What's your Mahler Cycle?
- Thread starter windhoek
- Start date
I heartily agree with you about Ancerl, Haitink and Runnicles - all very fine conductors.
Do you know Ancerl's life story? He was Jewish, and after some time spent in Theresienstadt he and his wife and infant son wound up in Auschwitz during WW2. On a "selection" parade one day, the Nazi picking the people to be taken off work duties and killed indicated Ancerl; then the man next in line coughed. The Nazi changed his mind, and picked the cougher instead. That cough saved Ancerl's life... and condemned another man to death. He lived the rest of his life with the memory of that day. His wife and son did not survive.
Perhaps it is no surprise that Ancerl's recording with the Czech Philharmonic and the French cellist, Andre Navarra, of Ernest Bloch's masterpiece Schelomo (Solomon) - the greatest work by any avowedly Jewish composer - is the finest I have heard.
windhoek
The Phoolosopher
I thought there was a thread in here (classical sub-forum) about classical vinyl as I was going to post in it but here's just as suitable I suppose.
Anyway, I picked up a copy of Mahler 2 by Solti-Chicago SO on Decca this afternoon and it's the best - or most enjoyable - M2 I've heard by a country mile. I've never heard Mahler on vinyl before but if it all sounds like this then I'm buying more for sure. The tones, the timbres, the dynamic ranges, the authenticity, the slams, the divine, the darkness... everything was just incredible. Sure, the soprano ain't no Bridgette Fassbaender (who is other than Bridgette herself) but she was still quite enjoyable, all the same, even though her vibrato was but too obvious.
In a nutshell, this is now my favourite M2, displacing Abbado-Lucerne FO, which now seems far too controlled by comparison.
Anyway, I picked up a copy of Mahler 2 by Solti-Chicago SO on Decca this afternoon and it's the best - or most enjoyable - M2 I've heard by a country mile. I've never heard Mahler on vinyl before but if it all sounds like this then I'm buying more for sure. The tones, the timbres, the dynamic ranges, the authenticity, the slams, the divine, the darkness... everything was just incredible. Sure, the soprano ain't no Bridgette Fassbaender (who is other than Bridgette herself) but she was still quite enjoyable, all the same, even though her vibrato was but too obvious.
In a nutshell, this is now my favourite M2, displacing Abbado-Lucerne FO, which now seems far too controlled by comparison.
RossB
Former Member
It is a fine performance, but it is also a digital recording. So I would not attribute the sound quality to the fact that it is on vinyl. Solti's Chicago recordings generally do have very good sound quality. However, I prefer Solti's earlier version with the LSO, which is available on LP as an all analogue recording.
windhoek
The Phoolosopher
Yeah, I was aware that it was a digital recording when I bought it as it says so on the box, but I thought it was worth a punt all the same as it was made at a time when vinyl still sounded good; unfortunately modern vinyl post resurgence is hit and miss.
I did some searching on the web before posting last night and the Solti LSO one cropped of course. If I see it in a charity shop I'll buy it for sure
The 1966 Haitink Mahler 3 is one to look out for - magnificent in every way. Phillips SAL 3593/94
https://www.discogs.com/release/595...oncertgebouw-orchester-Amsterdam-Sinfonie-Nr3
https://www.discogs.com/release/595...oncertgebouw-orchester-Amsterdam-Sinfonie-Nr3
Sean K
pfm Member
Simon O'Neill getting a Grammy for the DG/Dudamel/LA Philharmonic Mahler 8 has received a lot of publicity here (South Island, NZ), as he's a local lad. I've only had a listen to brief excerpts on spotify so far. Despite the shortcomings of the format, the recording sounds wonderful, airy, detailed and atmospheric. I'll have time for a proper listen over the next week, as I'm self isolating at home, following son's positive covid test. Anyone else listened to this yet?
I know the Tennstedt, Bernstien, Solti, Horrenstein and Rattle quite well. The Rattle doesn't do it for me, but perhaps I need to give it another opportunity. I also heard the first UK performance outside London at the Bridgewater with the Halle in 1996, the first recital I attended there there. I can't remember who had the baton, but for some reason, I don't think it was Nagano, but could be wrong). It was a wonderful performance but quite a sad one for me, as my dad, to whom I owe my passion for music, died the year before. He was a Halle season ticket holder and had looked forward for decades to the Halle having their own, dedicated concert hall, and he never saw it completed. I remember how the publicity and plaudits for Rattle, the CBSO and their terrific venue irked him almost as much as Liverpool constantly winning the league in the 70s and 80s .
I digress. I go through phases with my favourite recording , but the Tennstedt is the one I return to most. My first love was the Wyn Morris/ London Symphonica, on LP which I 'borrowed' from my dad, with the second movement split over three sides (!) I still remember clearly, hearing it for the first time, sat in my student flat in Hull in the late 80s, half four in the morning (who needed sleep in one's youth?!), the window wide open and the first sounds of the dawn chorus, my hairs standing on end and shivering at the beauty of the Ehren geweihten Ort, Heiligen Liebeshort (ahhh!)
The Dudamel is something I'd definitely like to treat myself to on CD, but I can't seem to find options other than streaming ones. Does anyone know if it's been released on CD? There's no Qobuz in NZ, but I might restart my Tidal subscription just to listen to this in CD quality.
I know the Tennstedt, Bernstien, Solti, Horrenstein and Rattle quite well. The Rattle doesn't do it for me, but perhaps I need to give it another opportunity. I also heard the first UK performance outside London at the Bridgewater with the Halle in 1996, the first recital I attended there there. I can't remember who had the baton, but for some reason, I don't think it was Nagano, but could be wrong). It was a wonderful performance but quite a sad one for me, as my dad, to whom I owe my passion for music, died the year before. He was a Halle season ticket holder and had looked forward for decades to the Halle having their own, dedicated concert hall, and he never saw it completed. I remember how the publicity and plaudits for Rattle, the CBSO and their terrific venue irked him almost as much as Liverpool constantly winning the league in the 70s and 80s .
I digress. I go through phases with my favourite recording , but the Tennstedt is the one I return to most. My first love was the Wyn Morris/ London Symphonica, on LP which I 'borrowed' from my dad, with the second movement split over three sides (!) I still remember clearly, hearing it for the first time, sat in my student flat in Hull in the late 80s, half four in the morning (who needed sleep in one's youth?!), the window wide open and the first sounds of the dawn chorus, my hairs standing on end and shivering at the beauty of the Ehren geweihten Ort, Heiligen Liebeshort (ahhh!)
The Dudamel is something I'd definitely like to treat myself to on CD, but I can't seem to find options other than streaming ones. Does anyone know if it's been released on CD? There's no Qobuz in NZ, but I might restart my Tidal subscription just to listen to this in CD quality.
alanbeeb
pfm Member
It had definitely been performed outside London before 1996..... there was a live TV broadcast of Mahler 8 from Salisbury Cathedral in summer of 1990 which I remember watching, Owain Arwel Hughes conducting. I remember it because it was same time as Italia 90 World Cup! I'd only discovered Mahler for myself a few months earlier.
A quick bit of googling.... there is mention of a 1964 performance with the RLPO at Liverpool Cathedral, Charles Groves conducting - http://www.concertprogrammes.org.uk/html/search/verb/GetRecord/8187/ - but there may have been performances before then.