[Raptor34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great to hear..........wonder if more of the Bernstein/NYPO cycle will also be released in SACD format. The $65 price is just beyond any realm of reason, a travesty Fortunately I do not have SACD playback so no temptation to buy, it is one of the very best M3 available, top three for sure

Hehe, the SACD NYPO cycle is available at Amazon and other sellers. It will cost about as much as a small car.

I would love to have it but the 2nd and 8th have gotten less than enthusiastic costumer reviews. Seems the recordings are, even with DSD remastering showing their age.

 

[Tyson]

Been working my way through the Rattle cycle. GREAT sound quality. But oddly unsatisfying for some reason. After a few more listens it became clear that this was rip-roaring, almost happy Mahler. Different than Chailly (uber-romantic), or MTT (elegiac), Bernstein (neurotic), Bertini (germanic, symphonic), Kubelik (pastoral), Solti (blaring, intense), Abbado (sophisticated), Mitropoulos (burning intensity), Boulez (sometimes clinical, sometimes traditional), so it makes a good alternative take perhaps, but definitely not a first (or second, or third, or fourth) choice.

 

[scottder]

Well HD-DVD may be going away.... but it is getting at least one Mahler release!

HD DVD Disc Details: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection | High-Def Digest

 

[Raptor34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well HD-DVD may be going away.... but it is getting at least one Mahler release! HD DVD Disc Details: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection | High-Def Digest

I'm getting my copy today. I hope there are many more HiDef concert dvds to come.

 

[Raptor34]

After watching this HD-DVD of Boulez's M2 I can honestly say that it is as close to an actual concert that I will ever get. Probably better. The sonics are as splendid as I have ever heard. The 5.1 Dolby True HD soundtrack is fantastic. No gimmickry here, just a spacious, accurate rendering of the hall acoustics putting the listener just behind and above the conductor. The bass is rock solid and extraordinarily powerful. Mahler would approve I'm sure. Oh, and I found Boulez and the Staatskapelle Berlin, soloist and just about everyone associated with this production to be top drawer. This is just in a league by itself. PQ is as good as the sound with great contrasts, great color and no grain. You are just THERE in the best seat in the house. Bravo...

 

[FinnishFlash]

Been working my way through the Rattle cycle.

Speaking of Rattle, has anyone heard the new Rattle/BPO M9 that has been hyped so heavily recently? MusicWeb and Gramophone seem to be very impressed (Hurwitz at ClassicsToday less so, however), what´s the consensus around here?

I have not heard the new M9 myself but, like Tyson, I have been less than impressed by the other Rattle Mahler recordings I have heard (M2, M6 and M9 with the VPO).

PS. Being new on this forum, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the very knowledgeable classical community around here. In particular, this Mahler thread has been an joy (an extended joy, i might add) to read (as I write this, I am listening to the very impressive Ancerl/CPO M9 I acquired based on recommendations in this thread).

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Been working my way through the Rattle cycle. Speaking of Rattle, has anyone heard the new Rattle/BPO M9 that has been hyped so heavily recently? MusicWeb and Gramophone seem to be very impressed (Hurwitz at ClassicsToday less so, however), what´s the consensus around here? I have not heard the new M9 myself but, like Tyson, I have been less than impressed by the other Rattle Mahler recordings I have heard (M2, M6 and M9 with the VPO).

I don't have it but..........we know DH at classicstoday is not a Rattle fan so perhaps no suprise he is not impressed.

Duggan at musicweb is more balanced in his view but I don't share any of his favorites for top 5 Mahler 9ths of all time, so his excitement over new Rattle M9 is suspect for me. It is very common for new release to be "hyped" by reviewers and then a few years later long forgotten, flavor of the month as we like to say.

I have the old Rattle/EMI M9 (that is in the set) and was not super impressed as Duggan mentioned recording is a problem with huge soundlevel difference between soft and loud passages

Now the Ancerl M9 is fabulous........if you like that get some of these:
Bernstein/Sony 9 (not the later DG version)
Kubelik/Audite
Karajan/DG Live
Kondrashin/Melodiya
Barenboim/Warner (best new recording of M9)

 

[Fafner]

I heard this Ninth live in Lucerne. Technically, the orchestra played superbly, and I couldn't hear a single fault in the orchestral playing. I think only the Lucerne Festival Orchestra played even better (I would say it's so special because they put an incredible enthusiasm in all what they play while keeping a superb technical level...the Berlin Philharmonic sounds more "cool" compared to the LFO). As for the interpretation, there weren't any of those mannered elements which often are associated with Rattle, but...I missed something. Superb, surely, you can't go wrong hearing such an orchestra live, but the magic, what makes an evening unforgettable even after years (I can say that of Abbado's 2003 Resurrection, for example), simply wasn't there. I'm eagerly waiting for Abbado to perform the Ninth with the LFO, but sadly there is no Mahler planned for this year.
As for the EMI cd, having heard some extracts from the net, I've to say that the sound looks quite flat and cloudy to my ears (I hope this is due to the compression). I fear this is going to be the usual live Philharmonie sonic mess. Nothing near the live Lucerne sonics, sadly.

 

[mbhaub]

You know what's really sad, is that here we go again letting another conductor and his ego spend a fortune re-recording the Mahler symphonies, when he has demonstrated, at least to my ears, he just isn't that good of a Mahler conductor. Meanwhile, the greatest living Mahler conductor just keeps turning out stunning performances one after the other and because no one records it, the general public is unaware. I'm speaking of James Levine in Boston. His RCA recordings from 30 years ago showed us he is a very natural and compelling Mahler conductor. Of course, the BSO turned out a really dull set with Ozawa, and they've probably never made up the cost of that set. But with Rattle, Abaddo, Zinman doing new sets that aren't getting such rave notices, it's a real shame that Levine is being overlooked.

BTW: if anyone else has been collected the mammoth Henry Louis de la Grange Mahler bio for the past 35 (!!!!!) years, volume 4 is at last being released. Check out the price at Oxford Press then at Amazon.

 

[FinnishFlash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinnishFlash /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now the Ancerl M9 is fabulous........if you like that get some of these: Bernstein/Sony 9 (not the later DG version) Kubelik/Audite Karajan/DG Live Kondrashin/Melodiya Barenboim/Warner (best new recording of M9)

Although I am very pleased with the Ancerl recorinding, I would not mind having one or two interpretations in my collection that would provide another point of view on this work. What I would primarily be looking for is a more lush and reflecting interpretation as opposed to the lean, high-impact Ancerl). Supposedly, at least Karajan fits that profile (I also have the Bertini set, but am not particularly impressed by his 9th, which I find to be quite middle-of-the-road)?

 

[Tyson]

Karajan, Tilson Thomas, Chailly, all will give you what you want.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Karajan, Tilson Thomas, Chailly, all will give you what you want.

I will add the new Barenboim/Warner M9 to that list.......I am shocked how good the new Barenboim M7 M9 are, perhaps a new modern Mahler champion has arrived that can compete with past masters

 

[FinnishFlash]

The success of Barenboim's mahler recordings is indeed somewhat surprising. Thanks for the tip, I would probably not otherwise thought of his M9 as an alternative. I like the fact that it fits on one disc (a disc split slightly disturbs the sense of unity in of a work for me) and am actually quite tempted by that one. Where do you position it in your top 5 ranking (the development of which over the years I have followed with great interest in this thread)?

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinnishFlash /img/forum/go_quote.gif The success of Barenboim's mahler recordings is indeed somewhat surprising. Thanks for the tip, I would probably not otherwise thought of his M9 as an alternative. I like the fact that it fits on one disc (a disc split slightly disturbs the sense of unity in of a work for me) and am actually quite tempted by that one. Where do you position it in your top 5 ranking (the development of which over the years I have followed with great interest in this thread)?

I just listened to the Solti/CSO/Decca set again/ plus the Barenboim/Warner 9th again........it is excellent both performance and sound quality. The style is not as frenetic in the middle two movements, but very deep emotional performance that connects on many levels with more balanced tempos while still able to fit on 1CD. I may put it in my top 5 all time list for Mahler 9th, it is the only version made in the last 20 years that can compete at that level for me (although I have not heard every new version)

 

[FinnishFlash]

Thanks for the endorsment on the Barenboim M9! I saw that one on sale with a retailer and will probably pick it up the next time I order from them.

Btw. and out of curiosity, how is the Solti M9? That seems to be one of the few singly available performances from the Solti/CSO cycle (in addition to the 9th, I am only aware of the 1st and 8th currently in print). Of Solti's Mahler, I have heard only the LSO/Decca Originals 2nd, which is very good (although I wish Decca had reissued the Chicago remake instead, as the Solti/LSO 2nd is already available as a twofer coupled with the Solti/LSO 1st).