Mahler - what are your favorites?

[tima]

Here is a fine recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn) from Leonard Bernstein and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, recorded live in 1987. It features soprano Lucia Popp (one of my favs) and Adreas Schmidt, baritone.

This is a collection of 13 songs, purportedly from German folk music, that has a somewhat (to me) confusing history of composition with various additions and deletions at different times. The 'final' (?) collection contains 12 songs. You can sort it out for yourself with some help from Wikipedia



What I find interesting about the particular collection here is how many of these compositions show up in later Mahler symphonies sometimes with and sometimes without the singing.

Consider "Urlicht" (Primal Light) which becomes the introduction in the 4th movement of Symphony 2. Gorgeous and fantastic - if you are familiar with 'Resurrection', you'll recognize it immediately. This piece was eventually removed from Wunderhorn in 1901 but included in the set here. Likewise you may recognize Wunderhorn passages in many different Mahler symphonies. I won't give away more, explore it for yourself and perhaps find delight in the discovery.

On vinyl - reissue released in 2017, this won't be around forever.
Deutsche Grammophon 427 302-1; Analogphonic ‎LP43017

Urlicht 1893
O little red rose!
Man lies in greatest need!
Man lies in greatest pain!
How I would rather be in heaven.
There came I upon a broad path
when came a little angel and wanted to turn me away.
Ah no! I would not let myself be turned away!
I am from God and shall return to God!
The loving God will grant me a little light,
Which will light me into that eternal blissful life!

[tima]

Originally Posted by tima

Don (redcars) asked me to attach a PDF of the High Fidelity magazine version of the Leonard Bernstein article "Mahler: His Time Has Come. This includes an article by Bernard Jacobson entitled "The Mahler Symphonies on Records".

see post #190 for a link to article

Attached is another article using a similar title - they start to get confusing - named "My Time Is Yet To Come" The Symphonies of Gustav Mahler on Record, by Deryk Barker. Barker not only tells you which recordings he likes but which to avoid! He agrees with me about Kubelik and Titan so he can't be too bad. :-) He also likes Jascha Horenstein. Some of these may be available only on CD or other digital medium.

So there are three Mahler articles worth a read.

[tima]

In this thread named "Mahler - what are your favorites?" we've seen many Mahler sets mentioned along with people's lists of favorite symphonies. The topic of favorite movements has not come up yet (or I don't think it has) and I'm not sure it is wise to go there as movements are set within the larger context of a whole work.

As Mahler's world it is such a broad world with so many different explorations of what is possible with large orchestras and sometimes with choirs, no single movement is representative of his music. Nonetheless I'd like to bring one movement to your attention - the 2nd movement of the Third Symphony. If you are unfamiliar with Mahler and want a little taste, this is opportunity to discover just how gorgeous his music can be. Of course there are many other individual movements to choose from and if you'd like to pick one for our attention, please do.

The Third has six movements and is the composer's longest work, roughly 100 minutes. That's an hour-and-a-half for a single work, so picking out just one movement is not quite sacrilege if you don't have time (or patience) for the entire symphony. Movement 2 is around 10 minutes.

Mahler's Third might be called his 'nature symphony' but of course that is too narrow a characterization as it evolves beyond that in the latter movements. Still, Mahler wrote movements 2-6 over the course of two summers in the countryside in a small Austrian cottage, a natural setting.

1. "Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In"
2. "What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me"
3. "What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me"
4. "What Man Tells Me"
5. "What the Angels Tell Me"
6. "What Love Tells Me"


Of the 2nd movement the composer writes that it is "the most carefree thing that I have ever written—as carefree as only flowers are. It all sways and waves in the air…like flowers bending on their stems in the wind.” It is marked Tempo di Menuetto Sehr mässig. Interesting Italian and German juxtaposition. Of the tempo of a minuet, at a very moderate pace.

Pick one of your favorite editions and play just the 2nd movement. Bernstein rarely dissapoints.



Columbia M2S 675

You can find a nice reissue in the 'Bernstein Conducts Mahler' box set from Sony. Bernsteins 1962 cyle, well worth seeking out on Discogs, etc.



The individual album is also available on CD.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by tima

Consider "Urlicht" (Primal Light) which becomes the introduction in the 4th movement of Symphony 2. Gorgeous and fantastic - if you are familiar with 'Resurrection', you'll recognize it immediately. This piece was eventually removed from Wunderhorn in 1901 but included in the set here. Likewise you may recognize Wunderhorn passages in many different Mahler symphonies.

In regard to this point, here is another context in which to consider Mahler's Wunderhorn songs:

[tima]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

In regard to this point, here is another context in which to consider Mahler's Wunderhorn songs:

Thanks Kal - a fine choice - a superb baritone and a piano. I'm not sure but think that release is on Teldec 2292-44923-2.

Mahler wrote many of his Lieder type compositions first for voice and piano and later for voice and orchestra. Some he wrote only for piano accompaniment and some specifically for ochestra. Either way a voice and piano composition typically came first so he could get it published. As noted earlier, the history of when these were composed and how they got organized is somewhat arcane but you can read more in a Wikipedia article here.

Baritone Thomas Hampson is known for his association with Mahler lieder. A CD collection of his Mahler Lieder can be had on Teldec 4509-98822-2 as part of the 3-volume(?) "The Thomas Hampson Collection". He recorded Das Lied von der Erde as part of Michael Tilson Thomas' "Mahler Project" (Symphonies 1- 10 + many Lieder) with the San Francisco Symphony, available individually and in an 11(?) LP set. And again, the same songs with Simon Rattle's Mahler cycle on EMI. Hampson recorded the Kindertotenlieder and several others with Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmoniker on DG. He, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Andreas Schmidt are the ones to look for if you'd like to hear some of Mahler's songs sung with a contemporary male voice.


SFS Media ‎– SFS0039 - 17 SACD

[bart]

I just posted this in the classical thread.
A fine addition to the 'Das Lied von der Erde' catalogue, that has been spoilt lately.


Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde
Het Collectief, Reinbert de Leeuw
Lucille Richardot
Yves Saelens
Qobuz 24/88.2




No shortage of new versions of this masterpiece the last months.
This is one I will cherish.
You all know I adore transparent performances, with smaller ensembles.
This is a very fine example.


This recording was made under the direction of Reinbert de Leeuw in December 2019, two months before his death. A few weeks before that, he had called Thomas Dieltjens, artistic director of Het Collectief, to tell him: ‘Since our concert in mid-July 2019 at the Saintes Festival, I’ve been haunted by Das Lied von der Erde. I’m totally under its spell, and every day I discover new things in this masterpiece by Mahler. Wouldn’t it be a dream if we could record this music with the outstanding group of instrumentalists and soloists we had in Saintes? And preferably as soon as possible?’ Reinbert himself made the arrangement for fifteen instrumentalists and two soloists and invested all his remaining strength in the recording of this music, which encompasses the whole of life, from the freshness of birth to the moment of farewell...
A testamentary album, with the moving mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot, which gives us an opportunity to pay tribute to one of the key ambassadors of twentieth-century music. © Alpha Classics

[tima]

Jascha Horenstein is not as well known as Bernstein or Klemperer, but this is a fantastic (truly) Mahler 3rd with the London Symphony Orchestra.



Nonesuch HB 73023

You can almost tell by the font when it was made - 1971.

Also available on Unicorn 302-303

Edit: I should note that 50-year-old records like this one are not hard to find in top condition on Discogs. Look through this thread or on the Web for lists and surveys to learn suggestions - 'best Mahler Symphonies', 'best Mahler 3rd Symphony', etc. The more targeted the better. Search on Discogs by conductor and composer or symphony number. Then look for records labeled 'mint'. Typically you want the earliest releases. Look for sellers from your home country or region - Euro shipping is very costly, you can easily pay more for shipping than for the record itself. This sealed Nonesuch HB 73023 (2 LP) went for $15, shipped within the US for $5. One trick is to look regularly, maybe a couple times a week and be focused in your search.

[tima]

A quick note to inform about a 10 CD set of Mahler Symphonies available from Berlin Philharmoniker Recordings. Also available as a stereo or surround sound download.

https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-...ymphonies.html

From the Web site: "The edition brings together Berliner Philharmoniker recordings from the last ten years. It includes the nine completed symphonies and the Adagio of the Tenth, whose performance under the direction of Claudio Abbado on the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death is one of the highlights. In addition to chief conductor Kirill Petrenko and his predecessor Sir Simon Rattle, the edition features other outstanding Mahler interpreters closely associated with the orchestra: Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons and Yannick Nézet-Séguin."


Berliner Philharmoniker
Gustav Mahler Symphonies Nos. 1–10

Daniel Harding
Symphony No. 1

Andris Nelsons
Symphony No. 2

Gustavo Dudamel
Symphony No. 3

Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Symphony No. 4

Gustavo Dudamel
Symphony No. 5

Kirill Petrenko
Symphony No. 6

Sir Simon Rattle
Symphony No. 7

Sir Simon Rattle
Symphony No. 8

Bernard Haitink
Symphony No. 9

Claudio Abbado
Symphony No. 10 (Adagio)


I have not heard this digital set but several of the performances are quite good.

[SCAudiophile]

+1 on this set,...some of the finest petformances out there in any form. Highly recommend this set also.

These are also great...

https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=14586

https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=14419

Both available only from Tower Records Japan and from sellers on eBay who are scarfing them up quickly to resell

[tima]

An informative and fun read !




ISBN-10:140009657X
ISBN-13: 978-1400096572