His career took a tragic turn in the 1930s, when he chose to stay in
Germany rather than emigrate to the US as so many other European
conductors had done. He apparently considered himself an upholder and
protector of German music against the Nazi influence, but he did accept
the sponsorship of
Joseph Goebbels, which branded him a collaborator in the eyes of many. Many musicians, including
Arturo Toscanini, denounced him, and an uproar arose in the New York Philharmonic when it was learned he had been selected to conduct a concert there--an offer that was promptly withdrawn. But Furtwangler was not anti-Semitic, and he helped and
protected many Jewish musicians at the same time that he accepted Nazi
sponsorship. The sponsorship tarnished his reputation, although he was
"de-Nazified" after the war. He died a broken man, but in spite of
approaching deafness, he did conduct some notable performances toward
the end of his life, such as his "Don Giovanni" at Salzburg. (It was filmed in color in 1955, recorded on LP, and released on compact disc in the 1980's. A DVD of the film version has also been released.)
Over the last twenty years or so, however, his reputation has enjoyed a
resurgence - unfortunately (and unfairly) at the expense of his most
famous rival, Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Most critics now
consider Furtwangler the greatest German conductor of the 20th
century.
