Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[relm1]

Interestingly, Mahler was hardly ever recorded in the Soviet Union. I remember Fedoseyev's recording of the 4th Symphony. Several symphonies were recorded by Kondrashin, who fled to the West. Shostakovich's chief performer, Mravinsky, did not record Mahler, despite Mahler's obvious influence on Shostakovich. Who knows, maybe because of this.

I wonder how Shostakovich came to know Mahler if it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union.

EDIT: I found this which might answer my question but haven't read it yet.

[AnotherSpin]

I wonder how Shostakovich came to know Mahler if it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union.

EDIT: I found this which might answer my question but haven't read it yet.

There's a difference between performing and recording. Something of Mahler's must have been performed in the 20s and 30s to influence Shostakovich from the very start.

[BWV 1080]

I wonder how Shostakovich came to know Mahler if it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union.

EDIT: I found this which might answer my question but haven't read it yet.

it says all of Mahler's symphonies, save 6 and 7 were performed in Leningrad between 1922 and 1932, where presumably Shosty heard them

[AnotherSpin]

it says all of Mahler's symphonies, save 6 and 7 were performed in Leningrad between 1922 and 1932, where presumably Shosty heard them

It's possible. When I started listening to Mahler, much later than Shostakovich, I immediately heard the undeniable similarities. The same love for schmaltz and banalities, passion for exaggeration and lack of a sense of proportion.

[JBS]

Crosspost from the Recordings You're Considering thread.

Seen on Twitter.
Anyone have opinions on the recordings or conductor?

[Roasted Swan]

Crosspost from the Recordings You're Considering thread.

Seen on Twitter.
Anyone have opinions on the recordings or conductor?

Not heard any of these but why buy this over any number of other versions?

[JBS]

Not heard any of these but why buy this over any number of other versions?

Which is why I enquired.

[waves vaguely at the 20 plus cycles I already have]

[Roasted Swan]

Which is why I enquired.

[waves vaguely at the 20 plus cycles I already have]

 

[DavidW]

You can never have too much Mahler!!

[Scion7]

When I started listening to Mahler, much later than Shostakovich, I immediately heard the undeniable similarities. The same love for schmaltz and banalities, passion for exaggeration and lack of a sense of proportion.

I believe your stereo system is in need of repair!!!! 

[JBS]

Now that I'm back home and have a chance to doublecheck, it seems I only have 19 cycles.
Does that make it seem better?
 

[Scion7]

I wonder how Shostakovich came to know Mahler if it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union.

some more info on this:

Shostakovich yearned to go to Novosibirsk. He first got there in the summer of 1942, for the first performance of the Seventh Symphony by his favorite orchestra, the Leningrad Philharmonic, and his favorite conductor, Yevgeni Mravinsky. In Novosibirsk he was in his element and could enjoy the sound of orchestral music, of which he had been deprived for almost a year since there was virtually none in Kuibyshev. In Novosibirsk the Leningrad Philharmonic was giving a glittering season of symphony concerts, playing works by Mozart, Brahms, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Soviet composers. It is not surprising that, while he was in the city, Shostakovich had the idea of moving there with his family. - Pages from the Life of Dmitri Shostakovich, Dmitri & Ludmilla Sollertinsky ç1979

Before the revolution, Shostakovich's own city of St Petersburg had been the home of Rimsky-Korsakov, and it was there, in 1908, that Rimsky's pupil Stravinsky had unleashed his First Symphony. There too, music from the west's cutting edge was performed: Reger, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Les Six. - Classic fm Lifelines-Dmitri Shostakovich, Stephen Jackson ç1997

After 1924 (Russians) heard Mahler and Bruckner for the first time, as well as Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Ernst Krenek and others. Hindemith, Berg and Milhaud were among several who were invited to Russia to attend and perform their own concerts. For Shostakovich this exposure came late, for he did not start studying these composers until after his graduation in 1926. - The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich: The Symphonies, Roy Blokker with Robert Darling, ç1979

[Spotted Horses]

I believe your stereo system is in need of repair!!!! 

The schmaltz can be explained by a decedent ethernet cable.

[Scion7]

Now that I'm back home and have a chance to doublecheck, it seems I only have 19 cycles. Does that make it seem better?

[Madiel]

You can never have too much Mahler!!

So it's different from other life essentials like water and oxygen.

[DavidW]

So it's different from other life essentials like water and oxygen.

Too much water?  You'll drown.  Too much Mahler, no such thing!!

[Madiel]

Too much water?  You'll drown.  Too much Mahler, no such thing!!

*nods and smiles, backing away slowly*

[LKB]

While I would not disagree with the main thrust of DavidW's assertion, I would have edited it slightly:

You can never have too much early Mahler.

[Scion7]

You prefer his earlier works over ninth, or Song of the Earth, or the Adagio?

[LKB]

You prefer his earlier works over ninth, or Song of the Earth, or the Adagio?

No, l don't. But l do think that the orchestral weight, emotional intensity and audience investment associated with those late works make them less amenable to " binging "... when I've heard a successful DLvdE, l want to cogitate on it for a bit, and not hear another performance of the work anytime soon.