Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Jo498]

I got the Levine Box when it came out dirt cheap. I think the 3rd is also quite famous but I never got around listening to more than two discs or so. As far as I remember I was not all that happy with the 5th (the only thing I distinctly remember), especially the sound. Both in terms of "artificial" sound quality and inappropriate "American brass" (which many Chicago fans probably love but I not so much for Mahler). I have kept the set because it is a fairly slim box and the day might come when I'll be glad to have it.

[Brahmsian]

Yea, or Nay?

Yea, if you really dig chest hair!! 

[jfdrex]

Yea!  But with reservations.  (How's that for equivocation? )

Given that the set involves three very different orchestras recorded in at least three different venues in the early days of digital recording, and is lacking Nos. 2 & 8*, it's not a "library reference" set.  Moreover, I've never been crazy about Levine's interpretations of Nos. 1 & 4 in particular.  Nonetheless, be that as it may, I'm glad to have this set in my collection.  And it's certainly worth the low price of admission just for the performance of Symphony No. 3.

[ritter]

... Nonetheless, be that as it may, I'm glad to have this set in my collection.  And it's certainly worth the low price of admission just for the performance of Symphony No. 3.

That Third was a favourite of my father's (a fervent mahlerian). I have fond memories of seeing this cover in his collection:



I should listen to it again sometime soon, after so many years...

[Ken B]

Yea, if you really dig chest hair!! 

Gone 8 months and you post about chest hair! 
Welcome back!

[Jo498]

That Third was a favourite of my father's (a fervent mahlerian). I have fond memories of seeing this cover in his collection:

This certainly deserves a place in the gallery of funny and appropriate covers!

[Pat B]

This certainly deserves a place in the gallery of funny and appropriate covers!

It's by Maurice Sendak!

[calyptorhynchus]

Tuesday (7th July) is Mahler's birthday... and mine!

I've ordered the BBC recording of Horenstein conducting Das Lied. I hope it arrives in time for me to listen to it on that day and say "Happy Birthday Gustav".

[jlaurson]

Dip Your Ears, No. 198 (Mahler Transcribed)

Mahler Doubling Down on Ivory

What do you give the Mahlerian who already has everything and of each Symphony
five or twenty recordings? Why, piano transcriptions of those symphonies—in this
case of Symphonies One and Two, arranged by ...

[Jo498]

It's by Maurice Sendak!

Wow, interesting! "Where the wild things are" is still one of the greatest children's books. (My brother absolutely loved it. Even as an adult he had a poster with the wild things (I got that one from a friend's mother who worked at a bookstore) for some time in his room and one gf once gave him a few "wild things" as stuffed plush animals.)
That creature on the left with the torch almost looks like one of the wild things "dressed up" in 18th century garb.

Mahler is visited by an angel in his "Komponierhäuschen" in the Tyrolian mountains and the animals seem to be inspired by the erstwhile title of the 3rd? movement: "What the animals in the forest tell me" (Was mir die Tiere im Walde erzählen). The boar on the right blows the posthorn solo from that movement, the rabbit or hare the trombone solo from the first movement.

I'd like to have poster of that cover...

[Brahmsian]

Gone 8 months and you post about chest hair! 
Welcome back!

  Thanks, Ken. 

[Pat B]

Wow, interesting! "Where the wild things are" is still one of the greatest children's books. (My brother absolutely loved it. Even as an adult he had a poster with the wild things (I got that one from a friend's mother who worked at a bookstore) for some time in his room and one gf once gave him a few "wild things" as stuffed plush animals.)
That creature on the left with the torch almost looks like one of the wild things "dressed up" in 18th century garb.

Mahler is visited by an angel in his "Komponierhäuschen" in the Tyrolian mountains and the animals seem to be inspired by the erstwhile title of the 3rd? movement: "What the animals in the forest tell me" (Was mir die Tiere im Walde erzählen). The boar on the right blows the posthorn solo from that movement, the rabbit or hare the trombone solo from the first movement.

I'd like to have poster of that cover...

Yes! It's titled "What the Night Tells Me," which is apparently an abandoned or alternate title for the 4th movement. I'm not aware of posters of it, but the vinyl LP is findable.

Since you seem interested: he also designed several opera productions. I know there are posters for The Magic Flute from Houston.

[calyptorhynchus]

Well, the CD arrived (Horenstein Das Lied), and I listened to it for both our birthdays.

The sound is amazingly good compared to the other Bruckner and Mahler BBC Horensteins and it's instantly become my favourite Lied. The only slight reservation I have is is that both singers make a few mistakes in pronouncing the German (my German is hopeless, but you can tell they're not native speakers).

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I hope no-one gets offended by what I am about to say. After having listened to that giant last movement of 8th, I start to get one of my problems with Mahler: he just keeps hammering the same point in over and over and over again: God is mighty etc. I have no problem with religion itself, several of my favorite operas and books are religious, but the point is: they have other messages too. Mahler mostly adds human voice to his symphonies only to sing always about the exact same thing. And Mahler seems to forget that there are other aspects in religion too which could be explored. But no, almost always the same thing. Erde is one of the exceptions where it gets a little more varied. Sure, it has its religious tones too (especially the last movement) but that is much more subtle and varied and in general it's more about the aspects of life rather than after-life. No wonder it's the song of the earth since it explores about what happens here on earth rather than in heaven. But for ex. in 8th symphony, like someone here already said, he shouts for 55 minutes in a row about the same thing. At those moments Mahler reminds me of those people who come to ring my doorbell and want to talk about religion. Of course, with Mahler, I am the one who makes the decision to listen to his music. And I do want to listen to his music, he is a genius. But at times he seems repetitive and bombastic and too drawn-out (yes, ironic for a Wagner fan to say that), which is not helped by the fact that I often have hard time hearing clear melodies in his works at first.

I haven't heard the 8th enough times to say whether I like it or not. There were moments so beautiful it was spine-tingling.

[xochitl]

i too often find Mahler as draining as listening to a preacher go on and on, but a supremely talented preacher who demands your attention tho you may disagree on the subject matter

i have a question to you experts: did Gustav drink at all? i have no idea. i was listening to the finale of symphony #1 after a few ipas and it just spoke to me like never before. BTW this is the first time ive ever listened to Mahler tipsy. i usually reserve the pleasure for beethoven or heavy metal but this is pretty great

[Jaakko Keskinen]

i have a question to you experts: did Gustav drink at all?

An essential part of being a genius is drinking like a horse  Seriously though, I don't know. He could be an absolutist for all I know.

[Sergeant Rock]

In his youth, following the "teachings" of Wagner, Mahler became a vegan and gave up alcohol. However, in later life he regained his sanity and was a moderate drinker and meat eater 


Sarge

[Karl Henning]

In his youth, following the "teachings" of Wagner, Mahler became a vegan and gave up alcohol. However, in later life he regained his sanity and was a moderate drinker and meat eater 


Sarge

Admiring Wagner and giving up alcohol is a lethal combination 

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

In his youth, following the "teachings" of Wagner, Mahler became a vegan and gave up alcohol. However, in later life he regained his sanity and was a moderate drinker and meat eater 

Sarge

"In his youth, following the "teachings" of Wagner, Mahler became a vegan and gave up alcohol. However, in later life he regained lost his sanity..."

Fixed that for you. (who knows how many works his later carnivorous ways cost us?  maybe I should consult Dr. Dean Ornish on this matter).

[Cato]

"In his youth, following the "teachings" of Wagner, Mahler became a vegan and gave up alcohol. However, in later life he regained lost his sanity..."

Fixed that for you. (who knows how many works his later carnivorous ways cost us?  maybe I should consult Dr. Dean Ornish on this matter).

Mahler's heart condition and his health in general are nicely summarized here:

http://www.hektoeninternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=366

An excerpt:

...Dr. Blumenthal reassured Frau Mahler that her health was fine. Then, as if on whim, he examined the maestro, only to discover a heart murmur, becoming the first to discover Mahler's rheumatic valve disease. Eventually confirmed by the famed Viennese cardiologist Friedrich Kovacs, Mahler's diagnosis, the sounds of which likely meant mitral stenosis and regurgitation, required a strict regimen of rest; Kovacs even forced Mahler to carry a pedometer to measure (and thus limit) his exertion. Although typical for that time, these restrictions made Mahler feel like an invalid, filling his brain with thoughts of imminent death. The result was the Ninth Symphony of 1909.

In his Harvard Lectures of 1973 Leonard Bernstein stated that the opening bars of the Ninth are indeed "an imitation of the arrhythmia of his failing heartbeat."6 While insightful, Bernstein's observation is medically incorrect: in fact, the opening bars reflect a rendition of Mahler's murmur. He and his wife had long become painfully aware of the sound, as Frau Mahler noted, "for years I had been frightened by the whistling sound that could be heard very loudly on the second beat."7...

I am not quite so sure that the Ninth was the "result" of this diagnosis: I am sure that Mahler would have continued composing without such a specific diagnosis.  What might be argued is that the nature of his Ninth Symphony arose because of the knowledge of his heart's condition.