Hello from Flanders

[nico1616]

Hello,

I have been following this forum for a while and enjoyed a lot of the posts from veteran members.
It's now time to make some contributions, and let me start with introducing myself.

I have been listening quite intensively to classical music since 1995. The Queen Elisabeth competition for piano was the trigger. The winner of that year (Markus Groh) made me love Brahms 1st piano concerto, and that work started it all. Since then I have been addicted to listening to and buying cd's.
My favorite composer are Brahms (first love never dies  ), Mozart, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Sibelius and Handel.
My favorite conductors are Giulini and Minkowski.
For some years I listened to nothing but opera, but now I'm rediscovering symphonic works.

Mahler and Shostakovich, especially popular on this forum, are on my playlist now but their massive works take quite some time to get to know.
My latest most played work is Mahlers 6th, absolutely worth discovering.

My first post ever, who knows how many will follow

Nico

[The new erato]

I hope there will be many!

[bhodges]

Welcome, Nico! Hard to argue with Brahms and the First Piano Concerto! Glad you have discovered the Mahler 6, one of my favorites (and I believe, of at least one other Mahler fan here, too  ).

--Bruce

[madaboutmahler]

Mahler and Shostakovich, especially popular on this forum, are on my playlist now but their massive works take quite some time to get to know.
My latest most played work is Mahlers 6th, absolutely worth discovering.

Hi Nico!

Glad to hear you are enjoying Mahler! As you can guess, he is my absolute ultimate favourite composer of all time. I hope you will enjoy the rest of his symphonies, and the song cycles, as well! Mahler 6 certainly is amazing, my favourite along with no.7 and 9.

Best Wishes to you for your GMG life!
Daniel

Glad you have discovered the Mahler 6, one of my favorites (and I believe, of at least one other Mahler fan here, too  ).

--Bruce

Correct, Bruce!

[North Star]

Welcome to the forum, Nico! Brahms, Sibelius and Mahler are some of my favourites, too. Mahler may be lengthy and time-consuming, but it's certainly worth the effort.

[Lisztianwagner]

Hi Nico, welcome! You have a wonderful list of favourite composers, I really love all those you mentioned (maybe apart from Puccini); I'm also very glad you like Mahler No.6, it's one of my favourite works of all time.
Have a nice time here

Ilaria

[nico1616]

Hi Nico!

Glad to hear you are enjoying Mahler! As you can guess, he is my absolute ultimate favourite composer of all time. I hope you will enjoy the rest of his symphonies, and the song cycles, as well! Mahler 6 certainly is amazing, my favourite along with no.7 and 9.

Best Wishes to you for your GMG life!
Daniel

Correct, Bruce!

Thanks!
Quite obviously you are one of the Mahler experts here

I am not a complete newbie to Mahler. Since his first symphony blew me off my feet in concert some years ago, I have always returned to that symphony. Again and again I have listened to Bruno Walter's recording on Sony, and this work still has one of my favorite final movements.
But I never got further than seperate movements from some the others, for example n°2 and n°5 have great first movements, but I can not get a grip on the overall structure of these. Listening to n°7 is like watching TV in Chinese, I don't have a clue what it means, it seems extremely complicated ...

Still, there must be something there that I have yet to discover, and I'm looking for the key.
But finally, the 6th has joined the 1st as one of the treasures I will return to again and again. And that feels good!

Nico

[madaboutmahler]

Thanks!
Quite obviously you are one of the Mahler experts here

I am not a complete newbie to Mahler. Since his first symphony blew me off my feet in concert some years ago, I have always returned to that symphony. Again and again I have listened to Bruno Walter's recording on Sony, and this work still has one of my favorite final movements.
But I never got further than seperate movements from some the others, for example n°2 and n°5 have great first movements, but I can not get a grip on the overall structure of these. Listening to n°7 is like watching TV in Chinese, I don't have a clue what it means, it seems extremely complicated ...

Still, there must be something there that I have yet to discover, and I'm looking for the key.
But finally, the 6th has joined the 1st as one of the treasures I will return to again and again. And that feels good!

Nico

Hi Nico, I am so glad that you are so enthusiastic about Mahler 1 and 6. Love those pieces. I too was blown away by these pieces in concert! I have seen both of them live twice, both of which were amazing experiences.
I suppose I can understand what you mean. I connect with Mahler's music so much that I don't feel confused when listening to it, for me, it is perfect. I'd probably suggest listening to no.4 or 5 next all the way through, glad to hear you have enjoyed the first movement of 5 which is certainly thrilling. No.7 is probably the strangest of the lot, but I love it so incredibly much, especially the first movement.

By the way, try listening to Solti's recording of no.6 which is truly excellent. And the Bernstein DG recordings are brilliant too!

[nico1616]

Hi Nico, I am so glad that you are so enthusiastic about Mahler 1 and 6. Love those pieces. I too was blown away by these pieces in concert! I have seen both of them live twice, both of which were amazing experiences.
I suppose I can understand what you mean. I connect with Mahler's music so much that I don't feel confused when listening to it, for me, it is perfect. I'd probably suggest listening to no.4 or 5 next all the way through, glad to hear you have enjoyed the first movement of 5 which is certainly thrilling. No.7 is probably the strangest of the lot, but I love it so incredibly much, especially the first movement.

By the way, try listening to Solti's recording of no.6 which is truly excellent. And the Bernstein DG recordings are brilliant too!

Mahler 6th is a curious case, I like almost all the recordings I know: Bernstein DG, Bernstein Sony (the quickest of them all, but it works for me), Karajan DG and Abbado 2005 DG. I don't like Boulez on DG (the first I bought), it lacks tension. I will certainly look for Solti's interpretation, he's a conductor whose temperament I love, but his Mahler seems not to be universally appreciated.

Any recommendations for the 5th? I always listen to Bernstein on DG, but I never make it till the end. Maybe I should try another ...

Best regards,
Nico

[mc ukrneal]

Welcome aboard and enjoy.

[Que]

Van harte welkom, Nico.

Q

[mahler10th]

Welcome Nico.  Get stuck in, so much here to explore!

[TheGSMoeller]

<----Two posts in a row from Monkeys, who would have ever guessed on this forum? 



Welcome, Nico. Glad to meet you.    I am looking forward to future chats.

You mentioned Minkowski as a favorite conductor, have you seen him perform live? Or just based on recordings? I haven't seen Minkowski conduct a live performance but I have immensely enjoyed his recordings of Haydn, Rameau and Berlioz. Absolutely thrilling playing and intriguing interpretations throughout.

[madaboutmahler]

Mahler 6th is a curious case, I like almost all the recordings I know: Bernstein DG, Bernstein Sony (the quickest of them all, but it works for me), Karajan DG and Abbado 2005 DG. I don't like Boulez on DG (the first I bought), it lacks tension. I will certainly look for Solti's interpretation, he's a conductor whose temperament I love, but his Mahler seems not to be universally appreciated.

Any recommendations for the 5th? I always listen to Bernstein on DG, but I never make it till the end. Maybe I should try another ...

Best regards,
Nico

The Bernstein and Karajan you mention are both excellent. I don't think Abbado is exactly the best... even though people call him one of the greatest Mahlerians of all time. I don't really agree. Yes, some people love Solti's Mahler (like Sarge and I), but some people hate it. For me, Solti's Mahler 6 is the most powerful overall, a really brilliant performance. I'd be interested to know what you think of it once you have had the chance to listen to it.

For the 5th.... my absolute favourite is Chailly's recording. This is pretty perfect to me, one of my favourite recordings of all time actually! Highly recommended!

[mc ukrneal]

Any recommendations for the 5th? I always listen to Bernstein on DG, but I never make it till the end. Maybe I should try another ...

There is also Barshai in number 5.

[mahler10th]

My preferred 5th is Inbal with the FRSO.

[nico1616]

<----Two posts in a row from Monkeys, who would have ever guessed on this forum? 



Welcome, Nico. Glad to meet you.    I am looking forward to future chats.

You mentioned Minkowski as a favorite conductor, have you seen him perform live? Or just based on recordings? I haven't seen Minkowski conduct a live performance but I have immensely enjoyed his recordings of Haydn, Rameau and Berlioz. Absolutely thrilling playing and intriguing interpretations throughout.

We were lucky here to have Minkowski as the musical director of the Flemish opera some 10 years ago, at the time his star was rising. I remember unforgettable performances of Semele (with Rosemary Joshua and Charles Workman), Platée and Idomeneo (with a young Magdalena Kozena). The Flemish Opera has never been the same since he left. In Brussels (Bozar) I heard him perform Rameau's symphonie imaginaire, Handels Acis & Galatea and, best of all, the concertant Giulio Cesare that was recorded for DG. These are all among the most memorable musical evenings of my life and made me understand the dramatic appeal of Baroque music.

[nico1616]

My preferred 5th is Inbal with the FRSO.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and I will certainly explore your recommendations!
They are quite surprising, and some of the suggested conductors I know only by name.

I will keep you informed of my findings 

[TheGSMoeller]

We were lucky here to have Minkowski as the musical director of the Flemish opera some 10 years ago, at the time his star was rising. I remember unforgettable performances of Semele (with Rosemary Joshua and Charles Workman), Platée and Idomeneo (with a young Magdalena Kozena). The Flemish Opera has never been the same since he left. In Brussels (Bozar) I heard him perform Rameau's symphonie imaginaire, Handels Acis & Galatea and, best of all, the concertant Giulio Cesare that was recorded for DG. These are all among the most memorable musical evenings of my life and made me understand the dramatic appeal of Baroque music.

Wonderful, thank you for sharing, Nico.

[Mirror Image]

Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy the site and get something useful out of it.