Wilhelm Furtwängler

Wilhelm Furtwangler (b. 1886) decide on being a full-time conductor after the indifferent reception of his own compositions. Furtwangler enjoyed a sparkling career during the 1920s and by the early 1930s he was one of the most highly regarded conductors in the world. Furtwangler's tenure with the Berlin Philharmonic during the 1930s and the ensuing war was - and is - controversial. Furtwangler claimed he was trying to preserve German culture from the Nazis, others have argued that if he had been hostile to Hitler he would have refused the honours heaped on him or would have left the country.

After being cleared of all wrongdoing at the end of World War II Furtwangler resumed his conducting career before dying in 1955. Despite the controversy Furtwangler is regarded as one of the finest, if not the finest, conductors of the twentieth century. He was supreme in Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Wagner.

Influenced by: Arthur Nikisch
Influenced: Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Eugene Jochum, Herbert von Karajan, Christian Thielemann

Key Works: J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, St. Matthew Passion, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9, Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 4, Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9, Mozart: Don Giovanni, Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Der Ring des Nibelungen