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What's your Mahler Cycle?

windhoek

windhoek

The Phoolosopher
I'm in the process of compiling a Mahler cycle and have got Symphonies 2 and 4 and have a few of the others on loan from a friend: fwiw, Michael Tilson Thomas M1, M2, M3 and M4. Although I already have M2 (Mehta/ Berlin PO), yesterday I ordered a copy of the Grammy nominated (for best surround sound album) Benjamin Zander M2 and look forward to hearing the m/c mix. Whether it's a proper discrete m/c mix remains to be seen, but I look forward to hearing it in surround sound regardless, albeit it in 4.0 as per my speaker setup.

Anyway, here's what I've got so far.

M2: (Stereo) Mehta, Berlin PO (SHM-SACD) / (m/c) Benjamin Zander (SACD)
M4: Reiner, Chicago SO

What's your Mahler Curation (single conductor/orchestra or otherwise)?
 
I'm a fan but never bought a single performer cycle.
1 - Solti
1- Maazel
2 - Rattle and CBSO
2 - Jonathan Nott
2 - Klemperer on EMI
3 - Rattle and CBSO
3 - Jonathan Nott
3 - Tennstedt EMI
4 - ditto
4 - Wit on Naxos
4 - Szell
5 - Rattle - BPO
5 - Barbirolli
6 - Wit on Naxos
7 - Abbado
8 - Solti
8 - Tennstedt
9 - von Karajan
9 - Bernstein
10 - Zander on Denon
10 - Rattle Bournemouth SO.

If I had to pick one Mahlerian it would have to be Rattle. Once saw him conduct 2nd without a score - gobsmacking.
 
For Mahler's Symphony No1 I have…
BBCSO/Honeck
Wiener Phil./Kletzki
SdBR/Kubelik
Concertgebouw /Bernstein
Concertgebouw /Bernstein (live)
Concertgebouw /Jansons
CBSO/Rattle
Columbia Symphony /Walter
LSO/Horenstein
NY Phil/Bernstein
BFO/Fischer
 
There is a huge emotional connection with Mahler, so my choice is related to live performance, which would be Tennstedt overall. I also heard Solti do 1 and 9, superb, and a Haitink/Concertgebouw Das Lied von der Erde at the Proms was memorable.

The Barbirolli 5 is a classic for any collection, not least for the acoustic quality.

I enjoy the dynamics of the Bernstein set.
 
Although I'm not sure what constitutes a Mahler cycle (checked wikipedia - still not sure), here's what I have:

Symphony No. 1 – Boult / London Philharmonic Orchestra (Everest 3005 vinyl)
Symphony No. 2 – Klemperer / Ferrier / Vincent ("Historic 1951 Holland Festival Performance"; IGI-374 vinyl)
Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3 – Bernstein / New York Philharmonic (Columbia Masterworks M4X-31432 vinyl box set)
Symphony No. 4 – Kletzki / The Philharmonia Orchestra (Seraphim S-60105 vinyl)
Symphony No. 6 – Abbado / Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon 2707-117 vinyl)
Symphony No. 7 – Bernstein / New York Philharmonic (Columbia Masterworks M2S-739 vinyl)
Symphony No. 9 – Kondrashin / Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (Melodiya SIB-6029 vinyl)
Symphony No. 9 – Solti / Chicago Symphony Orchestra (London LDR-72012 vinyl)
Symphony No. 10 – Rattle / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Angel DSB-3909 vinyl)
Das Lied Von Der Erde – Walter / Miller / Häflinger / New York Philharmonic (Columbia/Odyssey Y-30043 vinyl)
 
I have the Tennstedt cycle on CD, and it's very good IMHO.

I also have a soft spot for the Kubelik recordings, they were some of the first Mahler that I bought - on DG Privilige LPs.

Perhaps my favourite is the Barbirolli 9th - obtainable for a penny under £4 from Amazon Marketplace sellers...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006LL02AK/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Well.....
1 - Walter, Tennstedt
2 - Abbado, Klemperer x2 (Ferrier & Schwarzkopf), Solti, Rattle, Walter
3 - Levine, Tennstedt
4 - Szell, Klemperer, Karajan, Abbado
5 - Barbirolli, Tennstedt, Rattle, Solti
6 - Barbirolli, Karajan
7 - Tennstedt, Haitink
8 - Solti, Tennstedt
9 - Barbirolli, Karajan, Tennstedt, Walter, Klemperer
10 - Rattle
Das Lied - Haitink, Walter, Karajan

All on vinyl, and maybe only 1 or 2 that I could part with....
 
My CD stash is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003D0ZNWY/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Rattle/Furtwangler/Giulini/Klemperer/Tennstedt/Walter/Barbirolli etc

+

1/2 Solti LSO
4 Karajan Berliner Phil
5 Abbado Chicago SO + Karajan Berliner Phil
6 Abbado Berliner Phil + Karajan Berliner Phil + Jansons LSO
7 Abbado Chicago SO
Das Lied von de Erde Boulez Wiener Phil

To be honest the big box does it for me normally
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
If I were to go for only one set I would probably go for the Rattle EMI box, both the sound and performances are splendid. Having said that, I have quite a few Mahler recordings, I have starred favourites:-

Symphony 1
Zdenek Slovak PO
Abbado/Chicago
Inbal /Frankfurt Radio Orchestra
Simonov/RPO
Rattle/CBSO

Symphony 2
Klemperer/Concertgebouw
Sinopoli/Philharmonia Orchester
Kaplan/Vienna Phil
Kaplan/LSO ***
Rattle/CBSO

Symphony 3
Boulez/Vienna
Solti/Chicago
Rattle/CBSO

Symphony 4
Walter/New York PO
Wit/Polish National
Solti/Chicago
Rattle/CBSO
Reiner/Chicago

Symphony 5
Sinopoli/Philharmonia
Rattle/Berlin
Tennstedt/LPO live ***
Tennstedt/LPO studio
Otaka/BBC Welsh
Jårvi/Scottish National
Abbado/Berlin

Symphony 6
Boulez/Vienna
Karajan/Berlin
Inbal/Frankfurt Radio
Rattle/CBSO

Symphony 7
Inbal/Frankfurt Radio
Solti/Chicago

Symphony 8
Solti/Chicago
Rattle/CBSO

Symphony 9
Solti Chicago
Rattle/Vienna

Song of the Earth
Reiner/Chicago ***
Walter/New York Phil
Walter/Vienna/Ferrier/Patzak *****
Krips/Vienna
Bernstein/Vienna

I have about 50 LPs as well, and maybe box sets I have forgotten, the Rattle is the most recent.
The Mahler 6th LP with Berrnstein/New York has a 4th side fill in with talking about Mahler from old orchestra members who had worked under Mahler himself. Priceless
When I first heard a Rattle Mahler recording it didn't hit the spot, but it does now.
Strange thing,getting older.

The only thing we can never know is how much more we still have to learn
 
I've got two cycles, Haitink on Philips vinyl, and Tennstedt on CD. The Haitink was my introduction and I like it very much. I've not spent enough time with the Tennstedt, need to dig it out for a spin.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Not a full cycle, but for Das Lied/Kindertotenlieders, Walter/Ferrier is hard to beat even if technically the recording is old.

Imbal S3 is interesting... but one needs to be careful about pre-emphasis (Japanese Denon CD import)
 
You can't go much wrong with the Abbado recordings.
The MTT ones are wonderfully recorded, though of varying success performance wise, No.6 being special, I guess because of its recording date (14 Spet 2001 iirc).
 
Solti/CSO (Complete Cycle)

Symphony 1- Haitink/BPO (Philips)

Symphony 5- Sinopoli/Philharmonia (DG)
- Bernstein/VPO (DG)
- Barbirolli/NPO (EMI)

Symphony 6- Sinopoli/Philharmonia (DG)

Symphony 10- Rattle/BPO


I used to own the Kubelik boxed cycle but it was lost in a burglary....:mad:
 
Anyone who listens to Mahler 2 should listen to Kaplan's versions.

As a conductor who ONLY conducts Mahler 2, rather than Mahler this week, Schubert the next, Tchaikovsky the week after.....
 
formbypc said:
Anyone who listens to Mahler 2 should listen to Kaplan's versions.

As a conductor who ONLY conducts Mahler 2, rather than Mahler this week, Schubert the next, Tchaikovsky the week after.....
Click to expand...

I quite agree. I was prepared to be underwhelmed but in fact he knows the score (I believe he owns the original) better than anybody and gets great perormances from the orchestra.
 
I've always liked Solti for 2 and 8, which are also outstanding Decca recordings.
I like Karajan for 6, James Levine for 4 and Tennstedt for most of the rest (including 2 and 8). Lastly for his unnumbered symphony Das lied Von Der Erde I like Klemperer. (not Barbirolli - I misremembered)

All of this I have on vinyl plus some Haitink and Rattle, the latter I don't care for at all.

mat
 
I have multiple recordings of all the symphonies. Some outright recommendations:

4 & 6: Szell
9: Barbirolli
Das Lied: Haitink with Janet Baker/James King
 
Tennstedt's cycle is my favourite, but the Chicago performance of No 1 is better than the LPO.

Klemperer's 2, 4, 9 and Das Lied are outstanding.

So is Solti's 8, but his others IMHO are overblown.

In contrast I find Haitink's performances to be understated, even dull.
 
Gerontius said:
In contrast I find Haitink's performances to be understated, even dull.
Click to expand...

I agree with that up to a point about his studio recordings, but his studio 9th is superb. Live, however Haitink is IMHO one of the really great Mahlerians , and his sense of structure holds things together. The live Philips Dutch Masters near-cycle of Christmas Day concerts is absolutely brilliant (except I don't like the 2nd) and popular with aficionados/obscurantists

http://www.mahlerreviews.com/mahler_box_haitink_christmas_philips.html
 
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