John Dalmas wrote:

>In an article about Bernstein and Mahler in the NY Times two Sundays
>ago composer David Schiff wrote that Wilhelm Furtwangler never performed
>a Mahler symphony.  I know this to be untrue recalling having read on
>the Mahler List a while back that Furtwangler conducted M1, 2, 3 and 4
>on several occasions in Germany and Austria between the two World Wars.
>Unfortunately, I don't remember the source of this information.  Does
>anyone have a clue?

The source was the Mahler List and below is the post concerned.  It
originated with a Furtwangler enthusiast called Bradleigh Stockwell
to whom I give the credit:

   Although he is automatically lumped together with other conductors
   of his time as steering clear of Mahler, the facts (as usual) tell
   a different story.  There are no recordings of WF doing Mahler
   symphonies but we shouldn't let the discographies do the talking. In
   1912, the year after Mahler's death, WF performed the Kindertotenlieder
   in Lubeck.  Three years later, again in Lubeck, he performed lieder
   by Mahler (and Wolf!). On this occasion, he accompanied from the
   keyboard. What he played is unknown.

   In 1916, in Mannheim, he gave his sole performance of Das Lied von
   der Erde. 1916; not exactly the crest of a Mahler boom.

   1918: in Mannheim: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, then in Ludwigshafen
   three unnamed Mahler lieder. In November, WF does the Fahrenden cycle.
   In Vienna.

   1919: back in Mannheim, WF takes in his first Mahler symphony, Nr.4.
   More astonishing, in November he brings Mahler to Vienna: the Third!

   1920: in April he repeats the Third, then does it AGAIN in June.
   Both times in Vienna.  In November he is in Berlin and under his
   direction, the Staatsoper and Staatskapelle do the "Resurrection."
   Furtwangler, in Berlin, doing the Mahler Second; now THAT must've
   been something!

   1921: WF does the "Resurrection" again, this time in Vienna.  In
   October WF conducts Synphony Nr.1 fot the first time; Berlin.

   1922: In October WF and the Leipzig Gewandhaus do the Kindertotenlieder
   on a program that also includes the Brahms Second and Scriabin's
   "Peom of Ecstasy."

   1923: A quiet year. In Berlin and Leipzig WF gives five Mahler
   performances of the Fahrenden cycle and three un-named lieder.

   1924: Symphony Nr.3 turns up in Leipzig, Vienna, and (twice) in
   Berlin.

   1925: Leipzig and Berlin; Nr.1 (the two Berlin performances of the
   "Titan" conclude a program that includes the Mendelssohn Violin
   Concerto and two arias from "Don Giovanni" sung by Richard Tauber.

   1929: Leipzig, Berlin and Vienna get a combined five chances to hear
   WF conduct the first, which seems to be his favourite Mahlerian
   "calling card." The Berlin performance on 5 February included "The
   Firebird" and Bloch's "Schlemo."

   1930: Two Berlin performances of five unidentified lieder by Mahler.
   On the same program:Beethoven Sym.Nr.2 - a work he rarely performed
   - and Strauss' "Sinfonia Domestica."

   1932: WF take the Berlin Phinharmonic to Hamburg to do the Fourth
   and back in Berlin performs it two more times. The Nazis take over
   within the year and Mahler's works are banned.

   After the war, WF performs Mahler. Sadly, no symphonies. There are
   eight Mahler performances in the post-war years: five performances
   of Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen with various singers and three
   performances of the Kindertotenlider in early December of 1953.  The
   Kindertotenlieder performances are his final Mahler performances and
   bring him full circle; the first Mahler he ever conducted was the
   Kindertotenlieder back in 1912, forty years earlier.

Tony Duggan, England.
[log in to unmask]
Mahler recordings survey: http://www.musicweb.uk.net/Mahler/