[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel Unicorn is out of business but some performances are released on Brilliant Classics including Horenstein M3 but it is only sold as part of complete mixed Mahler set by several conductors: Mahler Cheaper prices at Ebay usually for this set. The reason Horenstein/Unicorn sells for outrageous prices used is because it is in a class of its own.

FYI - Someone just pointed out to me that the Horenstein M3 is still available at Amazon.com/uk. Oddly enough, it's even available there from our friends at Caiman.com, shipping from the US! So, I ordered it. (Just what I need, another M3!).

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears I have to admit that having heard the new Rattle M8 (which is competent but nothing extraordinary) I am curious as to the Nagano recording which was released at the same time. Has anyone had a chance to hear it in SACD? Mark, have you gotten a copy of that one for review? Hurwitz described it as "the most interpretively insightful and moving rendition of the piece on disc," but I'd love to get another opinion before I sink all that money into the SACD/hybrid.

Bunny,

Not so far. What label is it on?

Mark

 

[Bunnyears]

Hi Mark,

It's on harmonia mundi, and if you are at all interested, you can read the review here.

Gramophone, ofcourse, dissed it while pumping up the rattle, but the guardian as noted previously, found both of them forgettable. I have to admit that I am getting more and more curious, and I am, at least nominally, trying to resist the compulsion to buy,buy,buy,buy,buy...

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Hi Mark, It's on harmonia mundi, and if you are at all interested, you can read the review here. Gramophone, ofcourse, dissed it while pumping up the rattle, but the guardian as noted previously, found both of them forgettable. I have to admit that I am getting more and more curious, and I am, at least nominally, trying to resist the compulsion to buy,buy,buy,buy,buy...

I don't have any personal contacts at HM France, but I do at HM USA, so I'll contact her and see if she can put me in touch with someone at HM France to get a review copy. The M8 is no favorite of mine, but I am interested in hearing this one.

 

[Bunnyears]

Btw, The GuardianUnlimited has a review of a new release of Mahler: Symphony No 4 (arr. Stein), Royal/ Manchester Camerata/ Boyd which they give 4 stars to.

Here's their review of the Nagano and Rattle Mahler 8

 

[scottder]

ArkivMusic has the Nagano 8th on sale. Kinda pricey and 2 discs.

Scott

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottder ArkivMusic has the Nagano 8th on sale. Kinda pricey and 2 discs. Scott

Obviously, so you can understand why with the Solti and Kubelik on my shelf I am hesitating.

Edit: It's not even SACD/hybrid at that price! Shame, shame, shame!

 

[Masonjar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottder ArkivMusic has the Nagano 8th on sale. Kinda pricey and 2 discs. Scott

Interesting factoid:

I've never owned a Mahler 8th on CD.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masonjar Interesting factoid: I've never owned a Mahler 8th on CD.

That problem can easily be remedied!!!

 

[Masonjar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis That problem can easily be remedied!!!

maybe after all these years I owe it another listen.

I have two versions on tape, Tennstedt and Solti.

I have a tape player in my car.

It's literally been probably 10 years since I've listened to the work all the way through.

Guess it's time to visit the attic

-jar

 

[PSmith08]

The Decca Classics remaster/rerelease of Solti's 8th is quite good. The recording sounds nice indeed. It's perhaps a bit in-your-face for me, but so was Solti. Sometimes, the drive and motion is nice, and other times, it's nice to get a rest.

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark from HFR I don't have any personal contacts at HM France, but I do at HM USA, so I'll contact her and see if she can put me in touch with someone at HM France to get a review copy. The M8 is no favorite of mine, but I am interested in hearing this one.

Well, that was easy enough. Susan at HM will send me a copy of it after they are done with the end-of-the-month inventory. I should get it next week or soon after.

 

[Bunnyears]

Mark,

Lucky you! Free Mahler.

Now, I've been looking at Tennstedt sets and there is one on EMI available and another on Angel. They are both with the LPO and I cannot determine from the product description whether they are the same performances or not. If you can give any help here, I would greatly appreciate it.

also another foray into the used cd store has gotten me 2 more Yoel Levi/Atlanta SO Mahler recordings: the 2nd and the 4th which I am currently listening to. Just couldn't resist Frederica von Stade singing. It also has the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen on it, which is another inducement. All of my recordings of that are with a man singing (Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau actually on both recordings). Surprisingly, after picking up the Levi M6, I found it growing on me the more I listened. Levi certainly doesn't smooth edges the way MTT does in some of his Mahler, but he is not as edgy and tense as Bernstein's DG. He is more in the way of making you sense the slime beneath the glittering surface or maybe it's like seeing the sparkle on top of the dirt or like rainbows on the puddles in the gutter. It's hard to describe. Anyway, von Stade does a good job here, even if she's on the less childlike side.

 

[PSmith08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears He is more in the way of making you sense the slime beneath the glittering surface or maybe it's like seeing the sparkle on top of the dirt or like rainbows on the puddles in the gutter. It's hard to describe.

Ah. The Mahler effect. In all his works, to my ears, there is a simple or easily reducible surface that glosses over a complex, emotional, and conflicted body. The 4th is, by Mahler's design, banal and glorious at once. One could miss the haunting and longing strains of the Ruhevoll if their lulled into a complacent state by the Bedachtig and In gemachlicher. I have not made my mind up on the Sehr behaglich. That is the thing with all his work that I have heard. On the surface, they are egocentric, banal, and simple. However, they hide (to varying degrees) depths of great feeling. Mahler played a great joke on his critics.

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Now, I've been looking at Tennstedt sets and there is one on EMI available and another on Angel. They are both with the LPO and I cannot determine from the product description whether they are the same performances or not. If you can give any help here, I would greatly appreciate it.

The EMI and Angel sets should be the same recordings. After Tennstedt got sick, he came back and made live recordings of 5, 6, and 7, but I don't believe those have been reissued.

Did you know, he used to have groupies that would follow him from city to city attending his concerts. They called themselves the "Klausketeers".