Vote for your absolute favourite Mahler Symphony!

Started by madaboutmahler, September 11, 2011, 11:32:59 AM

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Which is your favourite Mahler symphony?

no.1
no.2
no.3
no.4
no.5
no.6
no.7
no.8
no.9
no.10
Das Lied von der Erde (if it can be counted as a symphony...)
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val

#20
September 12, 2011, 01:01:14 AM
The 6th with no doubts. Directed by Karajan (BPO) or Bernstein (VPO).

Sergeant Rock

#21
September 12, 2011, 06:01:05 AM
The Sixth, and it's been my favorite since first hearing it live at Severance Hall in 1967. I own 28 versions. Favorite performances: Karajan (for the beauty of the Andante), Chailly (for it's monolithic grimness), Szell (for the rightness of his Classical approach), Bernstein (for the crushing power) and above all Solti (another "Classical" Sixth and one of the very few to include the third hammerblow).

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

#22
September 12, 2011, 06:04:32 AM
Conventional wisdom says the Fifth is the most popular Mahler symphony. Odd that it's gotten zero votes so far.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

DavidRoss

#23
September 12, 2011, 06:11:36 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 12, 2011, 06:04:32 AM
Conventional wisdom says the Fifth is the most popular Mahler symphony. Odd that it's gotten zero votes so far.

I thought that curious, too.  What was the outcome last time we did this Mahler rating?
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Lisztianwagner

#24
September 12, 2011, 06:31:57 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 12, 2011, 06:01:05 AM
The Sixth, and it's been my favorite since first hearing it live at Severance Hall in 1967. I own 28 versions. Favorite performances: Karajan (for the beauty of the Andante), Chailly (for it's monolithic grimness), Szell (for the rightness of his Classical approach), Bernstein (for the crushing power) and above all Solti (another "Classical" Sixth and one of the very few to include the third hammerblow).

Sarge

Wow, 28 versions, it's rather impressive! :)

I agree about the favourite performances, both the Karajan and the Bernstein are undoubtely outstanding, my favourites too.
I might add Zinman as well, he made a great recording with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

Ilaria   
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

Sergeant Rock

#25
September 12, 2011, 06:41:56 AM
Quote from: DavidRoss on September 12, 2011, 06:11:36 AM
I thought that curious, too.  What was the outcome last time we did this Mahler rating?

I could be wrong but I don't think we've ever had a Mahler poll asking for just one vote. Usually it's pick your top three, or something similar.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

DavidRoss

#26
September 12, 2011, 06:43:00 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 12, 2011, 06:41:56 AM
I could be wrong but I don't think we've ever had a Mahler poll asking for just one vote. Usually it's pick your top three, or something similar.

Sarge
Yep--and it looks as if that makes quite a difference.
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Jared

#27
September 12, 2011, 06:56:31 AM
I think I'm completely out of touch on this forum... No 5 is my favourite, and I'm the first person to vote for it...  :o

TheGSMoeller

#28
September 12, 2011, 07:21:04 AM
Quote from: Jared on September 12, 2011, 06:56:31 AM
I think I'm completely out of touch on this forum... No 5 is my favourite, and I'm the first person to vote for it...  :o

You're only out of touch if you don't have an opinion.  ;D

springrite

#29
September 12, 2011, 07:23:24 AM
If you asked me some time ago, you may get 9, 1, 3, 6 or 2 as your answer. But going my current form, it is the 7th! Yes!
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

springrite

#30
September 12, 2011, 07:29:52 AM
Quote from: springrite on September 12, 2011, 07:23:24 AM
If you asked me some time ago, you may get 9, 1, 3, 6 or 2 as your answer. But going my current form, it is the 7th! Yes!

Truth be told, I think the 8th is the only one that has never occupied favorite spot for me.

Of course, I never considered 10th as a real Mahler (complete) symphony so that one did not count for me.
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Mirror Image

#31
September 12, 2011, 08:57:57 AM
Quote from: springrite on September 12, 2011, 07:23:24 AM
If you asked me some time ago, you may get 9, 1, 3, 6 or 2 as your answer. But going my current form, it is the 7th! Yes!

The 7th is fantastic and one of my favorite Mahler symphonies too. A work of real ambition I think. Do you have a favorite performance? I think my favorite is Abbado's, but I liked Rattle, Boulez, and Gielen.

TheGSMoeller

#32
September 12, 2011, 09:04:32 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on September 12, 2011, 08:57:57 AM
The 7th is fantastic and one of my favorite Mahler symphonies too. A work of real ambition I think. Do you have a favorite performance? I think my favorite is Abbado's, but I liked Rattle, Boulez, and Gielen.

If you haven't, you should listen to MTT with London SO, very good performance.

Mirror Image

#33
September 12, 2011, 09:10:44 AM
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 12, 2011, 09:04:32 AM
If you haven't, you should listen to MTT with London SO, very good performance.

It is a good performance but doesn't completely wipe my mind of Abbado or Boulez.

bhodges

#34
September 12, 2011, 09:22:21 AM
Like many here, a very close race.  ;D  After giving serious thought to the Sixth, I voted for the Eighth. I've been very lucky to hear it live a number of times, and just seeing all the performers onstage is exciting in itself. But I have loved the piece for years.

Am very, VERY much looking forward to February 18, 2012, when Gustavo Dudamel will lead a performance of the Eighth live from Caracas, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, and multiple choirs and soloists totaling over 1,000 people. Like the Met broadcasts, the concert will be shown in movie theaters around the world.

--Bruce

Bulldog

#35
September 12, 2011, 09:26:21 AM
My vote is for the 4th.  I am surprised that no. 1 only has one vote since it's the most frequently recorded.

Amfortas

#36
September 12, 2011, 10:26:07 AM
I actually think DAS LIED is Mahler's greatest work, but it's not designated as a symphony (despite Mahler's famous quote about it), so I will go with Symphony no. 9, mainly because of the magnificent First Movement "Andante Comodo" which I consider his greatest stretch of music in any work.
''Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.'' - James Joyce (The Dead)

J.Z. Herrenberg

#37
September 12, 2011, 10:39:25 AM
Doomed, heroic, grotesque, yearning, heaven-storming - No. 6 is my choice, the first Mahler symphony I ever bought (Haitink, Concertgebouw).
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

jwinter

#38
September 12, 2011, 10:45:40 AM
I went back and forth for quite a while between 3 and 6... finally went with 3.   I love the epic scale of it, and the finale is marvelously cathartic (Bernstein is awesome [in the non-surfer-dude sense] here).

Although Sarge's post above makes me want to listen to a few recordings of 6 that I haven't spun for a while...
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Amfortas

#39
September 12, 2011, 10:55:22 AM
Most of us who would respond to this thread may agree we love all of Mahler.

Over the years, I have been obsessed at different times with Das Lied and with every one of his symphonies, apart from nos.2 and 8, even though I like them too.

This is really "Sophie's Choice", choosing only one Mahler symphony  ;D
''Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.'' - James Joyce (The Dead)
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