Bunnyears
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
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I always thought of it as a reference! I'm going to give it more air time, but it goes beyond the omission of the first expositional repeat. Mitropoulos also omitted it (that was the custom then), but his 6th is so filled with passion which is the one thing that is completely missing from the Szell. Playing every note correctly is not going to give you a great interpretation, just a perfect recital of "the facts, Ma'am." I'd just as soon listen to a Beethoven sonata on one of those computerized player pianos.
I put on the Oue 6th later in the evening and noticed all of the little things he did to make it special -- slowing down in the more lyrical passages so that each note counted, stretching out the nostalgic longing. Jacking up the rhythms in the scherzo so that they mimic perfectly the rushed heartbeat of a panic attack. It's a window into the mind of someone wracked by doubts and paranoia, who then steps back and tries to gain perspective by using happier memories in order to soothe himself. It hit me that Szell's interpretation doesn't look inward at all. It was just a man trying to make an orchestra perform a score of music he didn't relate to on either an emotional nor an esthetic level. Everything that thrills in the best performances came across as cheap sound effects.
I'm still puzzled as to why he bothered recording or performing Mahler at all; certainly there was no great demand for it at that time. Who knows, perhaps he just didn't want to leave a body of work that some future music historian might say was incomplete? I dread listening to the 4th, and may skip that unless I can come to terms with the 6th.
| Originally Posted by mbhaub /img/forum/go_quote.gif And yet this has always been a highly regarded recording. I don't find it cold, just very detached and objective. This is, after all, Mahler's most classical symphony, and that's how Szell approached everything, and that's not always bad. You can tell he didn't really love the score: he omits the first movement repeat. His fourth is similar. Spectacularly played, but very analytical. Not unlike Boulez. Maybe it was just a Cleveland thing, because his recording with Schwartzkopf of Das knaben Wunderhorn is marvelous. But don't throw out the 6th. I find that I change my mind in preferences all the time. Sometimes I want the 7th with Barenboim, sometimes Scherchen, and sometimes Boulez. Just depends on the mood I'm in. |
I always thought of it as a reference! I'm going to give it more air time, but it goes beyond the omission of the first expositional repeat. Mitropoulos also omitted it (that was the custom then), but his 6th is so filled with passion which is the one thing that is completely missing from the Szell. Playing every note correctly is not going to give you a great interpretation, just a perfect recital of "the facts, Ma'am." I'd just as soon listen to a Beethoven sonata on one of those computerized player pianos.
I put on the Oue 6th later in the evening and noticed all of the little things he did to make it special -- slowing down in the more lyrical passages so that each note counted, stretching out the nostalgic longing. Jacking up the rhythms in the scherzo so that they mimic perfectly the rushed heartbeat of a panic attack. It's a window into the mind of someone wracked by doubts and paranoia, who then steps back and tries to gain perspective by using happier memories in order to soothe himself. It hit me that Szell's interpretation doesn't look inward at all. It was just a man trying to make an orchestra perform a score of music he didn't relate to on either an emotional nor an esthetic level. Everything that thrills in the best performances came across as cheap sound effects.
I'm still puzzled as to why he bothered recording or performing Mahler at all; certainly there was no great demand for it at that time. Who knows, perhaps he just didn't want to leave a body of work that some future music historian might say was incomplete? I dread listening to the 4th, and may skip that unless I can come to terms with the 6th.
