Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Jo498]

An important theme of the last movement of the Ninth occurs already in the "trio"-like contrasting section of the "Rondo Burleske"

[Maestro267]

An important theme of the last movement of the Ninth occurs already in the "trio"-like contrasting section of the "Rondo Burleske"

Is it? I haven't spotted that myself. Unless it's really obvious (like in the same key or at least the same rhythm), I struggle to spot recurrences of themes. For instance, it took me years to work out exactly which theme the idée fixe in Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique was.

[Jo498]

I think it is fairly obvious (more so than anything in the 7th or 3rd I could think of, but I do not know these pieces so well). The passage in the Rondo-Burleske sticks out very strongly because it is the first/main lyrical episode in that hectic and angry piece. The correspondence is the second main theme of the last movement. Both are characterized by a "turn".

[Maestro267]

I think it is fairly obvious (more so than anything in the 7th or 3rd I could think of, but I do not know these pieces so well). The passage in the Rondo-Burleske sticks out very strongly because it is the first/main lyrical episode in that hectic and angry piece. The correspondence is the second main theme of the last movement. Both are characterized by a "turn".

I just had a quick listen to that section in the Rondo-Burleske and I can hear it now. The theme that appears as a counterpoint in fortissimo horns at the recapitulation of the finale's first theme.

[vandermolen]

Went to a concert featuring Symphony 3 in London tonight (BBC SO, Oramo). What an extraordinary work. I have never heard it in concert before and for some reason am largely unfamiliar with it  . I very much enjoyed it and you can see how this influenced Shostakovich for example. The symphony is a bit mad but my attention was gripped throughout. Is Horenstein the best CD version? The only one I have is Boult conducting the BBC SO with Kathleen Ferrier (1947).

[Jay F]

Went to a concert featuring Symphony 3 in London tonight (BBC SO, Oramo). What an extraordinary work. I have never heard it in concert before and for some reason am largely unfamiliar with it  . I very much enjoyed it and you can see how this influenced Shostakovich for example. The symphony is a bit mad but my attention was gripped throughout. Is Horenstein the best CD version? The only one I have is Boult conducting the BBC SO with Kathleen Ferrier (1947).

I only had his version on LP, and the sound was awful. I never bought it on CD.

My favorites are Bernstein's first version, Michael Tilson-Thomas', and Esa-Pekka Salonen's M3. But it's one of those pieces that works no matter who does it. Some also like Solti, but I had the bad fortune of having a visually perfect, sonically horrendous version of the LP, and I could never listen to it again. It got me to stop buying classical records, actually.

Hope this helps.

[vandermolen]

I only had his version on LP, and the sound was awful. I never bought it on CD.

My favorites are Bernstein's first version, Michael Tilson-Thomas', and Esa-Pekka Salonen's M3. But it's one of those pieces that works no matter who does it. Some also like Solti, but I had the bad fortune of having a visually perfect, sonically horrendous version of the LP, and I could never listen to it again. It got me to stop buying classical records, actually.

Hope this helps.

That is really helpful - thank you. I have ordered the Bernstein Sony boxed set of the complete Mahler symphonies for £14 on Amazon which is incredibly inexpensive. At the moment I'm enjoying Boult's 1947 performance.

[Wieland]

That is really helpful - thank you. I have ordered the Bernstein Sony boxed set of the complete Mahler symphonies for £14 on Amazon which is incredibly inexpensive. At the moment I'm enjoying Boult's 1947 performance.

That's a good choice, with Lennys first cycle (on vinyl) I became familiar with Mahler. That actually was my starting point of becoming seriously involved with classical music. I had the great fortune to have been in the audience of Avery Fisher Hall when Lenny conducted Mahler 2 and 3 for the DGG cycle. Two of my most thrilling concert experiences.
The above mentioned Esa-Pekka Salonen is also one of my favourites. Of MTT I know only the LSO recording which I did not find that special, probably his SFSO remake is preferable at least from what I have of that cycle. I still have a soft spot for the Horenstein and also for the 1960 Mitropoulos in Cologne, but that is in mono.

[jlaurson]

Fresh from Forbes:



SEP 28, 2015
Gergiev Starts Munich Tenure With Mahler

...The concert opened inauspiciously when a man who didn't bother to introduce himself (it was
Hans-Georg Küppers, head of Munich's Department of Culture) gave a dry speech of the self-
congratulatory (or circle-jerk) variety which wasted everyone's time... except it might plausibly
have been used to cover the fact that the maestro was stuck in traffic, coming in from the airport.
(If that wasn't the case on this occasion, with Valery Gergiev as music director, that scenario
isn't far fetched at all.)...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2015/09/28/gergiev-starts-munich-tenure-with-mahler/

Valery Gergiev
Photo courtesy Munich Philharmonic
© Alberto Venzago

latest on ionarts:
Grigory Sokolov refuses Cremona Music Award because this Guy's also on the List



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2015/09/grigory-sokolov-refuses-cremona-music.html

[André]

The Third is the first Mahler symphony I heard in concert (Mehta, with Maureen Forrester). For my money the Horenstein is still the yardstick by which to judge others. But I also adore the old Haitink Concertgebouw (Forrester again). I have lstened to many, many performances and most don't match the frisson and elation I got from the studio Horenstein and Haitink performances.

The Third is often thought of as a complicated, garrulous, posturing, picturesque and overlong work. That is not true. Inasmuch as one is able to go through the 2nd and 5th symphonies and find one whistling as a bell while shaving the morning after, I don't see why the third should prove hard to digest. Actually I find Beethoven's Pastoral harder  to chew than this Mahler symphony, filled as it is with candy floss, guimauve and assorted bonbons.

The Horenstein versions boasts the impressive LSO horn section, the Haitink boasts the whole orchestra's impressive roaster and, going farther down the Wizard of Oz golden road, I find Bernstein's NYPO a superb alternative.

[Sergeant Rock]

The Third is the first Mahler symphony I heard in concert (Mehta, with Maureen Forrester). For my money the Horenstein is still the yardstick by which to judge others. But I also adore the old Haitink Concertgebouw (Forrester again).

Horenstein and Haitink are my top picks also (I've known the Horenstein since 1972). I'm also fond of Levine's M3 in which he brings out the dark undercurrents in the bimm bamm movement.

Sarge

[vandermolen]

The Third is the first Mahler symphony I heard in concert (Mehta, with Maureen Forrester). For my money the Horenstein is still the yardstick by which to judge others. But I also adore the old Haitink Concertgebouw (Forrester again). I have lstened to many, many performances and most don't match the frisson and elation I got from the studio Horenstein and Haitink performances.

The Third is often thought of as a complicated, garrulous, posturing, picturesque and overlong work. That is not true. Inasmuch as one is able to go through the 2nd and 5th symphonies and find one whistling as a bell while shaving the morning after, I don't see why the third should prove hard to digest. Actually I find Beethoven's Pastoral harder  to chew than this Mahler symphony, filled as it is with candy floss, guimauve and assorted bonbons.

The Horenstein versions boasts the impressive LSO horn section, the Haitink boasts the whole orchestra's impressive roaster and, going farther down the Wizard of Oz golden road, I find Bernstein's NYPO a superb alternative.

Thank you. 
The Horenstein Unicorn version is rather expensive so I gave ordered a Horenstein live recording which was well reviewed. I agree with your comments about Symphony 6 and it was wonderful to hear it live. Didn't Alma Mahler complain that he had written the whole thing for the drum? What struck me was the influence it must have had on Shostakovich.

[jlaurson]

Fresh from Forbes:



NOV 8, 2015
Bang-Bang: The European Union Youth Orchestra's
Summer Shenanigans

...Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as surprise...

A good youth orchestra has at its disposal a terrific weapon of surprise, namely
that it somehow lulls you into suspecting less than you would from a big name
professional orchestra... and then delivers more...

It should be surprising, actually, if a good youth orchestra were not better than
their professional colleagues on anything but an exceptional day. So I cannot
feign particular surprise at the performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony at the
2015 Grafenegg Festival by the EUYO, which was of a quality that established
bands would well be glad to achieve.

Punchy and poignant, the symphony was tight but elaborate, well-articulated
but without exaggeration. It was Mahler as good as one can decently wish for...
not a rare, glorious moment in Mahler-Five history, but as the on-demand
stream from Austrian Radio confirmed to me a few weeks after the same initial
impression in concert: This Fifth – and especially its first movement – could
have withstood a good deal of competition in an over-crowded market of re-
corded Fifths...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2015/11/08/bang-bang-the-european-union-youth-orchestras-summer-shenanigans/

[Cato]

" For those seven that survived."

Many thanks for the review, Jens!  Can you explain the last sentence of the review?  Is it a glitch of some sort?

[jlaurson]

" For those seven that survived."

Many thanks for the review, Jens!  Can you explain the last sentence of the review?  Is it a glitch of some sort?

Did you read the whole of it? It refers to the BANG-BANG game they played on tour.

[Mandryka]

I've been listening to Michael Finnissy's string trio, an old recording by The Gagliano Trio which someone sent me last week.

Anyway, according to Gramophone's review of the recording, the music is inspired by Mahler 9 in several ways. The review mentions Mahler's use of "melodic archetypes" in the symphony - "small melodic units which embrace a wide range of emotional states." Apparently Finnissy does the same.

I'd like to find out more about these melodic archetypes, not least because it reminds me of some concepts in early music. Has anyone explored the idea?

[Wanderer]

The Meaning of Mahler

[Jay F]

The Meaning of Mahler

Nice report. I'm listening to Tennstedt today, #2, now #3.

[knight66]

The Meaning of Mahler

Thanks Tassos, an interesting piece.

Mike

[ritter]

Slipped Disc reports the sad news of Gilbert Kaplan's passing (http://slippedisc.com/2016/01/sad-news-gilbert-kaplan-has-died/). Kaplan devoted most of his life to Mahler, and the Second symphony in particular. RIP.