Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Jay F]

How many weeks later Abbado/Berlin 7 arrives!

So, this is "one" of the very best, eh?

I like Abbado's Chicago version more. I gave the Berlin to a friend. But since you rejected Bernstein's two M7s early on, what you like and what I like will probably not mesh. Or even dovetail.

[ibanezmonster]

I took to all but 8 immediately, 6 and 7 in particular, 1 less than the others. Over the years Mahler has dropped a lot for me, but periodically rebounds. I have developed a permanent aversion to the Bernstein approach. He's not the only one of those of course. Long ago I would want any Bach recording Grammophone dismissed as "pedantic". Now I seek out cold, passionless, clinical Mahler. Not that those are good things, but they are scode for "puts the structure and flow above indulgence and bombast". I like the Boulez I have heard. Chailly is still my top pick. Klemps  might be the best 7.

Pretty similar for me. Chailly is one of my favorites and Bernstein I normally don't get into. The thing about his music is that you don't need to dramatize it too much, because it is already so dramatic that sometimes even a cold and clinical score will sound dramatic enough. Any more so can be pointless and it'll lose any sense of logic and flow.

DLVDE divides even Mahlerians, which surprised me, as I think it is gorgoeous.

I actually never hear criticism of DLVDE, which makes me feel odd, since it's probably the only Mahler work I feel indifferent to (everything else I like, besides maybe a few songs here and there in his song cycles). I like the ending, but even then, much of it just sounds too simple and uninteresting to appeal to me. I have the Klemperer recording which I can tell is great, so I'm sure it's the music itself that I have a problem with.

[aukhawk]

There was a blind listening going on with No.2, and it seems to have ground to a halt. Which is a great pity, because it could have provided me with a lot of information about which conductors would suit my own personal tastes.

Indeed.  I was very impressed with P3 (1st movt) and would really like to discover who that is.  It sounds sort of middle-aged, and in a large acoustic, and it's one of the slowest takes (23:07) though not absolutely the slowest, and I suspect maybe Tennstedt. 

Regarding the 7th, I put in a word for Gielen by the way.

[snyprrr]

I like Abbado's Chicago version more. I gave the Berlin to a friend. But since you rejected Bernstein's two M7s early on, what you like and what I like will probably not mesh. Or even dovetail.

Well, I had Levine to compare against. Levine's recording is transparent studio, but otherwise,- it's harder comparing with Mahler than with Shosty?? Anyhow, I could surely try Lenny, or what not... fine though the Abbado is (the 'Objective Approach'??), there can obviously be other ways around the horn- I DO like the Klemperer- it turns it into creepy horror music which I like- there is none of that in Abbado, not a bit to my ears- even Levine played up the "minor key" a bit more than Abbado. I do like Abbado's recording, and his percussion sizzles! Levine's is a bit big (maybe not boomy- but, RCA vintage)...

[Jay F]

Well, I had Levine to compare against. Levine's recording is transparent studio, but otherwise,- it's harder comparing with Mahler than with Shosty?? Anyhow, I could surely try Lenny, or what not... fine though the Abbado is (the 'Objective Approach'??), there can obviously be other ways around the horn- I DO like the Klemperer- it turns it into creepy horror music which I like- there is none of that in Abbado, not a bit to my ears- even Levine played up the "minor key" a bit more than Abbado. I do like Abbado's recording, and his percussion sizzles! Levine's is a bit big (maybe not boomy- but, RCA vintage)...

Today I am listening to Tennstedt's M7. The opening has a certain dire quality that made me think of you.

[mc ukrneal]

Does the opening section of Nachtmusik I (sym 7) remind anyone of music from the first Star Trek movies? Every time I hear it, I cannot shake the connection.

[EigenUser]

Does the opening section of Nachtmusik I (sym 7) remind anyone of music from the first Star Trek movies? Every time I hear it, I cannot shake the connection.

I haven't seen any Star Trek, but it does remind me of some really famous Arabian-sounding rock song that I don't know the name of (anyone?). I'm sure most people here would know it even if you don't know what I'm talking about. It's always on TV/commercials.

[Leo K.]

Does the opening section of Nachtmusik I (sym 7) remind anyone of music from the first Star Trek movies? Every time I hear it, I cannot shake the connection.

Finally I hear someone else notice this too! I can't shake the connection and it distracts me from Mahler's world. I only see a slow pan across the USS Enterprise in my mind.

[Jay F]

Does the opening section of Nachtmusik I (sym 7) remind anyone of music from the first Star Trek movies? Every time I hear it, I cannot shake the connection.

I guess it's a good thing I didn't see a Star Trek movie until I'd been listening to Mahler for ten years.

I haven't seen any Star Trek, but it does remind me of some really famous Arabian-sounding rock song that I don't know the name of (anyone?). I'm sure most people here would know it even if you don't know what I'm talking about. It's always on TV/commercials.

I am listening to it now. I will tell you if it reminds me of any Arabian rock. I can tell you it has not done so in 26 years.

However, at around 6:45 and 18:45 in the first movement of Bernstein's M9 (NYPO), I do feel as if I'm riding through Egypt on a camel. I see pyramids, I tell you.

[André]

Just now I finished listening to the Eigth under Bertini. He is of the fast, almost furious persuasion, especially in the turbocharged first Part. I was a bit uncomfortable, as this is (to me) 'music of the spheres', swinging majestically and rocking enthusiastically until the glorious last chord. The second Part is more coherent and settled, yet alive to the music's many facets.

Which brings me to this: the Eight is a beast of the first magnitude. I can't say I like it all that much. And I rarely hear a version that speaks to me from first note to last. It is just too uncouth to handle. Even the Seventh is easier to take. And the ninth is a rapturous, mozartean gem in comparison.

In any case this Bertini version is not the thing. Soloists are variable, with the top lungs (tenor and sopranos) souunding ssometimes distressed, when they should soar creamily high above. The Solti and Davis recordings achieve high marks here.

[Pat B]

I just first-listened to Bernstein's DG 4th. The young soloist certainly has a different sound than we're accustomed to, but I don't understand all the hate. My biggest complaint is the unnatural recording.

[DavidRoss]

I just first-listened to Bernstein's DG 4th. The young soloist certainly has a different sound than we're accustomed to, but I don't understand all the hate. My biggest complaint is the unnatural recording.

I'd have to listen to it again.  It's been years since I first heard it, and an equal number of years since I heard it last. I was reaching for it to play just after reading your post, but en route I spotted Haitink's recording with Christine Schäfer and Fischer's with Miah Persson and thought, "Helmut Wittek ... really? Would you eat Alpo when you could have filet mignon?"

[Pat B]

I'd have to listen to it again.  It's been years since I first heard it, and an equal number of years since I heard it last. I was reaching for it to play just after reading your post, but en route I spotted Haitink's recording with Christine Schäfer and Fischer's with Miah Persson and thought, "Helmut Wittek ... really? Would you eat Alpo when you could have filet mignon?"

I chuckled. That Haitink will probably be my next 4th.

[Pat B]

I chuckled. That Haitink will probably be my next 4th.

It wasn't. Instead I picked up the Slowik-led recording of a chamber reduction. I like the chamberness, though the piano can be a bit distracting. The violin solo in the scherzo is rather exaggerated, which is appropriate for the reduction -- it's inherently less distinct from the rest when the whole thing is one-instrument-per-part.

The booklet text (14 pages of text, English only, by Slowik) looks interesting, with a lot about Schoenberg and Mengelberg. It's not the usual basic-composer-bio stuff. I haven't had a chance to read it completely yet.

I'll have to listen again, especially since life prevented me from paying close attention to the finale, but this is an interesting disc for sure.

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[Papy Oli]

Resurrection, 8 hands, 2 pianos...

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samples here :

http://www.melbarecordings.com.au/catalogue/album/mahler-symphony-no-2-resurrection

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Mahler at the Konzerthaus, Season 2014 / 15

we have Mahler for you here and then:

Hans Rott Quartett / Cornelius Meister
Mittwoch, 15. Oktober 2014, 12:30pm
Schubert-Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Klavierquartettsatz a-moll (1876)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Frang / Stenz
Samstag, 18. Oktober 2014, 19:30PM   
Großer Saal
...
Gustav Mahler: Symphonie Nr. 5

Liederabend Kate Royal
Donnerstag, 20. November 2014, 19:30pm
Mozart-Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Frühlingsmorgen (1889 vor)
Erinnerung (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit Nr. 2) (1880-1883)
Scheiden und Meiden (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) (1888-1891)
Ich atmet' einen linden Duft (Rückert-Lieder) (1901)
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Rückert-Lieder) (1901)

Kammerkonzert der Wiener Symphoniker
Montag, 12. Jänner 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Mozart-Saal
Renaud Capuçon, Violine
...
Gautier Capuçon, Violoncello
Philippe Jordan, Klavier
...
Gustav Mahler: Quartett für Klavier und Streichtrio a-moll (Quartettsatz)

London Symphony Orchestra / Trpceski / Cargill / Ticciati
Donnerstag, 22. Jänner 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Großer Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Symphonie Nr. 4 G-Dur für großes Orchester und Sopran-Solo (1899-1901)

NDR Sinfonieorchester / Kopatchinskaja / Hengelbrock
Samstag, 28. Februar 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Großer Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Symphonie Nr. 1 D-Dur «Titan» (Hamburger Fassung) (1888)

Wiener Philharmoniker / Harding «Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde»
Samstag, 9. Mai 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Großer Saal
Klaus Florian Vogt, Tenor
Matthias Goerne, Bariton
...
Gustav Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde / Eine Symphonie für Tenor, Bariton und Orchester (1908-1909)

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien / Hahn / Meister
Donnerstag, 21. Mai 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Großer Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Symphonie Nr. 9 (1908-1909)

Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg / Goerne / Krivine
Sonntag, 7. Juni 2015, 19:30 Uhr   
Großer Saal
...
Gustav Mahler
Kindertotenlieder für eine Singstimme und Orchester (1901-1904)

[kishnevi]

Goerne ist sehr gut....
Aber Zwei!!!Quartettsatz?

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Goerne ist sehr gut....
Aber Zwei!!!Quartettsatz?

We don't, sadly, expect all Quartettsatz lovers to be able to make it to both concerts. :-)

(ORF and VSO do their own programming, by and large... and that's a doubling I think few people would mind, if there is any audience overlap at all.)

[Pat B]

Yikes, page 5! BUMP.

I'm listening to Barshai's completion of the 10th.
[asin]B003E1QDH6[/asin]

First listen to this version, and only my second listen to any completion. The other one was Ormandy, so I haven't heard any of Cooke's updates. I started to write about how idiomatic this Barshai sounds, and almost at that moment the xylophone entered. But then, completions are inherently speculative, and this one seems plausible, and it works.

[vandermolen]

I don't usually post about Mahler, however, this recording from the 1960 Prague Spring Festival is something quite special, which had me on the edge of my seat. I have never heard this great symphony performed with such urgency and tension and the recording from Czech Radio holds up very well:
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