Furtwangler's recording of the great Serenade, K361, was made in war-ravaged Vienna during November and early December 1947. The wonder is that it sounds like a real performance at all, since the seven movements were recorded in four sessions, each of which were about a week apart from each other. It was Furtwangler's first visit to the city as a performer since the end of the war and he had a busy schedule, with eight concerts and other recordings, including Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and Brahms's Symphony No. 1. And yet, as RG writes in his notes for the issue, the performance ''is distinguished by an unerring sense of tempo, and above all, a marvellous feeling for the long-breathed melodic line''.
Viennese wind players at this time still had a very distinctive style, and modern listeners may react particularly against the somewhat sharp, acid tone of the two oboes, which is very different from the fat central-European sound of today, or the slightly thinner, but refined modern American sound. Technically the VPO players are first class and one advantage of recording in Vienna during an otherwise uncomfortable period was the availability of generous rehearsal time.
Furtwangler rarely imposed his highly subjective, romantic style of interpretation on eighteenth-century music, and although his conception of the serenade is on an aristocratically grand, lofty scale, there is an attractive freshness and buoyancy in his conducting, and an abundance of good humour. Eine kleine Nachtmusik was recorded two years later and here the VPO strings have the chance to show their considerable quality. But as so often in this period of Viennese recording, the string sound itself is a little thin and doesn't ideally serve a performance which is in fact delightfully warm and affectionate. Transfers have been very well made.'