Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Scarpia]

Greetings to all, long time no post

I was perusing my local CD shop, and picked up a couple of used discs from Maazel's Vienna cycle for peanuts.  I've tallied them up with the ones I've already scrounged over the years, and find (surprisingly) that I now have the entire cycle except for the 2nd (one of my favorites symphonies) and the 8th (not so much, though it's growing on me).

I've checked around a little online, and most of the used copies I can find of the 2nd are rather pricey, so before I succumb to the completist urge and order one, a query or two for those familiar with Maazel's Mahler:

How would you rate Maazel's Vienna 2nd, both in comparison with the rest of his cycle, and on its own?

Has anyone heard the new New York cycle, available on MP3 from various sources?  How does it compare with the Vienna, in your view?  Another option might be to download the New York 2nd as a replacement for the Vienna -- has anyone here heard both performances?

I'm also tempted to just play Mehta's famous Vienna 2nd instead, and pretend that my eyesight is worse than it is -- hey, they both start with M...

Cheers
JWinter

The 2nd is the only installment in the cycle that I really liked, and I think it equals any second out there.  The rest of the cycle didn't impress me much.

[Sergeant Rock]

How would you rate Maazel's Vienna 2nd, both in comparison with the rest of his cycle, and on its own?

Hey, dude, good to hear from you. Has it really been six months since your last post? Like Scarpia, I think Maazel's Vienna M2 is terrific (one of my top fives) and along with the Fourth the best performances in his cycle. Whether it's worth the money being asked now for a used copy I can't say (how much are we talking about?). Unlike Scarpia I also like the First and the Seventh.

There are dissenting opinions, of course. You won't get a Maazel recommendation from Jens.  But since you already own much of the cycle you're aware of Maazel's idiosyncracies and can put up with them obviously since you're asking for more 

Sarge

[jlaurson]

Hey,  You won't get a Maazel recommendation from Jens.... 

Yadda, yadda, yadda... I, too, rate Maazel's Fourth among the top versions available.
http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1170
I have the 8th, too... doesn't do anything for me, though.

[Sergeant Rock]

Yadda, yadda, yadda... I, too, rate Maazel's Fourth among the top versions available.

My faith in you is now restored

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I have the 8th, too... doesn't do anything for me, though.

I should listen to it again. It didn't do anything for me either but I was only half listening the one time I tried it.

Sarge

[jwinter]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys!  Sounds like I'll need to get the Maazel Vienna 2nd at some point.

Hmm, I now notice on Amazon that the box set can be had for less than $30 -- I may go that route, and sell off some of my singles to cover it.  Less shelf space, and perhaps they've remastered it, who knows?

Has anyone heard the New York recordings?  All of the reviews I've seen complain about how intolerably slow they are, which sounds like Sarge and I might like 'em. 

[Scarpia]

Hey, dude, good to hear from you. Has it really been six months since your last post? Like Scarpia, I think Maazel's Vienna M2 is terrific (one of my top fives) and along with the Fourth the best performances in his cycle. Whether it's worth the money being asked now for a used copy I can't say (how much are we talking about?). Unlike Scarpia I also like the First and the Seventh.

I also have an individual disc of the 1st, which, come to think of it, ain't bad.  But at some point I got the cycle and didn't like what remained.  The 5th particularly turned me off, the 9th as well.

[Sergeant Rock]

Has anyone heard the New York recordings?  All of the reviews I've seen complain about how intolerably slow they are, which sounds like Sarge and I might like 'em. 

I probably would   I haven't paid any attention to those recordings, though. Where can I find them? They don't seem to be listed at Amazon.

Sarge

[kishnevi]

I probably would   I haven't paid any attention to those recordings, though. Where can I find them? They don't seem to be listed at Amazon.

Sarge

http://nyphil.org/buy/estore/maazelMahler.cfm

New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel: The Complete Mahler Symphonies, Live is released in celebration of Mr. Maazel's seven-year tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, 2002–2009.

Symphonies Nos. 1-10 are available for download through the links below. This set is exclusively available by digital download and will not be released on CD.

Also, look at the very last entry on this page, for Baggins Day.
http://nyphil.org/broadcast/broadcast_main.cfm

[Sergeant Rock]

http://nyphil.org/buy/estore/maazelMahler.cfm

Wow...the Fourth's Finale is even slower than with Battle. Almost comes to a complete halt at times    Love it 
Unfortunately Miss Murphy's voice isn't nearly as seductive. Still, I think I will buy this one anyway. Really appreciate the link, dude.

Sarge

[Mirror Image]

My Dad is a huge Mahler fan and collector. He owns every box set (except for Michael Gielen's) and almost every recording ever released. I love Mahler (probably not as much as him), but my favorite cycles are Bertini, Chailly, Abbado, Rattle, Tennstedt, and Bernstein (his first cycle on Sony).

[Sergeant Rock]

My Dad is a huge Mahler fan and collector. He owns every box set (except for Michael Gielen's) and almost every recording ever released.

I could never figure out my pop. He seemed to have an occasional interest in classical music. I grew up watching The Bell Telephone Hour, The Voice of Firestone, Bernstein's Young People's Concerts because he always tuned in. And yet he didn't own any classical records and never listened to the radio. (Mom made her own classical music, at the piano.) During the 70s I took him to many Mahler concerts in Cleveland and Akron: the Fourth and Seventh conducted by Maazel; the Ninth Haitink; the Sixth Abbado; the Fifth Bamert; the Second Ormandy. He seemed to enjoy the music. Wish he would have had your dad's interest in Mahler though.

Sarge

[oabmarcus]

My Dad is a huge Mahler fan and collector. He owns every box set (except for Michael Gielen's) and almost every recording ever released. I love Mahler (probably not as much as him), but my favorite cycles are Bertini, Chailly, Abbado, Rattle, Tennstedt, and Bernstein (his first cycle on Sony).

there you go, the perfect father's day present. Buy him the Gielen cycle.

[cosmicj]

What do you guys think of the recent Abbado/Berlin Phil cycle?  In particular, I have been thinking of getting the recording of the 3rd.

[Mirror Image]

there you go, the perfect father's day present. Buy him the Gielen cycle.

I would have bought it for him, but he didn't Neumann's Czech Philharmonic cycle on Supraphon at that time, so I bought it instead. Maybe for Christmas.

[Mirror Image]

What do you guys think of the recent Abbado/Berlin Phil cycle?  In particular, I have been thinking of getting the recording of the 3rd.

My Dad owns all of Abbado's Mahler recordings, but I haven't heard the new ones he made. From what he tells me, they are quite good.

[greg]

Is your dad interested in posting here? 

[Mirror Image]

Is your dad interested in posting here? 

He has expressed disdain for public forums to me for years now, so I doubt he will be joining anytime soon (if ever).

[jlaurson]

My Dad owns all of Abbado's Mahler recordings, but I haven't heard the new ones he made. From what he tells me, they are quite good.

Your answer here: http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=1138

Very good, in short.

[DarkAngel]

My Dad owns all of Abbado's Mahler recordings, but I haven't heard the new ones he made. From what he tells me, they are quite good.

Abbados new Mahler must be purchased in DVD (or Blu ray) format, excellent picture and sound quality.
Abbado is argueably greatest living Mahler conductor so do not hesitate to get the complete muti media Mahler experience

[Scarpia]

Abbado is argueably greatest living Mahler conductor

Well, you'd certainly get a spirited argument from me.