As in all his other interpretations of this work, the great German conductor begins with a slow and majestic introduction, gradually gaining momentum and an irresistible pace before launching into the Allegro, played here with blazing intensity.

The second movement, with its famous theme that influenced the third movement of Brahms’s Third Symphony, provides an anticlimax, featuring a delightful solo violin trio by Siegfried Borries.

The magnificent third movement (Scherzo) is performed with a sense of the inexorable that only Furtwängler could summon.

Before the tumultuous final movement begins, there is the famous transition passage in which Furtwängler builds the most impressive crescendo ever heard.