Furtwängler did conduct in Budapest (Hungary) in March 1944, the same month the Germans invaded the country. The dates are vague as to if they coincide. He conducted in Prague several times in the war years and Czechoslovakia had been invaded in 1938/39. His last concert there was March 1944. Sweden, you are correct, was not occupied - although the Germans did blockade it (though so did the British). Denmark was invaded in 1940 and he regularly conducted in Copenhagen - including with the VPO but largely with the Royal Danish Orchestra. He conducted the Oslo Phil on 1st April 1940 - and the Germans promptly invaded on the 9th April!. And, you are totally correct about France. He conducted there in November 1938 and that was the last time until after the war. So, Furtwängler did conduct in occupied countries; he also conducted in neutral ones (though not it seems Franco’s Spain). He avoided that dictator - even if he didn’t Mussolini.
I'm pretty sure that Sweden was never 'occupied' by Germany, and I'm not sure that Furtwangler ever conducted in occupied France. The status of Hungary is another question in that I can't recall that it has ever been listed as an 'Occupied' country. All I know for sure, is that Furtwangler kept to his principal that he would never conduct in an occupied country.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, I mean that sincerely: nobody learns anything unless they accept they might be wrong. I'm in my 71 first year: I still want to learn ...
There is an excellent book, The Reich's Orchestra: The Berlin Philharmonic 1933-1945, which gives a very good - if I suppose slightly slanted - history of this period. Furtwängler does get reasonably fair treatment but I'm not sure he stood a chance whether he was a member of the NSDAP or not. The BPO was controlled by Goebbels, its members were seen as civil servants not musicians, and the orchestra became emblematic of the Third Reich whether they basically liked it or not. It's this that Furtwängler became entangled in and what's more he came to be seen visibly associated with it because the BPO toured internationally. It would hardly have done Furtwängler any reputational good to be seen and heard playing in occupied countries - France, Sweden, Hungary – Austria, at a stretch. I think the Furtwängler problem probably has less to do with the man himself and more to do with his association with an orchestra that played at Nuremberg rallies as well as in the concert hall. Other conductors and indeed singers and soloists had far more distasteful relationships with the Third Reich than Furtwängler ever did. Their's was personal; Furtwängler's was a public one.
I guess if you want a parallel between the German and the Austrian - remembering that Karajan was Austrian - here is an illuminating fact. The BPO had approx 26 members of the Nazi party; the VPO had approx 45.
My thoughts exactly, Marc. I have always found it ironic that some people who are prepared to ascribe the worst of political motives to Furtwaengler seem to have no problems with Karajan who, unlike Furtwaengler, actually did join the Nazi party.
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