[aznsensazian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears aznsensazian, Welcome to the club! Which dvd-a was it, the Naxos musical journey? I've seen that but there are no details as to conductor or orchestra.

no, its actually conducted by Maurice Abravanel and by the the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Listening to it in 5.1 is a treat

 

[Bunnyears]

Great! I was wondering just which dvd-a you had.

 

[scottder]

As Bunnyears has mentioned, there is something about Mahler that lends itself well to 5.1. If you have SACD, Chailly 3rd is wonderful in surround!

I believe Chailly 8th was releaseded in DVD-A, though I can't speak for the performance.

Scott

 

[Bunnyears]

Chailly M3 is excellent, and the Chailly Mahler 9 in SACD is one of the very best. I would avoid the Chailly M2 which has been released in dvd-a. Better to look for the dvd-a or sacd of the Abbado/Lucerne M2.

 

[aznsensazian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Great! I was wondering just which dvd-a you had.

Oh no, i wasnt correcting you. I was just saying that my dvd-a was conducted by maurice abravanel and the utah symphony orchestra. I will definately check into more Mahler though. It just sounds so sweet

 

[scottder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznsensazian Oh no, i wasnt correcting you. I was just saying that my dvd-a was conducted by maurice abravanel and the utah symphony orchestra. I will definately check into more Mahler though. It just sounds so sweet

Mahler's 2nd is the next logical choice, and there are LOTS of choices.

Welcome to the Addicti...club!

 

[BushGuy]

You might find the Mahler Sym. series conducted by Leonard Bernstein with Berlin Phil. in the 1980's, on Deutsche Gram.. ..will give you even more enjoyment

 

[SoundsGood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy You might find the Mahler Sym. series conducted by Leonard Bernstein with Berlin Phil. in the 1980's, on Deutsche Gram.. ..will give you even more enjoyment

Actually, Bernstein's Mahler from the '80s on Deutsche Grammophon is with the New York Phiharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The only recording ever made with Bernstein conducting the Berlin Philharmonic is Mahler 9, from 1979. It is a white-hot, intense performance. It's been quite some time since I've listened to it, but I seem to recall liking it better than any of Bernstein's other M9s.

This particular M9 has some controversy behind it. Right at the huge climax in the 4th movement, where the trombones blast out the theme, the Berlin Phil. trombones are completely silent. Rumors have been spread over the years as to why this would've happened. Some say it was the Berlin Phil. sabotaging Bernstein, stemming from the dislike between Karajan and Bernstein. Who knows. It is rather odd though that since they actually performed the M9 twice, that it would've happened both times to get it on record.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I much prefer this M9 to either of Karajan's, who subsequently recorded his first M9 shortly after Bernstein's. Perhaps riding off of Bernstein's teaching of Mahler to the Berlin Phil.??

I won't get into a debate about that, here.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznsensazian no, its actually conducted by Maurice Abravanel and by the the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Listening to it in 5.1 is a treat

Welcome!

I have a particular fondness for Abravanel since my parents took me to see him many times when I was a kid. He was a very early champion of Mahler and knew (some say Biblically, if you get my drift) Mahler's widow. At one time his was the only complete Mahler recording set out there, and was praised for its unusual sonics (recorded in the super-ambient Mormon tabernacle in SLC). I still think his 4 and 8 are among the very best; his 1 is very nice too.

As you get into Mahler, you will discover many other great performances by many other conductors. Besides the 2nd as Scott mentioned, another logical next step would be the 4th symphony: In hi-rez, the Abravanel is good as I mentioned (out on DVD-A and Dual Disc), and so is the Reiner/Chicago Symphony version, which was just released on hybrid SACD (meaning it plays on regular CD players too) and at a really low price.

By the way, a great hi-rez Mahler 2nd is the Kaplan/Vienna Philharmonic SACD - and it's budget priced too. (This assumes you have a universal player). I'm sure there are DVD-A Mahler 2nd's in surround, I just don't know what they are.

 

[Bunnyears]

Doc,
The kaplan is a hybrid so it plays on all players but not in 5.1 sound.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Doc, The kaplan is a hybrid so it plays on all players but not in 5.1 sound.

Good point - The surround mix only works on an SACD player (in this case).

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundsGood Actually, Bernstein's Mahler from the '80s on Deutsche Grammophon is with the New York Phiharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The only recording ever made with Bernstein conducting the Berlin Philharmonic is Mahler 9, from 1979. It is a white-hot, intense performance. It's been quite some time since I've listened to it, but I seem to recall liking it better than any of Bernstein's other M9s. This particular M9 has some controversy behind it. Right at the huge climax in the 4th movement, where the trombones blast out the theme, the Berlin Phil. trombones are completely silent. Rumors have been spread over the years as to why this would've happened. Some say it was the Berlin Phil. sabotaging Bernstein, stemming from the dislike between Karajan and Bernstein. Who knows. It is rather odd though that since they actually performed the M9 twice, that it would've happened both times to get it on record. http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The Bernstein/BPO/DG live M9 is very good, but even better and slightly more intense is his original 1965 recording with NYPO......actually times in a couple minutes faster:
Sony/NYPO 79:51
DG/BPO 82

Then Lenny completely lost it throws us a curve ball and gives a glacial 90:14 version for the 1980s DG complete set with CBO......what was Bernstein thinking here? Unfortunatley modern versions of M9 also adapted this slow over polished style as evidenced with releases by Chailly, MTT, Zander etc....compare these to the 1938 Walter/VPO/EMI M9 at 69:52

 

[scottder]

One of these days I want to build a hi-rez Stereo rig, maybe with a Universal player.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottder One of these days I want to build a hi-rez Stereo rig, maybe with a Universal player.

I've been enjoying SACDs for almost five years now, and even though I have both 2-ch and m-ch setups (my m-ch setup is a player in my home theater system), 99% of the SACD listening I do is in 2-channel. Universal would be nice since there some good DVD-A titles, but I got on the SACD bandwagon early...

 

[scottder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis I've been enjoying SACDs for almost five years now, and even though I have both 2-ch and m-ch setups (my m-ch setup is a player in my home theater system), 99% of the SACD listening I do is in 2-channel. Universal would be nice since there some good DVD-A titles, but I got on the SACD bandwagon early...

My SACD player is in my home theater as well. I may just drop a new DVD player in there and move the SACD player to dedicated listening. We'll see.