Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[LKB]

Oh, you're one of those who refuses to listen to the 10th!

You were actually referring to me. 

[Valentino]

^Thanks. I think that it's quite correct to summarize Mahler with

Hell yeah!

[Valentino]

I finally got around to listen to the M3 LSO Horenstein HDTT release in 4.0 (and 2.0, which I already know from my own setup) at my friend's place last night. His setup is the wildest multichannel audio/video room I know of, all done without any audiophoolery.
My comments are about the Jerry Bruck's recorded sound and the HDTT processing to digital. FTR I have never heard the Unicorn release:

2.0 and 4.0 front channels are exactly the same. The top and rear channels of the recording have not been mixed into the 2.0 release.
4.0 yelds a more spacious sound field. There is no pinpointing. The soloists are clearly singing to the room and not a microphone (e.g. as opposed to the pinprick sized von Otter in the multichannel Boulez).
Flipping 4.0 Top and Rear microphones to RR and RL speakers do not confuse the ear. They yield diffuse returns, also from the mvt 3 Flügelhorn. I guess the player was positioned so far back in the hall that the direct sound doesn't appear to be closer to the LL speaker than the LR.
4.0 also gives more percussion impact than 2.0.
2.0 is an excellent recording in itself, showing that two microphones is enough for truly excellent 2 ch stereo, even when the forces are those present in M3.

[Roasted Swan]

I finally got around to listen to the M3 LSO Horenstein HDTT release in 4.0 (and 2.0) at my friend's place last night. His setup is the wildest multichannel audio/video room I know of, all done without any audiophoolery.
My comments are about the Jerry Bruck's recorded sound and the HDTT processing to digital. FTR I have never heard the Unicorn release:

2.0 and 4.0 front channels are exactly the same. The top and rear channels of the recording have not been mixed into the 2.0 release.
4.0 yelds a more spacious sound field. There is no pinpointing. The soloists are clearly singing to the room and not a microphone (e.g. as opposed to the pinprick sized von Otter in the multichannel Boulez).
Flipping 4.0 Top and Rear microphones to RR and RL speakers do not confuse the ear. They yield diffuse rens, also from the mvt 3 Flügelhorn. I guess the player was positioned so far back in the hall that the direct sound doesn't appear to be closer to the LL speaker than the LR.
4.0 also gives more percussion impact than 2.0.
2.0 is an excellent recording in itself, showing that two microphones is enough for truly excellent 2 ch stereo, even when the forces are those present in M3.

Thankyou for that technical assessment - but did you enjopy the performance!

[Valentino]

I simply love it.

[Roasted Swan]

I simply love it.

Hurrah!!

[Valentino]

My imprint for M8 was Bernstein's first recording for CBS, with the LSO et al. That rendering has its virtues, but in less than a year the Solti found its way into my collection and became my preference.

I've listened to the Bernstein CBS now and I'm quite pleased with it.

I've tried the M1 Bernstein CBS too, but apart from a good slow movement which Bernstein brings off with great contrast and humour, like Kubelik, it's Kubelik for me. By a mile.

[Roasted Swan]

I've listened to the Bernstein CBS now and I'm quite pleased with it.

I've tried the M1 Bernstein CBS too, but apart from a good slow movement which Bernstein brings off with great contrast and humour, like Kubelik, it's Kubelik for me. By a mile.

As a cycle I far prefer the CBS/Bernstein cycle to his later indulgent DG remake.  In a utopian world of recordings perhaps Bernstein's CBS energy with Kubelik's lyrical flow would be an ideal....?

[Jo498]

Oddly, Bernstein is not sufficiently grotesque in the slow movement of the 1st (incl the "Klezmer" section). It's even worse in the Concertgebouw recording that sounds beautiful but often too slow and undercharacterized.
Of the dozen Mahler 1st's I've heard Walter might be the best but Kubelik is about as good and has better sound, so overall I think Kubelik/DG is my first choice, than Walter/Columbia (again about as good as the earlier NY but better sound which gives it the edge).

[LKB]

I've listened to the Bernstein CBS now and I'm quite pleased with it.

I've tried the M1 Bernstein CBS too, but apart from a good slow movement which Bernstein brings off with great contrast and humour, like Kubelik, it's Kubelik for me. By a mile.

I won't disagree, especially with Kubelik in M1, a true classic.

Having said that, I'll put forth here what I've posted before:

Anyone who hasn't seen Bernstein's filmed cycle with the VPO, LSO and IP is missing out, particularly in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd symphonies ( which used to be available on two DVDs, so you wouldn't have to buy the entire set as such ).

All three ( and possibly the rest ) are uploaded to YouTube, but the sound is inferior.

[Madiel]

And Hurwitz is already proven that he is EXTREMELY biased against PI in the romantic era.

        

[Maestro267]

Do all 8 soloists sing in the Veni, Creator Spiritus part of Mahler 8? And if so, is Mater Gloriosa frontstage alongside the others for that part?

[DaveF]

Do all 8 soloists sing in the Veni, Creator Spiritus part of Mahler 8? And if so, is Mater Gloriosa frontstage alongside the others for that part?

7 of the 8 do - not including Soprano 3, otherwise known as (as I think you suspected) Mater Gloriosa.

[Maestro267]

I did notice on the Solti recording that the soloists, in Part I, sound like they're standing single-file so that the males sound almost inaudibly distant. I wonder why he chose to do that?

[Herman]

I did notice on the Solti recording that the soloists, in Part I, sound like they're standing single-file so that the males sound almost inaudibly distant. I wonder why he chose to do that?

Usually this is not the conductor's choice, but the record producer's.

[DavidW]

Everyone, currently, what is your favorite Mahler symphony (including dLvdE)?

Mine is still the 9th, though I've listened to it so much in recent years that I turn to the 7th instead. My current favorite recording of the 9th is Chailly, and my current favorite recording of the 7th is Bernstein I.

[LKB]

Everyone, currently, what is your favorite Mahler symphony (including dLvdE)?

Mine is still the 9th, though I've listened to it so much in recent years that I turn to the 7th instead. My current favorite recording of the 9th is Chailly, and my current favorite recording of the 7th is Bernstein I.

At the moment, Resurrection.

[steve ridgway]

I've only had an initial run through but dLvdE stood out from that.

[ultralinear]

Everyone, currently, what is your favorite Mahler symphony (including dLvdE)?

Mine is still the 9th, though I've listened to it so much in recent years that I turn to the 7th instead. My current favorite recording of the 9th is Chailly, and my current favorite recording of the 7th is Bernstein I.

Last year I took a deep dive into the 9th, which led me through many fine recordings only to end up back again with Bruno Walter in 1938 Vienna.  Like Furtwängler's Bruckner 9 it remains a benchmark, never mind the sound quality (which in modern restorations is not all that bad.)

Lately I too have been exploring the 7th.  Too soon to have a favourite, but I agree about Bernstein I - I also like MTT/LSO.  The recording which really opened up the work for me was Bruno Maderna conducting the Wiener Symphoniker, notwithstanding the atrocious sound of the bootleg transfer I have.

Viewed across a lifetime however it has to be the 2nd, which I have internalised to such an extent that nowadays I hardly ever listen to a recording.  But I do take every opportunity to hear it performed live, as that is how it deserves to be heard - there is really nothing like it for sheer visceral impact - and I'm fortunate enough to get the opportunity generally at least once per year.  As it happens I have tickets for MTT conducting it with the LSO in a couple of weeks' time, which promises to be a very emotional occasion (though I would not be surprised to hear of a late substitution.)

[Madiel]

This is my prompt to go listen to them all again... which I've been meaning to do, but you know me and my long queue of listening projects.

There's quite a few that I really don't know well enough.