Recordings That You Are Considering

[DavidRoss]

What an excellent post David - thank you for getting back to me on that.
hmmm.... maybe I'll have to create a GMG poll as the deciding factor 

I don't think many here are familiar with MTT's Mahler, so that probably wouldn't help much (though of course it wouldn't stop several from offering opinions!). However, mog will let you audition them both. https://mog.com/m#search/mahler%207

[Bulldog]

Also, what is Tilson Thomas' recording of the 9th like?
This cycle has very mixed reviews so I am not quite sure who to believe!

I sure don't recall the reviews being very mixed.  From what I remember, the bulk of comments ranged from "very good" to "superb".

[Marc]

Is the Naxos Mahler box -



- worth the $30 MDT is asking for it? Of course, there are several other Mahler boxes in the $30 range, like Bertini's and Levine's...

Don't think any longer. Get Bertini.

Or Kubelik, as David and Jens suggested.

Probably the best Naxos Mahler is this one (not part of the set):



It's been some time since I last listened to it, but I remember being really impressed. The sound quality also being very good: much better balanced compared to some of the other Naxos Mahlers, f.i. the 6th (with brass overpowering the strings, if I recall rightly).

[Marc]

I sure don't recall the reviews being very mixed.  From what I remember, the bulk of comments ranged from "very good" to "superb".

Well, I recall rather negative reviews in Dutch magazines (also German) and newspapers. The main comments were something like slick, uninspired, beautiful on the outside, shallow on the inside, stay loyal to your Bernsteins and Haitinks and whomever else, better try some Boulez or Chailly.
Maybe as a result of this, I saw many Mahler-MTT issues quickly thrown into the Dutch remaindered stocks. And guess what: I didn't buy any of them!

(At the time, I had enough of Mahler. In more than one sense.)

[kishnevi]

I'd say that MTT is the best recent cycle.  I like the SFO 7th very much; I'm not as enthusiastic about the 9th as Jens (Zinman, Levine Munich, and Bernstein/DGG are my favorites there); the 8th is marred by James Morris chewing his way through his solo in Part II but otherwise superb; from the whole cycle there's not a bad performance overall. 

That said, for the best overall cycle, I'd suggest Inbal.  The individual performances may not rank as the best of any particular symphony, but the quality throughout is high.

[mc ukrneal]

I don't think many here are familiar with MTT's Mahler, so that probably wouldn't help much (though of course it wouldn't stop several from offering opinions!). However, mog will let you audition them both. https://mog.com/m#search/mahler%207

I think you are right that the MTT series is less well known, mostly becuase they were so expensive when they were released. But I see now that this one (#7) is $13.99 ($8.95 at Amazon MP). So I imagine the time to pounce is now if this is the one he (or anyone else) wants. For comparison, this costs $25 at presto! Frankly, with #7 my favorite, I am tempted myself!

[madaboutmahler]

Thank you for all your feedback and help!

In terms of the range of criticism of the SFO/Tilson Thomas set, just see amazon.co.uk, or the BBC Music Magazine reviews! Very varied!

[Mirror Image]

Like I need anymore recordings of Sibelius's tone poems but has anyone heard this 2-CD set from Gibson/SNO?

[asin]B0006AZQ0I[/asin]

[jlaurson]

Like I need anymore recordings of Sibelius's tone poems but has anyone heard this 2-CD set from Gibson/SNO?


J. Sibelius
A.Gibson
Scottish NO

Gibson's Sibelius is very good in general - and those tone poems in particular.

[Mirror Image]

Gibson's Sibelius is very good in general - and those tone poems in particular.

Excellent, Jens. Thanks for the feedback. I've heard good things about his Sibelius, but you never know. Sounds like I might need this. I'm such a Sibelius whore.

[Lethevich]

Like I need anymore recordings of Sibelius's tone poems but has anyone heard this 2-CD set from Gibson/SNO?

[asin]B0006AZQ0I[/asin]

It's excellent - my favourite two-disc collection of the works that I can think of, and slightly preferable to Sinaisky's recent Brilliant Classics 3CD (which is also fine).

[Mandryka]

Boulez and Curzon in Mozart and Beethoven.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I've decided it's time to take Vivaldi a little more seriously. Considering this:

[jlaurson]

Boulez and Curzon in Mozart and Beethoven.


L.v.Beethoven, W.G.Mozart
PCs no.5 & 26
Clifford Curzon / Pierre Boulez / BBC SO
BBC Legends

Certainly an unusual combination in every regard, and yet a very intriguing one.
I, for one, like both musicians for very different reasons.
What was Boulez doing conducting Beethoven and Mozart in 1971 resp. 1974? Wasn't he busy burning opera houses down?
(Then again, that was not so long before he would conduct the centenary Ring in Bayreuth.)

I'm listening to it now. The sound of the Beethoven is not all that great... esp. not for a 70s recording.
Coughing--will you s h u t   u p, Royal Festival Hall audience-people?!--is fairly audible, too.

But then I love, love, love Clifford Curzon, and his touch -- so unfussy, so unashamedly musical... sensitive yet devoid of schmalz or sugar -- is evident even in those first 6 minutes I've gotten  into the disc so far. (How much of that response is the effect of knowing that it is Curzon playing--that is to say: psychological rather than actually audible--I cannot quite say. Yet.)

Edit:
Holy cow, what a cadenza to the first movement of the Mozart... a variation on that whatshammacallit theme from Don Giovanni. Brilliant.

[TheGSMoeller]

I've decided it's time to take Vivaldi a little more seriously. Considering this:

That is a good disc, in fact all of the Biondi/Vivaldi recordings are worth a purchase. But if you're going for only Mandolin/Lute concertos I would recommend the Federico Guglielmo/L'Arte dell' Arco on Brilliant Classics.

[Mandryka]

Certainly an unusual combination in every regard, and yet a very intriguing one.
I, for one, like both musicians for very different reasons.
What was Boulez doing conducting Beethoven and Mozart in 1971 resp. 1974? Wasn't he busy burning opera houses down?
(Then again, that was not so long before he would conduct the centenary Ring in Bayreuth.)

I'm listening to it now. The sound of the Beethoven is not all that great... esp. not for a 70s recording.
Coughing--will you s h u t   u p, Royal Festival Hall audience-people?!--is fairly audible, too.

But then I love, love, love Clifford Curzon, and his touch -- so unfussy, so unashamedly musical... sensitive yet devoid of schmalz or sugar -- is evident even in those first 6 minutes I've gotten  into the disc so far. (How much of that response is the effect of knowing that it is Curzon playing--that is to say: psychological rather than actually audible--I cannot quite say. Yet.)

Edit:
Holy cow, what a cadenza to the first movement of the Mozart... a variation on that whatshammacallit theme from Don Giovanni. Brilliant.

Thabks for that -- I'll hold off till Monday to see whether you recant 

[Que]

A reissue of the recordings of Missa de septem doloribus (CD1), Missa Ave Maria & Vespera (CD2) and Missa Alleluia (CD3). Two of which did get awarded with a Diapason d'Or....

Q

[Mirror Image]

Here are a few that I've already considered and will definitely purchase when they come out:

[TheGSMoeller]

Here are a few that I've already considered and will definitely purchase when they come out:

Is this the same live performance that some of the GMGr's witnessed a few months back?

[Mirror Image]

Is this the same live performance that some of the GMGr's witnessed a few months back?

Yep, this is the one.