[mbhaub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif A good similar example in Mahler recordings is to compare the famous 1938 Walter/VPO Mahler 9th which times in at 69:42 with the modern 2CD 90 minute performances of Chailly and others........quite a change in performance style!

Yes, that's a historic recording for a reason. Sloppy playing, ancient sound and all, it's so "honest". I picked up the Andante Mahler set that I've been listening to, also. It has Walter doing the 2nd (1948), the 4th from 1955, and Das Lied from 1952 all with Vienna. They are so different from his commercial recordings. I just wish we knew definitively if Walter does Mahler the way Mahler wanted. Walter and Klemperer were both acolytes, yet their recordings are so dis-similar.

Thanks for the info about the Mahler cycle at Carnegie Hall. I had no idea. It sure would be something to attend, but I'd have to take off work for two weeks, and I don't see that happening in May. Frustration!!!!

 

[ukrneal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koppite /img/forum/go_quote.gif For someone just getting back into classical music is there a particularly "easy to digest" Mahler that you would recommend? Maybe something up-beat?

In terms of which symphony, I think the 1st and 5th are in many ways good starting points.

In terms of who conducting, I think the Bertini set makes a great entry point. They are also in reasonable sound.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the info about the Mahler cycle at Carnegie Hall. I had no idea. It sure would be something to attend, but I'd have to take off work for two weeks, and I don't see that happening in May. Frustration!!!!

Talk about frustration! I know someone who had tickets for the cycle in Berlin last year and missed the 6th because it was a Sunday concert and he forgot that the Sunday performance was a matinée! That's real frustration!! and horror, and misery...

 

[JohnFerrier]

And Berlin, otherwise, is such a sleepy little town....

-

Sony Center - Berlin


.

 

[pbarach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif I picked up the Andante Mahler set that I've been listening to, also. It has Walter doing the 2nd (1948), the 4th from 1955, and Das Lied from 1952 all with Vienna. They are so different from his commercial recordings. I just wish we knew definitively if Walter does Mahler the way Mahler wanted.

I have the same wish, but I don't think we could expect an outstanding and creative performer like Bruno Walter to have been a sort of "player piano" conductor who conducted Mahler's music as if he had composed it. I think it's great that we have a number of Walter recordings of several Mahler works so we can see how his ideas varied from performance to performance.

How about Walter's recording of the 1st with the NBC Symphony (1939)? I really like the performance, and the sound is listenable (e.g., better than numerous Toscanini recordings of the same vintage).

 

[scottder]

Not to mention "what Mahler wanted" would change. Heck he wasn't sure how DLVdE would be played really. I think that is what makes Mahlers music interesting (well one of many things), so many ways it can be interpreted.

 

[flitflint]

Mahler 9 - Bruno Walter - Vienna Philharmonic - 1938

haunted, tragic, alive.

 

[mbhaub]

You wonder what was going through the minds of Walter, the orchestra, the audience when this recording was made. The Anschluss was coming in a very short time. Did they feel the tension and uncertainty and convey it, subconsciously maybe? Fascinating period of time.

 

[crypt@]

4th isn't exactly my favourite, in fact it tends to get skipped by my play list.

But the opportunity to listen to a performance in the local concert hall last weekend can only have one outcome.

Play list: 4th, Kubelik/BRSO(1968) on repeat. :>

 

[DavidMahler]

the 4th is like a ray of sunshine in a tormented world (a world of mahler symphonies)

 

[mbhaub]

I've just returned from a trip to Boulder, CO, to hear the Colorado Music Festival orchestra, Michael Christie conducting, in a performance of the Mahler 3rd. If ever you feel discouraged about the future of classical music, or the lack of podium talent in the big post-romantic literature, let me assure you that we need not worry. This was a sensational M3. It was hair-raising, deeply felt and profoundly moving. The venue was a barren, ugly barn of an auditorium, but the orchestra played superbly, the alto soloist was marvelous, and the performance just stunning. Mahler is alive and well in Boulder.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've just returned from a trip to Boulder, CO, to hear the Colorado Music Festival orchestra, Michael Christie conducting, in a performance of the Mahler 3rd. If ever you feel discouraged about the future of classical music, or the lack of podium talent in the big post-romantic literature, let me assure you that we need not worry. This was a sensational M3. It was hair-raising, deeply felt and profoundly moving. The venue was a barren, ugly barn of an auditorium, but the orchestra played superbly, the alto soloist was marvelous, and the performance just stunning. Mahler is alive and well in Boulder.

Doesn't look like anyone here will be able to hear it since Michael Christie has no commercial recordings listed at Arkiv website

William Christie the baroque music specialist has quite a few recordings but nothing for Michael

I have seen some positive reviews of the new Zinman/RCA 5th, but I am not currently collecting this set

 

[mbhaub]

I don't know anyone who has been collecting the Zinman set. Most people I've talked to bought M1, and that was enough. One bravely bought M2 and promptly traded it at a used store. Too bad, really. Zinman is great with Beethoven and Strauss, but something just hasn't clicked with his Mahler. And of the SACD sets, it has the best sound. The London/Gergiev set has had less than great reviews, too.

What I want is a top-notch Mahler set in SACD sound. The Bernstein is just too expensive for no good reason! I wish Decca would remaster Solti in SACD, or even RCA remaster the marvelous Edo de Waart set. They're selling the set in standard cd format in Europe, still. Or maybe DG could remaster the Abbado's in SACD. I don't need surround sound (it would be nice!) but at least SACD.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know anyone who has been collecting the Zinman set. Most people I've talked to bought M1, and that was enough. One bravely bought M2 and promptly traded it at a used store. Too bad, really. Zinman is great with Beethoven and Strauss, but something just hasn't clicked with his Mahler. And of the SACD sets, it has the best sound. The London/Gergiev set has had less than great reviews, too. What I want is a top-notch Mahler set in SACD sound. The Bernstein is just too expensive for no good reason! I wish Decca would remaster Solti in SACD, or even RCA remaster the marvelous Edo de Waart set. They're selling the set in standard cd format in Europe, still. Or maybe DG could remaster the Abbado's in SACD. I don't need surround sound (it would be nice!) but at least SACD.

I believe that most of Abbado's later Mahler is in SACD, if it is to your taste. Personally, Abbado's Mahler leaves me cold.

For great SACD Mahler, I think you need to collect individual symphony recordings: Ivan Fischer, Slatkin, for the 2nd, Oue or Eschenbach for the 6th, Boulez or Chailly for the 3rd, Chailly for the 9th, etc. Bertini has at least 2 SACD recordings: the 8th (excellent) and 9th (also extremely well done) on Fontec's label as well as a cycle with the Tokyo Metropolitan SO.

For the other symphonies, Reiner's 4th is also available in SACD (3 channels or maybe quadraphonic) from RCA, but the sound is analog and Lisa Della Casa, for all that I adored her, did have some slight intonation problems on some of the high notes. Kubelik's cycle has also been remastered in SACD by Audite, but these are live radio performances so there are some gaffes. His 8th is probably the best of those.

Martin Sieghart and The Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra have an ongoing cycle in SACD available in Germany and Japan as well, although I haven't heard them, nor have I read anything about them. Vaclav Neumann has SACD recordings as does Zdenek Macal with the Czech PO (and Macal's 4th is supposed to be very fine). There is another almost complete cycle by Jonathan Nott and the Bamberger Symphoniker as well. The German and Czech cycles are all available at JPC as well as at HMV Japan, Amazon Japan, and probably at Amazon De.

 

[mbhaub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe that most of Abbado's later Mahler is in SACD, if it is to your taste. Personally, Abbado's Mahler leaves me cold. For great SACD Mahler, I think you need to collect individual symphony recordings: Ivan Fischer, Slatkin, for the 2nd, Oue or Eschenbach for the 6th, Boulez or Chailly for the 3rd, Chailly for the 9th, etc. Bertini has at least 2 SACD recordings: the 8th (excellent) and 9th (also extremely well done) on Fontec's label as well as a cycle with the Tokyo Metropolitan SO. For the other symphonies, Reiner's 4th is also available in SACD (3 channels or maybe quadraphonic) from RCA, but the sound is analog and Lisa Della Casa, for all that I adored her, did have some slight intonation problems on some of the high notes. Kubelik's cycle has also been remastered in SACD by Audite, but these are live radio performances so there are some gaffes. His 8th is probably the best of those. Martin Sieghart and The Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra have an ongoing cycle in SACD available in Germany and Japan as well, although I haven't heard them, nor have I read anything about them. Vaclav Neumann has SACD recordings as does Zdenek Macal with the Czech PO (and Macal's 4th is supposed to be very fine). There is another almost complete cycle by Jonathan Nott and the Bamberger Symphoniker as well. The German and Czech cycles are all available at JPC as well as at HMV Japan, Amazon Japan, and probably at Amazon De.

Wow. I didn't know there was so much sacd Mahler. I do have the Fisher, Eschenbach, etc. For some reason (collectoritis) I really like same-conductor cycles. The Reiners are of course great, but even in sacd the sound betrays the age. I was totally turned off by the Nott M5, and won't go there anymore. The Kubeliks are ok, and maybe better than the DGs. But the sound, although acceptable, isn't stunning -- to use an overworked adjective.

No, I want a complete set in state of the art sound, with a top notch orchestra, sympathetic conductor. The Abbado's, good as some are, are sadly hampered by DG sound. The ZInman's have gorgeous sound, but the performances are earth bound. I really like Fisher in 2 & 6, but many pages ago someone said he won't be doing a complete cycle. A shame.

My current dream team would be James Levine with Chicago and recorded by Ondine or Bis who just seem to have the best sound out there.