Mahler - what are your favorites?

[redcars]

Thanks tima
Don

[tima]

The Berlin Philharmonic is offering free access to their on-line concerts until 3-31-2020.

This means you can watch and listen to new conductor Kirill Petrenko conduct Mahler's 6th Symphony. Access and nice program notes at the link.

"The Sixth Symphony is one of Mahler’s most unsettling pieces: turmoil and idyll, triumph and catastrophe, march and chorale, confidence and resignation, nature, life and death – Mahler combines it all to create a vast musical cosmos."

[nicoff]

I watched the 3rd a couple of nights ago and a performance of Mahler's songs. Outstanding both visually and musically.

[tima]

Originally Posted by tima

Here are Mahler Symphonies 1 - 6 from the 1980s with Leonard Bernstein conducting three different orchestras. This is his second cycle that carryied through, I believe, the Seventh Symphony. All feature cover art from Romain de Tirtoff (known as Erté.) All are on 33-1/3 vinyl. Afair, all are live recordings. And all are what DG used to call Numerique - digital. I'm guessing these are recorded through a digital processor onto tape and records taken from that, so there is probably not a contradiction between them being digital and mastered from analogue tape. All are available for purchase today between $40-$60, though No 5 maybe a bit hard to locate for less than 3 figures. As reissues these were cut on 180g 'audiophile' vinyl at Emil Berliner and pressed at Pallas.

Here is the cover for Symphony No.1



I accumulated this set - new Mahler recordings on LP aren't exactly falling out of trees - and they went into my FIFO stack of 'records to be cleaned and played' which doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. I recently went for the Resurrection Symphony (No 2) to try out my new turntable setup and to listen to some Mahler.

On the downside, despite cleaning cycles on the ADS, the vinyl was a bit too crackly for a new record. That was a disappointment that will cause me to check out both another copy and another symphony to see if it is a character of the set or I have a less than perfect copy. Be that as it may....

As the marketing stuff sez: "This is the most imposing performance of this symphony currently available." That's probably true. With the highest resolution I've yet to have in my room, I heard more music and musical information from this warhorse than ever before. 'Stunning.' It demanded volume, or perhaps more apt, power. The opening basses grab you by the throat. Timpani in the third and fourth mvmnts will push you back in your seat. However, dynamic balance was a bit odd, at least for me: the loud was very loud and the soft was very soft. Once cranked up it to near live volume it all seemed to work out. For the first time I thought dangerous thoughts about higher powered amps and/or a bigger room. Of course if any symphony can cause that, it's this one.

Bernstein's performance is of course unique. In his second cycle he is not as boisterous yet no less himself. He makes you aware of the transitions. And his first movement is l-o-n-g though things pick-up after that. The sonics on these two Lps make the Fischer SACD seem almost tame, which is quite something. Perspective is close up though not quite on the podium. There is an incredible amount of performance technique to be had here and it opens up the interior life of the orchestra like few others I've heard. As a live recording there is near zero audience noise but a sense of 'live air' and the musicians really being 'on' for LB.

That's enough for now. If you're a fan and do vinyl, it's worth your while to check out (at least) one from this series. And if you do - please let us know how things went. Cheers.

I wanted to follow up re my comments on Symphony 2 from this Bernstein set circa 1987-88 as re-issued by Analogphonic.



As mentioned in my original post I found this LP side 1 (of 4) noisey, crackly and largely unsatisfactory to play for a brand new record. I eventually tried 3 different copies, but no luck. Well... I returned to this set last night and played it with a different cartridge, the van den Hul Colibri Master Signature, and the special vdH stylus shape worked miracles - or so I conjecture - to turn this album into the gem it always wanted to be. My oh my, what a wonderful performance is this. The intersection of music with the vicissitudes of vinyl playback can dissuade one from recommending a particular Mahler performance, but dissuaded no more am I. Not sure how available this box is, but if you do vinyl, grab it if you see it. Gorgeous.

[custodian]

My favourite recording is Sir John Barbarolli conducting Mahler symphony no 6. The way he does all three hammerblows of fate in the final movement is quite dramatic.

[tima]

Originally Posted by custodian

My favourite recording is Sir John Barbarolli conducting Mahler symphony no 6. The way he does all three hammerblows of fate in the final movement is quite dramatic.

Barbirolli was a fine Mahlerian. Do you have a picture or catalog nbr for your copy?

I'll also recommend Barbirolli for the Mahler 5th.



HMV ASD 2518-9

[tima]

Here is a new Mahler 1 on cd and vinyl! Well, new this decade - record in May of 2012. Not sure on the release date. You can pre-order the 2 LP vinyl set on Amazon. Cd available now.

Vienna Symphoniker conducted by Italian Fabio Luisi who is the general music director of the Zurich Opera, principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and recently named music director for 2020-21 with the Dallas Symphony.

There is also a Mahler 6 cd available with Luisi and the Vienna Symphoniker.


Naxos SLP 001

[redcars]

Hi Tima and others,
I previously posted a listing here of all the Mahler vinyl discs listed on the annual TAS Super LP List: https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...&postcount=169

This year I was pleased to see that a disc I previously recommended here is now listed by TAS:
https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...&postcount=182
YARLUNG YAR09270-148V If You Love for Beauty/Sasha Cooke, The Colburn Orchestra. This is a superb LP.


There are two additional Mahler recommendations on the TAS list this year:

EMI SLS 806 Mahler: Symphony No. 2 /Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra. I have this disc and also the original COLUMBIA (EMI) SAX 2473/2474 recording which is far better than SLS 806.

And finally, “Mahler – The Vinyl Edition” on the Sony label – fifteen 180 gram discs of Bernstein’s Mahler symphonies plus Kindertotenlieder. I started with Number three tonight and loved it. It sounds like the Columbias, which I also have, but is better in every respect than the original Columbias.
Available at Acoustic Sounds (and elsewhere?)

Best,
Don

[tima]

Originally Posted by redcars

Hi Tima and others,
I previously posted a listing here of all the Mahler vinyl discs listed on the annual TAS Super LP List: https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...&postcount=169

This year I was pleased to see that a disc I previously recommended here is now listed by TAS:
https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...&postcount=182
YARLUNG YAR09270-148V If You Love for Beauty/Sasha Cooke, The Colburn Orchestra. This is a superb LP.


There are two additional Mahler recommendations on the TAS list this year:

EMI SLS 806 Mahler: Symphony No. 2 /Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra. I have this disc and also the original COLUMBIA (EMI) SAX 2473/2474 recording which is far better than SLS 806.

And finally, “Mahler – The Vinyl Edition” on the Sony label – fifteen 180 gram discs of Bernstein’s Mahler symphonies plus Kindertotenlieder. I started with Number three tonight and loved it. It sounds like the Columbias, which I also have, but is better in every respect than the original Columbias.
Available at Acoustic Sounds (and elsewhere?)

Best,
Don

Hi Don - Nice to hear from you.

Thank you for your recommendations and noting Mahler recordings on the TAS list. All are fine selections.

The Sasha Cooke album includes Mahler's Rückert Lieder. You can find it at the Yarlung site here.

Wrt the Klemperer Mahler 2, you might like this post. I agree, Klemperer's 2nd is a superb rendition, one of the very best. Highy recommended.

And indeed Bernstein's 1960's cycle is top-notch. Check this post for a bit more info. And yes, the set is still available at Acoustic Sounds. Ime, Columbia's original classical music issuances can be somewhat sketchy - they seemed to do a more consistent job with with jazz recordings.

Best regards,
Tim

[tima]

Originally Posted by tima

Here is a new Mahler 1 on cd and vinyl! Well, new this decade - record in May of 2012. Not sure on the release date. You can pre-order the 2 LP vinyl set on Amazon. Cd available now.

Vienna Symphoniker conducted by Italian Fabio Luisi who is the general music director of the Zurich Opera, principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and recently named music director for 2020-21 with the Dallas Symphony.

There is also a Mahler 6 cd available with Luisi and the Vienna Symphoniker.


Naxos SLP 001

A little follow-up on this release ...

Nowadays we see more and more orchestras producing their own recordings. This Mahler 1 is the product of the Wiener Symphoniker who is supported by the City of Vienna and by the Republic of Austria. We've got to applaud such efforts to bring music to people and encourage the classical music genre.

Having said that, I had a somewhat mixed reaction to it. I love Mahler's First, absolutely love its flowing lyrical character. Love the off stage horns. Love the huge diversity of its themes. Fabio Luisi's interpretation is unigue - I won't go as far to describe it as 'quirky' but it is different. Portions and phrases I'm used to hearing as relaxed and easy are taken a slightly faster pace than I've heard before, and vice versa. Some arpeggios that typically flow upward are taken in almost a step-wise fashion. Luisi brings his own interpretation of timing to the score. In some ways it is very interesting, especially on first hearing. Different enough to keep in a collection.

Alas sonically the album is maybe a 6/10. Low frequencies - basses, timpani - are muddled. There are several instances of a triangle in the first movement, I could barely hear a plaintive 'ping'. Mid-range is generally fine. Physically, my copy had hundreds of what I'll describe as 'small wierd spots' coming out of the run-out into the last quarter of the groove of sides A & B . I have no clue what they are and repeated cleaning did not remove them. Their contribution was crackly sound. Maybe this was a one-off or maybe its a production problem.

Unless you are a completist, the mediocre sonics nixed it for me. There are other examples of Titan to recommend.