New to Mahler; where to start?

[Marc]

I would advice Symphonies 1 & 4, and a selection of his songs, either with piano or orchestral accompaniment. Starting with a complete cycle might be a bit too .... hasty.

[Opus106]

I'm not going to give you a pointer on which symphony to start with, but rather suggest that you take advantage of streaming services like Spotify, Mog and NML and, in some cases, even YouTube to find out whether Mahler is to your liking and then branch out from there by listening to many performances, and then perhaps get a box or cherry pick recordings. (Of course, this assumes that you have a computer capable of accessing these sites and a fast internet connection, but it's almost a given these days.)

[North Star]

I'm not going to give you a pointer on which symphony to start with, but rather suggest that you take advantage of streaming services like Spotify, Mog and NML and, in some cases, even YouTube to find out whether Mahler is to your liking and then branch out from there by listening to many performances, and then perhaps get a box or cherry pick recordings. (Of course, this assumes that you have a computer capable of accessing these sites and a fast internet connection, but it's almost a given these days.)

+1
(if you can't do this, and don't have any preferences regarding performances/recordings, I'd recommend the EMI set, though - although it may be wise not to throw good money for something you don't know at all, but there's always the risk that you buy a recording of one symphony, and don't warm to it, while some other symphony might have made you a fan. And the performances aren't all by one conductor, so the risk of not liking the any of the performances is quite small)

[Mandryka]

I would advice Symphonies 1 & 4, and a selection of his songs, either with piano or orchestral accompaniment. Starting with a complete cycle might be a bit too .... hasty.

It's so interesting to read this. I found 3, 7 and 9 the most accessible  and interesting right from the start; I found 1, 6,  and 4 the least. I used to like 2 but now I can't bear it. I found Mahler much more accessible than Mozart -- I used to wonder what the point of Mozart was. And much more accessible than Bach -- I was put off by his religiosity and by ideas about sewing machine music. Mahler was my first serious interest in classical music.

[Marc]

It's so interesting to read this. I found 3, 7 and 9 the most accessible  and interesting right from the start; I found 1, 6,  and 4 the least. I used to like 2 but now I can't bear it. I found Mahler much more accessible than Mozart -- I used to wonder what the point of Mozart was. And much more accessible than Bach -- I was put off by his religiosity and by ideas about sewing machine music. Mahler was my first serious interest in classical music.

Bach was my first love, already as a 10 year old trying to play the piano, and after listening to his passions some years later. Luckilly they were performed on the Dutch radio by Harnoncourt and Herreweghe, which meant that they delivered no sewing machine ideas at all.

At first I found Mahler much too sentimental with his weeping strings and brass explosions, therefore I think I liked his 4th best.

In fact, I still do. IMHO, it's his most consistent symphony.

[bhodges]

Wow, someone agreed with me.  I should mark this date on my calender!

Hey, I think I agree with you fairly often    but lately I'm not on GMG often enough to say so. And Karajan's Mahler (in general) I like very much, especially Nos. 6 and 9.

Enjoying the other comments here, too.

--Bruce

[mc ukrneal]

I was disappointed by Mahler 1 when I first heard it. It was my first attempt to get into Mahler too. After that, I found myself unmotivated to really try and understand the music until that fateful concert on TV. By accident, I caught the 2nd symphony with Abbado conducting the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Since then, I have been hooked. Here's a link if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1XwvVDVoxk. It is really very good. I found that watching a concert (in Mahler in particular) has been quite helpful (as opposed to just listening to it). 

[xochitl]

i was literally in shock after listening to M1 with bernstein/concertgebouw at the tender age of 13

in many ways i'll never reach that level of 'discovery' again

[DavidW]

I suggest either Symphony #5 or 6.  As for box sets I +1 Scarpia's suggestions.  Either box has great sound, good (and not unorthodox) performances that will allow you to hear Mahler and not the conductor.

[brunumb]

Hello Rhymenoceros,
As you can see, you have really opened a can of worms.  Every Mahler fan has a different story and you will eventually get recommendations for just about every work and every recording.  No one can really predict what might work for you.

If you are just starting your exploration, you really just want to taste the sound world of Mahler to see if he reaches you or not.  My recommendation would be to buy one of the many inexpensive boxes of the complete works now available, and jump in.  You really couldn't go wrong with any of the boxes mentioned so far.  If recording quality is important, go with one of the more recent sets.

My personal journey began with an LP set of the 2nd symphony "Resurrection" with Solti and the LSO.  What an awesome experience.  I just had to hear more.  The soloists on that recording, Helen Watts and Heather Harper, have never been bettered in my opinion and it is still a favourite recording.  That set the ball rolling, more like a snow ball as I just gathered more and more recordings until the shelves are now creaking.  The 5th, 4th and 1st were the easiest to like after that, followed by the 6th and the 3rd.  I first heard Das Lied von der Erde while half asleep on a very hot summer afternoon.  It was just the last movement, Der Abschied, and I still remember being totally spellbound.  The hardest for me to get into were the 7th, now an absolute favourite, the 9th, still not keen on the middle movements, and the 8th.  But at any point in time, the one that I am listening to could easily be my favourite.

Some people, like me, get hooked, while others just don't warm to Mahler.  Dip your toes in the water, anywhere, and see what happens for you.  Good luck Rhyno.

[Marc]

[....]
I found that watching a concert (in Mahler in particular) has been quite helpful (as opposed to just listening to it).

Same here. Attending a Mahler concert is a great experience.
I mentioned symphonies 1 & 4 and the Lieder to start with, but maybe my personal best 'first' Mahler experience was my first live Mahler concert, which was symphonie 5, about 24 years ago. That concert definitely did make me wanna hear more.