 1948, with Furtwängler eloquently expounding his views on interpreting Beethoven. It makes a suitably moving coda."

Michael Tanner in Classical Express

FURTWÄNGLER'S BEETHOVEN. Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21, BPO (Berlin, 19 Sept. 1954); Symphony No. 4 in B-flat, Op. 60, VPO (Munich, 4 Sept. 1953); Egmont Overture, Op. 84, VPO (Munich, 4 Sept. 1953) & FURTWÄNGLER speaks about Beethoven (an interview with H. Brailsford) (London, 2 Nov. 1948).
UPC #0-17685-0792-1

audio samples:

Sym No.1 in C, Op.21: I. Adagio Molto; Allegro Con Brio
Sym No.1 in C, Op.21: II. Andante Cantabile Con Moto
Sym No.1 in C, Op.21: III. Menuetto; Allegro Molto E Vivace
Sym No.1 in C, Op.21: IV. Adagio, Allegro Molto E Vivace
Sym No.4 in B flat, Op.60: I. Adagio, Allegro Vivace