[scottder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel Felt compelled today to purchase used: Rattle/EMI M7 (on ebay) Rattle/EMI M9 When they arrive will join my existing Rattle 2,3,4,5 CDs.

Look forward to hearing your impressions of the M9

 

[DarkAngel]

I have been toying for long time about going to Ebay and getting complete
Inbal/Brilliant 1-10 set (formerly on Dennon label) for @40 new.

I have three of the old original Inbal/Dennon Cds M1,4,5 which hold up very well in performance and sound, whenever I consider buying one of the used 2CD Inbal versions for $15-20 I just think why not get complete new set for not much more......anyone have the Inbal/Brilliant set?

 

[Tyson]

It's a-ight, but not all that great. Kinda reticent. I think you'd be much better off with the Tennstedt set. Not every Sym is a success, but at least he takes chances and brings a strong interpretive profile to the works. It's also in a recently released bargain box set....

 

[scottder]

Was able to get Boule M3 from the library, soon I'll get all of mine together and post most my thoughts.

 

[Masonjar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel I have been toying for long time about going to Ebay and getting complete Inbal/Brilliant 1-10 set (formerly on Dennon label) for @40 new. I have three of the old original Inbal/Dennon Cds M1,4,5 which hold up very well in performance and sound, whenever I consider buying one of the used 2CD Inbal versions for $15-20 I just think why not get complete new set for not much more......anyone have the Inbal/Brilliant set?

I used to have his M2 but sold it a while back. I also have his 4th. I've not heard any of the others. I do know that Inbal is a noisy conductor, ie, he makes a lot of grunts and moans.. at least he did a lot in the M2, not so much in the 4th. I swear they must have put a mic right over his head. Have you noticed this trait if his? Sinopoli was also pretty noisy in his M5.

Oh and I don't recall offhand who the alto soloist was for Inbal's 2nd, but I do recall that I really didn't like her at all. Sounded like she sang with a mouthful of marbles. The soprano wasn't so bad, I think she's the same one who gives a somewhat militaristic peformance in the last movement of Inbal's M4.

As far as I'm concerned, no one tops Kathleen Battle and Maureen Forrester as Mahler soloists.

-jar

 

[JohnFerrier]

Listened to Boulez/M1 this morning. It's like a dry champagne. A version of Mahler that works for me.

 

[JayG]

I was much more impressed with the new Boulez M3 than I thought I would be. I've never been a big fan of Boulez's Mahler, because though I really do appreciate his uncanny ability to display every last bit of musical information in the score, he has always seemed a little to stiff for this composer. Another factor that lowered my expectations for this recording was the VPO. Stunningly talented though they are, they have never made it a secret that they hold no great love for Mahler's music. Normally you can hear this as a lack of that critical wildness that playing Mahler demands. Also the percussion usual leaves quite a bit to be desired, as does their lower brass. In this new recording, though, either the Viennise are beginning to warm up to Mahler or Boulez has strong-armed them into playing like they mean it. The lower brass is as forceful as you could want, and I only wish I could hear their bass trombone play out more often, because he rules. And the percussion is much better than they have been in the past, especially the timpanist, who is using some really really hard mallets, by the way.

I like the interpretation, I like the playing, and I like the sound. I still need to listen to it more to solidify my impressions, but I like it.

-Jay

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayG I was much more impressed with the new Boulez M3 than I thought I would be.[...] Another factor that lowered my expectations for this recording was the VPO. Stunningly talented though they are, they have never made it a secret that they hold no great love for Mahler's music. [...] I like the interpretation, I like the playing, and I like the sound. I still need to listen to it more to solidify my impressions, but I like it. -Jay

Those are the reasons that I passed up the Boulez Mahler. Boulez has always been, in my experience way too cerebral for the deep emotional intensity that Mahler demands. The Vienna PO's reputation wrt Mahler is also a negative. And now to hear that it's okay, or even better than okay? What can you compare it to, so that I can get an idea of whether it will appeal to me? How is the sound, is it warm or bright? I just picked up Boulez's Bartok violin concertos and those were very "detached" feeling interpretations; intense without passion.

 

[DarkAngel]

I will soon have the Boulez/DG M3.......I also like to hear how mezzo Ann Sophie von Otter handles vocal sections. I have picked up all other CDs in this set used at Amazon, very inexpensive since Boulez condenses timings to allow 1CD versions of 6,7,9. The litmus test for me will be how he handles the mighty M2 Ressurection symphony, does he have the vision and inner drive to pull this off properly????

VPO does have "some" Mahler credentials, they were used by Bernstein/DG, Maazel/Sony, Abbado/DG, new Kaplan/DG........and of course Boulez/DG

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson It's a-ight, but not all that great. Kinda reticent. I think you'd be much better off with the Tennstedt set. Not every Sym is a success, but at least he takes chances and brings a strong interpretive profile to the works. It's also in a recently released bargain box set....

Yes.......I suppose best to pass on Inbal complete set and just stick with the individual CDs I have now.

Reference Mahler set remains Bernstein/Sony + Bernstein/DG 1,5 supplement.

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel The litmus test for me will be how he handles the mighty M2 Ressurection symphony, does he have the vision and inner drive to pull this off properly????

Think Boulez has an aversion to M2. Here are samples (no stock) from a 1973 recording: Amazon France.

Also, Boulez conducts Berio's "Sinfonia" that quotes/spoofs M2, La Mer, Daphnis and Chloe,...

 

[JayG]

DarkAngel - It's not that they haven't played Mahler enough, it's that they don't like to play Mahler and they don't play up to their potential with Mahler. Usually, anyway. Every once in a while, a conductor is able to break through and get them to give it their best, or at least closer to their best. Bernstein was one, Maazel was another, but only in some of his attempts. And I thing that now Boulez has done the same.

Now, it's not my favorite M3 of all, but I do like it. Von Otter is wonderful in the 4th Movement, no worries there. The only movement I think Boulez misses on is the 2nd, which isn't dancy enough for me. The recorded sound is great. I wouldn't really call it dark or bright. The Viennise horns have their trademark dark tone which is great, but it's not recessed in the balance. At the same time, the trumpets bite right through when then need to, but the mix is not what I would call bright. The only small issue I have with the sound is I wish there was a little bit more of the lowest bass information. Sometimes it's hard to hear some of the really deep resonances of the timpani and the basses. Other than that, it's great.

-Jay

 

[Bunnyears]

Well, Vienna has a history with Mahler. The composer was offered the position of Director of the Court Opera, but had to convert from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in order to take it. He did convert because he was not observant and really wanted the job (I suppose). He split his time conducting and composing, but his music was never well received there. He was subject to the ugliest of antisemitic attacks from the press, especially with respect to his music. I now find it very ironic that the Vienna SO should have chosen Leonard Bernstein as director and then had Mahler shoved down their throats by him. I guess old attitudes die slowly, and the resistance to Mahler is one very old attitude in Vienna.

 

[JayG]

Exactly. And every time one of his works premiered and was denounced by the public and the press, he was crushed. He had to go other places to premier his compositions before he finally received some positive response. The Vienna Phil, more than any orchestra in the world, is still strongly tied to the practices and traditions of their past, and of music's past. They don't like modern music, and they don't like to play standard pieces in modern ways. While this does mean that they can play some things "better" or more "authentically" than any other group, it also means that their playing of repertoire they don't care for suffers. I would hate to be without many recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and even Bruckner from the VPO, but if all of the VPO's Mahler recordings suddenly disappeared, there would only be a select few I would miss.

-Jay

 

[Bunnyears]

I just broke down and bought the single cd of the Kubelik M1 Titan. It's released under the penguin label and the DG label. I chose the DG because I was advised that the audio quality would probably be better. Well, this is one very good M1. It compares very well to the Bernstein. Less idiosyncratic, but the music really shines. The brass is very brassy where it comes in the first movement, a good contrast to the lyrical theme. The klezmer theme also has a great funky feeling that I appreciate. Now I can't wait until I get the whole set (which seems to be backordered wherever I go). The M1 is bundled with the Fisher-Dieskau Lieder gefahrenden Gesellen which I have on vinyl (bundled with the M 5). that of course is a joy.

As to the VPO recordings of Mahler, they can live without my money! If it's not something absolutely stellar I can refrain from the purchase. I'll borrow it from a friend or the library and listen, but I doubt from the descriptions here that it's something I'd play over and over.