Mahler Mania, Rebooted

Started by Greta, May 01, 2007, 08:06:38 PM

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ChamberNut

Quote from: Dundonnell on January 11, 2009, 01:46:16 PM
The last few minutes of this great symphony must be amongst the most sublime pages of music ever written!!

I agree wholeheartedly!

Salome

The Mahlerfest article : 'Myth and Reality in Mahler's Sixth Symphony' by Jeffrey Gantz contains an excellent discussion of some of the enduring questions surrounding Mahler's 6th.

http://www.mahlerfest.org/mfXVI/notes_myth_reality.htm


greg

Quote from: Salome on January 12, 2009, 12:15:32 AM
The Mahlerfest article : 'Myth and Reality in Mahler's Sixth Symphony' by Jeffrey Gantz contains an excellent discussion of some of the enduring questions surrounding Mahler's 6th.

http://www.mahlerfest.org/mfXVI/notes_myth_reality.htm




that was a good read.
I like this paragraph at the end
Quote

     Commentators perhaps looking to Mahler to confirm their own view of existence have not hesitated to accept the Sixth's "Tragic" subtitle. Wilhelm Furtwängler labeled this symphony "the first nihilist work in the history of music." Bruno Walter argued that it "ends in hopelessness and the dark night of the soul . . . the 'other world' is not glimpsed for a moment." Leonard Bernstein described the Finale as the "catastrophe of homo sapiens himself."

Senta

#643
Quote from: knight on October 29, 2008, 01:38:31 PM
Free with my Gramophone subscription mag came a sampler of Super Audio Hybrid discs. The tracks are from various independent labels. The first track is from a new Mahler 5, Jansons and the Concertgebouw. We get seven minutes from the opening. The sound is stunning,up front and rich, I like what Jansons does in that brief few minutes, so I have ordered it. It is on the orchestra's own label.

The release will be around the middle of November.

Mike



Yes, I am listening to this right now! Brand-new acqusition and finishing a first spin. I got it at a deal on eMusic (and I think it is on other download sites as well).

This is very much worth a listen. The sound is rather cavernous and obscures some detail, but then again it also sounds very "live" and Concertgebouw-ish which is nice. And the playing is simply gorgeous and so lyrical! The interpretation is far more romantic and expansive than I expected, with string playing so lush you could bathe in the sound. And besides the lovely strings, which I mentioned, the wind and brass playing is also spectacular, notably the large trumpet and horn solos which are played so effortlessly with such control and gleaming tone. This has to be one of my favorite interpretations of the 3rd mvmt obligato horn! And the Adagietto is gentle, warm, and flowing, never draggy, displaying well the strings' remarkable depth of sound. Musically this recording is extremely impressive. In fact, it may be one of the most singing and lyrical performances I have perhaps heard of this work.

Sometimes Jansons sacrifices some energy for this goal, and in the difficult 2nd mvmt sometimes the strings and brass don't quite lock in with each other, but very minor peccadillos, which are more than made up for by the amazing richness and magnificence of the performance as a whole.

Note: I also see this is available on SACD, which I guess I will have to trade up to sometime!

(PS: Does anyone have their Mahler 6? And could someone tell me what is on these front covers? ;D It looks like broken candy pieces!)

 

Renfield

#644
Greta,

Quoting my note to the Listening Thread, coincidentally from a few days ago:

Quote from: Renfield on January 31, 2009, 05:10:58 AM
Hmm...

I'd call this an "eight out of ten" recording, deliberately avoiding numbers for the sake of not awarding it a score as such.

But it's not perfect, nor is it outstanding, mostly due to the slight slackening of pace every once in a while in the latter movements. However, the opening movement is superb, and if the orchestral playing were any more polished, it would reflect itself. :o :P

Do sample for how well Mahler's 5th can be played, but do not sample for how well Mahler's 5th can be performed.


(A shame, as that opening movement, ominously no-nonsense, elicited expectations the rest of the recording did not consistently deliver on. :()


I've been following the Jansons/Concertegbouw cycle, and am generally quite pleased with the results (despite my above grumbling).

Their 6th was very good, something like a moderate cross-breed of Bernstein and Karajan, big and sensitive, but not altogether as over-the-top as Lenny, or as precise as Karajan. Their 1st was also quite good, though Gramophone found it somewhat too ordinary. ::) (I liked it.)


So far, this cycle isn't looking like it's going to top the very best: but it's certainly very welcome in my collection, and no less than interesting.

Finally, the covers are probably pills; crushed pills. :o


Edit:

What makes Jansons' efforts even more interesting for me is that I'm following this cycle in parallel to the faster-progressing (as it's all been recorded) Gergiev, the latter pretty much as far as possible from Janson's aesthetic - but also interesting enough to follow. :)

imperfection

I'm starting to like Barbirolli's Mahler very much. So far I have heard his 6th and sampled his 5th, but plan on getting it pretty soon too. The former is a very majestic, grandiose, broad performance - very much like Celibidache's Bruckner, except the Englishman doesn't round off the edges and homogenize every sonority. Where it needs to be rough, Barbirolli hits as hard as anybody else, and where it demands lyricism, he creams your face. It really deserves to be in the Greatest Recordings of The Century series, in my opinion. Now I just hope his 5th will be at least half as good as his 6th.


Renfield

Barbirolli's 5th is great! Only his 9th is a contender for a better Mahler recording from him, IMO.

(That's not meant to disparage his 6th, also a great reading and great recording. Still, the 5th and 9th are challengers for the top, period. :))

knight66

Quote from: Renfield on February 01, 2009, 11:01:27 PM

(That's not meant to disparage his 6th, also a great reading and great recording. Still, the 5th and 9th are challengers for the top, period. :))

Agreed, I have not found another 9th with the emotional sucker-punch that Barbirolli provides, esprcially in the first movement.

BTW I got the Janssons 5th and found it a dit disappointing. Some of it lacks momentum and the second movement especially seems to be affected.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Jay F

Quote from: Senta on February 01, 2009, 08:27:33 PM

(PS: could someone tell me what is on these front covers? ;D It looks like broken candy pieces!)

I was thinking antidepressants.

ChamberNut

Quote from: Senta on February 01, 2009, 08:27:33 PM


(PS: And could someone tell me what is on these front covers? ;D It looks like broken candy pieces!)

 

Vitamin C tablets.  ;D

Opus106

Vitamin C# minor, to be precise. ;)
Regards,
Navneeth

ChamberNut

Quote from: opus67 on February 02, 2009, 09:24:40 AM
Vitamin C# minor, to be precise. ;)

Ah yes, perhaps they are Flintstone vitamins (I remember them tasting rather sharp :P)

greg

Quote from: ChamberNut on February 02, 2009, 09:27:27 AM
Ah yes, perhaps they are Flintstone vitamins (I remember them tasting rather sharp :P)
Those things were yummy! If only it weren't bad for your health to eat through the whole bottle, I'd do it.

Senta

Not sure what vitamin pills or candy have to do with Mahler....but anyway...

Yes, it seems that we are all hearing the same things about the Jansons M5 and expressing it in our own ways. (Isn't that fun about a classical forum?!)

I agree wholly with you Renfield and Mike, while I enjoy the performance and find it very impressive, the curious moments of slowing of pace and flagging energy make this one knock off a few points. I think it is perhaps more worthy for how finely and musically the orchestra plays, and how well they follow their conductor.

While maybe not wholly satisfying, it is yet a splendid example of how well this conductor and orchestra are working together.

Now, the real reason I gave the recording a spin last night - was to refresh my ears after this, yes, I bit:



[[Cue: Opening of Worm Can]]

I don't agree with Hurwitz though didn't love it either, will post thoughts later...still at work..

ChamberNut

Quote from: Senta on February 02, 2009, 12:10:48 PM
Not sure what vitamin pills or candy have to do with Mahler....but anyway...


Actually had to do with your own post about how you wondered what was on the cover of a particular Mahler CD jacket.....but anyway...

Senta

Quote from: ChamberNut on February 02, 2009, 12:24:02 PM
Actually had to do with your own post about how you wondered what was on the cover of a particular Mahler CD jacket.....but anyway...

LOL...well, rather...what the cover designer thought they had to do with Mahler... ;)

imperfection

Quote from: Renfield on February 01, 2009, 11:01:27 PM
Barbirolli's 5th is great! Only his 9th is a contender for a better Mahler recording from him, IMO.

(That's not meant to disparage his 6th, also a great reading and great recording. Still, the 5th and 9th are challengers for the top, period. :))

Now I am relieved. Sorry about my wallet, I guess. Also, how would you compare Karajan's live 9th with the Barbirolli 9th?

Renfield

Quote from: imperfection on February 02, 2009, 04:03:55 PM
Also, how would you compare Karajan's live 9th with the Barbirolli 9th?

"Different". Barbirolli goes for the lyrical jugular, whereas Karajan aims for existential transcendence. 0:)

That is the reason I always recommend the Karajan first, it's a qualitatively different approach to "the problem of Mahler's 9th" (my term, there is no such official problem). But Barbirolli's is probably a good as the straight approach can get - quite certainly so among extant recordings! :)

Opus106

Is there a (special) reason why Mahler included a violin solo in every symphony of his? (Maybe I should rephrase it and say every symphony of his that I have heard, which would be 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9.)
Regards,
Navneeth

Jay F

Quote from: Senta on February 02, 2009, 01:18:53 PM
LOL...well, rather...what the cover designer thought they had to do with Mahler... ;)

What I saw when I looked at those covers were crushed anti-depressants. I don't know what the designer's actual intent was, but in an unrelated article/website/blog, this fellow sees a connection between bipolar illness and Mahler. http://www.mcmanweb.com/mahler.html