Quote:



Ahh I see. I am still delving into the Oue M6, powerful and energetic is what I would call it. I'm very curious to see what his DLVDE is like.

Quote:



Control your glee. I said it was "one of the better Mahler recordings that Rattle has managed to produce." That just means that it's better than his usual level which is pretty low except for the recent M10 cooke completion which actually stands up well to other competition. His M2 is not better than Kaplan's for example and is much more expensive.

I do want a great digital recording of the M2 for my ipod. The analog tape hiss isn't a problem for me using speakers the way it is when I listen with headphones. I keep thinking that my ears are ringing or something until I have to pull those sensas out of my ears (ouch!). Unfortunately the Bernstein (Sony) recording is analog as are the Kubelik, Solti, Klemperer, Walter, Horenstein, mighty Slatkin remaster, and the others in my collection. That leaves the Boulez (very cold), Bertini (current ipod favorite), Litton, Kaplan, Rattle, Abbado (awful muffled sound quality from the live performance) to choose from. Bertini and Litton are probably best of that lot. I also put the Slatkin on it too sometimes, as the tape hiss is not as evident as in the others.

I hate, absolutely detest, cannot stand the tape hiss in headphones. To me it's like the ghastly hum flourescent lights make.

Quote:



Well, there are the Levi/Atlanta SO and Ozawa/Saito Kinen discs, too, if you want DDD sound. I am not all that impressed by the performances, but the sound is fairly good.

I'm looking for a great, not so-so, digital M2. That's why it's so hard to find one.

Quote:



Not that I have heard it, is the MTT M2 any good?

Quote:



The Kaplan VPO is my iPod favorite, and arguably the best-sounding M2 ever recorded. Take it from an audio nutcase like me.

Quote:



I absolutely hated it. Limp interpretation, and lifeless sonics.

Quote:



I don't know, if you're into slavish devotion to the score, the Kaplan M2 is about as good as it gets.

Quote:



Slavish to the new score, though I don't really know enough to notice the minor changes, the sonics on the Kaplan M2 are pretty good. I guess I am lucky, not too sensitive to highs.

Scott

Quote:



If Mr. Kaplan and Dr. Stark-Voit are to be believed, the new critical edition is the score. Frankly, unless you sat down with a copy of the UE or Ratz score and the new edition and compared them bar-by-bar, you wouldn't notice most of the differences. However, as Dr. Kubik is Erwin Ratz' successor in the critical project (and he supervised the Kaplan/Stark-Voit project), I am sure that there is going to be some critical continuity. I think, from what I've read, that there might be a few different cymbal crashes and the like, but the differences aren't that big. However, the textual tradition Mahler is confused by his reworking and reengineering of most of his scores. Not that I find textual criticism of Mahler (or most music) all that interesting.

Quote:



I'm not a slave to anything on a page, but I do want a really exciting performance without tape hiss. So far I have some good choices but I keep looking for that ultimate recording. That's why I have so many recordings of the same work (something my husband will never understand as he asks why I need 5 M9s which means there are some he hasn't found out about yet ).

Quote:



Fair enough.

I do think, though, that it takes more to pull off a good M2 than almost any other of his works for a lot of reasons. It might be a while before you find your magic performance. Oh, well, you'll just have to keep buying more recordings. Rotten luck, that.

A discography of 119 versions of M9 and 121 versions of M2, etc.

Quote:



I just got M2 with the Seiji Ozawa with Saito Kinen Orchestra (CD) and the sound recording is very good, recorded digitally, and very little noise in comparison. I'll give it a whirl with my full rig to hear it completely later.

Sound recording is better than the M2 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Georg Solti but I give the Chicago performance a bit better rating. More finesse and aggressive. But the Ozawa is a noticeably better recording overall. Less "hissing noise" too.

-Ed

Hi Ed,

Haven't seen you here before. Sorry for your wallet.

Quote:



I have the Blomstedt but I haven't got the Ozawa Saito Kinen. Hmm, time for research. But, if it's an analog recording it really wont help with the ipod.