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What about Mahler?

7

73Chaz

pfm Member
I know nothing about this music other than some of the reputation.

Any suggestions as to what is good about this composer, and any special recordings? Sorry for the dumb sounding question; I am just looking for somewhere to start.

thanks

73c
 
I have a number of his symphonies (on vinyl), but have hardly yet explored them, as I don't quite have the perseverence.

However, one little fairly well-known piece is the second movement (?) of his first symphony; a delightful and jaunty melody. Try to catch it if you can; it surely can't be the ONLY 'tune' in all of his symphonies, surely !
 
The 1st Symphony [sometimes referred to Titan] is a good start. You've probably already heard the 5th but don't realise it - beautiful adagietto used in Visconti's film Death in Venice. My favourite is the 2nd [Resurrection] which has a beautiful choral finale; very demanding of any system to reproduce the vocals and very deep organ bass notes and not muddy it. You must hear this symphony live as it is an experience that will stay with you and a good reference.
 
Is it just me who wants to sing "I wish I was a baller" after reading the title of this thread? Yes? Ok good night.
 
Agree with theoldtrout. The 2nd live, if it is a good performance, will stay with you for many years. And yes its damn difficult to reproduce at home. The fifth was always the big one for me; as has been mentioned, the one with Dirk Bogarde.
 
Start with a nice rendition of the both the 1st symphony (Titan) and the unfinished 10th on Sony, Bernstein conducting.
 
1,2 and 5 are the most commonly performed. If you like those explore the rest. Solti is excellent on these, and if you're a vinylista the Decca pressings are excellent. If you're a CD person you could do a lot worse than this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00000C2KM/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Hope the link works, am on my phone, it's the EMILY Tennstedt recordings.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Its the fifth for me, particularly the Rondo Finale (Sinopoli's version with the Philharmonia was the first Mahler CD I bought).

My favourite version was Bernstein's 1987 Proms version with the VPO (I still have a cassette taped off Radio 3), but as far as I know it was never issued on CD...Shame.

Agree with the Solti on Decca/London though for the complete symphonies.
 
I'm very fond of the Second, especially in its Birmingham/Rattle version, which won the Gramophone Record of the Year award. Arleen Auger and Janet Baker sing the solo parts wonderfully.

On the other hand, I never got on with the Eighth "Symphony of a Thousand". I even got the much-recommended Solti version, but I couldn't get my head around it at all. It simply didn't seem to go anywhere.
 
You can get the Rattle collection on CD for peanuts. I've enjoyed the choral 8th a lot recently on vinyl.

Edit: it's actually £25 now. Remember paying a lot less.
 
Having heard so many good things about it, I've just bought the Gary Bertini Mahler box from Amazon for all of £16.99.

So far, so good - lovely recordings, and lots of detail I'd never noticed before. And then having a conductor called Gary is a big plus.

They are supposed to be very neutral readings, so might make a good place to start for a Mahler newcomer, although the way that some symphonies are split across CDs does do your head in a bit, and if you didn't know better you might think the vocal movement at the end of the 4th was a rather odd way to begin your 5th Symphony (not that having a funeral march isn't strange enough.)

palp
 
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irons1965 said:
My favourite version was Bernstein's 1987 Proms version with the VPO (I still have a cassette taped off Radio 3), but as far as I know it was never issued on CD...Shame.
Click to expand...

I was there! My first ever "prom". I hitch-hiked down from Bradford and back up the same night. Arrived just in time for 9am lecture, still buzzing. An amazing experience.

The 1st is a good place to start, lots of great versions available including the Solti mentioned above. The Kubelik is a personal preference, he emphasises the bucolic side and is less of a show-off than some.

My all-time favourite is the 9th, one of the greatest of all symphonies and a desert island disc. I've written before here about the proms 1992 (?) performance with Abbado and the BSO. He has recorded a DVD with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra [think Berlin Symphony Orchestra under 23 team]. The Karajan live version is also superb.

I also particularly enjoy the 2nd and 6th but mainly as live experiences. The songs are well worth exploring too, and help make sense of the symphonies (many of the themes are recycled).

I'm not a fan of the 8th, despite seeing Tenndstedt and the LPO do it in their prime, it never clicked with me.
 
The symphonies are great, but I hold my recording of the Kindertotenlieders by Bruno Walter and Kathelen Ferrier very high (beware: this is a mid 1940s recording, before the world audiophile was coined... but the emotional content is there in droves)
 
duncan said:
I was there! My first ever "prom". I hitch-hiked down from Bradford and back up the same night. Arrived just in time for 9am lecture, still buzzing. An amazing experience.

The 1st is a good place to start, lots of great versions available including the Solti mentioned above. The Kubelik is a personal preference, he emphasises the bucolic side and is less of a show-off than some.

My all-time favourite is the 9th, one of the greatest of all symphonies and a desert island disc. I've written before here about the proms 1992 (?) performance with Abbado and the BSO. He has recorded a DVD with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra [think Berlin Symphony Orchestra under 23 team]. The Karajan live version is also superb.

I also particularly enjoy the 2nd and 6th but mainly as live experiences. The songs are well worth exploring too, and help make sense of the symphonies (many of the themes are recycled).

I'm not a fan of the 8th, despite seeing Tenndstedt and the LPO do it in their prime, it never clicked with me.
Click to expand...

Wow- That must have been incredible!

It used to take me 20 minutes to walk to work back in the 80's and I used to play the final movement of Bernstein's Proms 5th on my Walkman- I never failed to have a tear in my eye by the end.
 
I loath the Rattle Resurrection, the singing is wonderful, but the first movement in particular is so ponderous.
 
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