Furtwängler Beethoven No 4 most lively! Berlin Philharmonic Alte Philharmonie 1943. Special transfer

Furtwangler conducted Beethoven's symphony No. 4 in four concerts, 27th - 30th June 1943 in the Alte Philharmonie Berlin, as part of a pure Beethoven program, together with Coriolan overture and the 5th Symphony. MOVEMENTS: I 0:11 II 11:23 III 23:23 IV 29:03 - INTRODUCTION & TIPS:
Robert Schumann considered Beethoven's No. 4 as "greek and slender (griechisch schlank)". Most conductors follow him. Christian Thielemann even speaks of No. 4 as an "anti-climax" or a "taking breath" between the powerful 3rd and 5th. In opposition to this general opinion Furtwängler puts No. 4 in the same league with its neighbours in 1943. For him it was also a heroic work with a struggle between two principles, ending with an ecstatic final movement that in this performance is truly overwhelming.

Who is right? There is no indication that Beethoven followed a simple pattern that heroic works should alternate with lighter ones (the even-numbered symphonies). After the war Furtwängler changed some things in the performances of the 4th. But his only later live recording of the 4th with audience (Munich 1953) is again quite heroic and dramatic in character.