Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[jlaurson]

Mine will be June 24 (or 25). Gatti conducts the 5th. Do you plan to attend?

After my last experience with Gatti & Mahler, absolutely!

I'll see how February goes. Depends on whether one of the double bassists will put me up. 

[MishaK]

Dears, you just reminded me that I will be in NW Germany the first weekend of December. I think a detour to Amsterdam to hear Jansons do the 2nd is in order! 

[Sergeant Rock]

Sarge, I'll have to disagree with you here. Firstly, Kubelik is not Mahler-"lite" in any way. What he does is to play out the folkloristic elements in Mahler, an approach that I find extremely rewarding, for it lures the listener in with a certain congeniality that inescapably leads to exposing the grotesqueness of Mahler's music. Barenboim writes intelligently on how much Kubelik in this respect influenced his approach to Mahler. I think this approach yields the most rewards in symphonies like 1, 4, 5 and 7. But I consider e.g. Kubelik's 2nd one of the finest on record, and there is nothing "lite" about it.

Thank you (and Jens) for your replies. Yes, perhaps I've misjudged or mischaracterized Kubelik for too long. In the 60s, early 70s, when I had little money and had to choose just one or maybe two recordings of each symphony, Kubelik simply didn't deliver what I was looking for in Mahler. Today it's different of course. I can afford as many versions as I want, and I appreciate different approaches to music I know so well. Anyway, I've ordered Kubelik's Audite Third and also Abbado's Third. I'll give them a fair shake.

Sarge

[jlaurson]

Shake that Abbado, Sarge. Shake it good!



Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.5 (Part 1)



http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1218

WETA is closing out Mahler Month with the last six performances of the complete Gielen cycle (the one I chose as the integral to be played), but I've just got going.

[Bogey]

I am about to conduct a test.  My wife says that there would be little chance of her enjoying Mahler as she does not care anything much past Beethoven.  So I am going to throw in No. 4 and tell her it is the soundtrack for the recent release of A Christmas Carol.

[Sergeant Rock]

Shake that Abbado, Sarge. Shake it good!

Shaken not stirred...definitely.

I am about to conduct a test.  My wife says that there would be little chance of her enjoying Mahler as she does not care anything much past Beethoven.  So I am going to throw in No. 4 and tell her it is the soundtrack for the recent release of A Christmas Carol.

Sly, Bill, sly 

Sarge

[Bogey]

Shaken not stirred...definitely.

Sly, Bill, sly 

Sarge

She took it hook, line, and sinker.  We both agree (and we came to these conclusions on our own) that pieces of the first movement remind us of some of the John Williams' soundtrack to Home Alone.  I guess if you are going to lift a bit.....

[Lilas Pastia]

Shake that Abbado, Sarge. Shake it good!



Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.5 (Part 1)



http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1218

WETA is closing out Mahler Month with the last six performances of the complete Gielen cycle (the one I chose as the integral to be played), but I've just got going.

Very good, Jens !

For good measure, you should give a hearing to the NYPO Walter and VSSO Scherchen (not the infamously cut version, of course).

Barbirolli, anyone? 80% of the time I just can't jump on Sir John's Mahler 5 bandwagon. But when in the right mood (that's the missing 20% !) he persuades me there's no other way. Also of interest: Barshai is sizzling,  Farberman outbarbirollies everyone else (in glorious sound). My current favourite: the inexpensive Neumann with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. 

For those interested, here they are in timing order (from fast to slow): Walter, Scherchen, Neumann, Barshai, Barbirolli and Farberman. From 60 to 79 minutes....

[jlaurson]

Very good, Jens !

For good measure, you should give a hearing to the NYPO Walter and VSSO Scherchen (not the infamously cut version, of course).

Barbirolli, anyone? 80% of the time I just can't jump on Sir John's Mahler 5 bandwagon. But when in the right mood (that's the missing 20% !) he persuades me there's no other way. Also of interest: Barshai is sizzling,  Farberman outbarbirollies everyone else (in glorious sound). My current favourite: the inexpensive Neumann with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. 

Not to worry. Scherchen's VSSO recording gets a good trashing in Part 2. Ditto NYPO Walter. 
Neumann is one of the top five choices, what a fabulous performance that you can actually hear. Barbirolli I don't like... too sweet in the 5th. So unlike his stupendous 6th. Barshai gets a strong recommendation, also.

[MishaK]

Another very worthwhile but underappreciated Mahler 5, IMHO, is Barenboim/CSO: flexible, detailed, superbly played, logically progressing as a whole. It's somewhat in the Kubelik mold, but with a bit more energy. Agree with your estimation of Kubelik, BTW. One of the top choices IMHO.

[jlaurson]

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.5 (Part 2)

[Renfield]

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1230

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.5 (Part 2)

Bad link, Jens.


Edit: And good to see mention of Stenz. I've said more than once, here, how very impressed I was by a Mahler 6th I heard from him and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln 2-3 years back, so it's nice to hear his Mahler is such a gripping affair in general.

[Sergeant Rock]

Agree with your estimation of Kubelik, BTW. One of the top choices IMHO.

The last time I listened to Kubelik's Fifth was in July 1976. I recall the dog started to howl along with the opening trumpet    That was pretty much how I felt. Maybe it's time I gave it another go.

Favorite Fifths at the moment: the Leipzig Neumann and Dohnányi with the Cleveland. Both surprised me on first hearing. I didn't expect to like either one.

Sarge

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The last time I listened to Kubelik's Fifth was in July 1976.

Good Lord, how do you know this? Do you have a chart indicating exactly when you listened to certain pieces of music, or just an exceptionally good memory?

(thread duty: I think the Kubelik M5 is pretty good, but my overall favorite is Chailly)

[Sergeant Rock]

Good Lord, how do you know this? Do you have a chart indicating exactly when you listened to certain pieces of music, or just an exceptionally good memory?

July 1976 was perhaps the most memorable period of my life. I'd been dating the future Mrs. Rock nine months at that point. Her family went on a four week vacation to the North Sea, leaving us alone with a big house to play in    I recall vividly the evening we heard the Mahler (although if it hadn't been for the dog's response to the music, that moment might have slipped my memory). I  bought Barbirolli and Karajan's versions a short time later and preferred them.

Sarge

[jlaurson]

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1254



Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.6 (Part 1)

[jlaurson]

July 1976 was perhaps the most memorable period of my life. I'd been dating the future Mrs. Rock nine months at that point. Her family went on a four week vacation to the North Sea, leaving us alone with a big house to play in    I recall vividly the evening we heard the Mahler (although if it hadn't been for the dog's response to the music, that moment might have slipped my memory). I  bought Barbirolli and Karajan's versions a short time later and preferred them.

Sarge

That story reminds me of the *other* Bukowski poem I quoted. 

[jlaurson]

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1338

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.7 (Part 1)

[jlaurson]

...and also:
&

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1291

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1307

[Lilas Pastia]

Very good posts, Jens. This is a good cross spectrum of available 6th symphony recordings. There are two more Barbirollis out there, one with the Berlin Philharmonic, wchich was panned mercelessly by the Classicstoday Mahler pundits (Hurwitz and Hüss). But I've seen good reviews from 'ordinary' listeners. There's also a live Royal Festival Hall interp with the New Philharmonia, practically contemporary from the studio version. The surprise is that Glorious John takes some 11 minutes less on that occasion. apparently the sound is excellent. Anyone heard that ?

Jens, I don't think you were fair to the Szell version. It needs to be played at a much higher than usual playback level. Once you get there, it springs to life with urgency and not a little orchestral virtuosity.

And of course there's that killer Bongartz...