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Thread: Mahler Symphonies

  1. #26
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    Whether it is the recording or my own difficulty with vocal music in general, indeed I still do not get the 8th but there are some parts where it comes together a bit for me with the Solti. It's a piece I definitely want to come back to and I will try out the Wit that you recommend.
    The 8th is a very dense piece of music with all the vocals and huge orchestration going on all at the same time. It's hard to wrap your ears around it for sure.

    Rick

  2. #27
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fracktured View Post
    The 8th is a very dense piece of music with all the vocals and huge orchestration going on all at the same time. It's hard to wrap your ears around it for sure.
    Actually some parts of it are pretty sparse. I especially love the hushed, spooky stuff at the beginning of the second movement. Mahler was great about that: he'd call for enormous orchestral forces, but he wouldn't be afraid to score extended passages for about three instruments.

  3. #28
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    I somehow missed this thread years ago, but how is it going in the discovery of 'Ole Gustav? I still consider Mahler one of my fav classical composers (in the top 5 easily), but I have cooled off on the listening in the past few years (becoming more a of Sibelius fanatic) and have been discovering different stuff instead of listening to the 37th different recording of M3 or M7 for example. There is really too much to recommend here, but I will say that if you are a fan of Das Lied, then you should check out this recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin waving the baton. It is now my new favorite recording of this piece, and I have somewhere around 12-15 versions. Its a remarkable reading, and the sonics are wonderful to match the great playing and singing. I got it for under $10 at Amazon.

    https://www.lpo.org.uk/recordings-an...-der-erde.html
    Last edited by chalkpie; 07-26-2018 at 10:02 AM.
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  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    Actually some parts of it are pretty sparse. I especially love the hushed, spooky stuff at the beginning of the second movement. Mahler was great about that: he'd call for enormous orchestral forces, but he wouldn't be afraid to score extended passages for about three instruments.
    Absolutely agreed - my fav part of M8 is beginning of part II. Mahler was a master at orchestrating chamber-like qualities even within a huge orchestra. This is the most Krautrock he ever got playing Faust

    I have really come around to Das Lied over the past 5 or so years because of the chamber-like qualities of the piece. He's one of the best at the bombast, but equally as good at the other end of the spectrum.
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  5. #30
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    There is really too much to recommend here, but I will say that if you are a fan of Das Lied, then you should check out this recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin waving the baton. It is now my new favorite recording of this piece, and I have somewhere around 12-15 versions. Its a remarkable reading, and the sonics are wonderful to match the great playing and singing.
    Ooh, I will want that. Das Lied is my absolute favorite.

    Just heard the 3rd in concert for the first time last month, after missing it the last time it was played around here a few years back. Now if they would just program the 6th, which never seems to get played.
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  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    Ooh, I will want that. Das Lied is my absolute favorite.

    Just heard the 3rd in concert for the first time last month, after missing it the last time it was played around here a few years back. Now if they would just program the 6th, which never seems to get played.
    I saw Boulez conduct M6 back in 2009(?) at Carnegie with the Staatskapelle Berlin - amazing concert. It was my dream to see him conduct once, and I'm really glad I had the opportunity.

    Let me know what you think of that Das Lied disc if you pull the trigger - there is about zero chance you won't dig it.
    If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.

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  7. #32
    Everyone I know recommends Solti -Mahler 8th Symphony-Chicago.

    I'd be curious to see what every one's favorite recordings of 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 9th.
    Last edited by Crawford Glissadevil; 08-08-2018 at 08:03 AM.

  8. #33
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    You can't go wrong with Gustavo Dudamel's performance of No. 1, when he debuted with the L.A. Philharmonic. I found it quite gripping.
    "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama

  9. #34
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    I usually listen to Michael Gielen for 2 & 8. His Hanssler recording of the 2nd, and the Sony for no. 8. Pretty much Bernstein NYP for the others. I have the Tennstedt box because I couldn't pass it up for under 20 bucks. And I love the Boulez Lieder CD on DG. For modern recordings my library has a bunch of Tilson Thomas, and Dudamel. But I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of the music, much less various interpretations.

  10. #35
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    Any favorites so far Reidster?

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    Any favorites so far Reidster?
    I'm still not intimately familiar with all of the symphonies, but I love 9, 10 Adagio, no.1, 6, and 4. There are many beautiful passages in all of the symphonies, and they all have unmistakable intros. Several years back when I was struggling to get into any of them, the No.10 Adagio is the piece that hit me like a ton of bricks one day. It's a pity Mahler died after completing that magnificent movement. After that I was hooked. But I need to listen to 3 and 7 more. I need to listen to all of them more. But I'll do that during the winter months.

  12. #37
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    Reid..... listening assignment for you. Listen to M2 every day for one week or longer. I guarantee that you will find this to be one of the greatest Symphonies ever written, period. Maybe hit it twice in one day if you can.

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    Reid..... listening assignment for you. Listen to M2 every day for one week or longer. I guarantee that you will find this to be one of the greatest Symphonies ever written, period. Maybe hit it twice in one day if you can.
    I've listened to my Gielen CD a number of times and I do dig no.2. I'll listen some more. I don't have Bernstein's early version because stupidly I bought the old single CDs instead of the box, and I don't have no.2. I did buy the DG box so I can listen to the different recordings plus the Tennstedt version.

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarThrower View Post
    I've listened to my Gielen CD a number of times and I do dig no.2. I'll listen some more. I don't have Bernstein's early version because stupidly I bought the old single CDs instead of the box, and I don't have no.2. I did buy the DG box so I can listen to the different recordings plus the Tennstedt version.
    The Gielen is quite good, but you should try to hear some others too:

    Bernstein - DG
    MTT/San Fran
    Kaplan/Vienna
    Fischer/Budapest
    Mehta/Vienna
    Bertini/Kohlner Rundfunk

    Good start there!
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  15. #40
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    I watched the Dudamel/Simon Bolivar Orchestra live at Royal Albert Hall.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKrs...&start_radio=1

    The second half is spectacular!

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarThrower View Post
    I watched the Dudamel/Simon Bolivar Orchestra live at Royal Albert Hall.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKrs...&start_radio=1

    The second half is spectacular!
    Haven't seen that yet - thanks for the heads-up. The final movement is perhaps the greatest thing GM ever wrote imo, or at least it is u there.
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  17. #42
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    Yes, the final movement is incredibly moving. The people in the audience that night were treated to an amazing experience. I was very impressed with this young orchestra. And I loved Dudamel too. He isn't showy or flamboyant, he's just into the music, and he conducts without a score. Obviously he's a brilliant person.

  18. #43
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    Dudamel is a great conductor. He conducts a beautiful version of Ravel's Ma Mere L'oye on the Berliner Phil Digital Concert Hall - its really really great. I met a woman from Venezuela last year and she basically said that he is a modern day legend there - very well respected. He has also locked horns politically with the powers that be there.
    If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.

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  19. #44
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    I was just reading his bio. He's now a Spanish citizen. Anyway, I'm going watch more of his performances on YouTube. Some of his Mahler 8 DVD is up there.

  20. #45
    I dig me some Gus. One of my favorite composers. I got to see Tilson Thomas conduct No.1 in Ann Arbor around '98 or so. Killer. Also witnessed No.2 at the BSO. Phantom band and all. Also killer. I have the EMI complete set that came out about seven years ago. The first recording I owned was No.1 on Laserlight! (remember them?). Prague Festival Orchestra conducted by Pavel Urbanek.

    GUS!!!!!

  21. #46
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    Dudamel is a great conductor.
    Saw him do the Mahler 9th with the LA Phil two years ago. Pretty durned awesome.
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  22. #47
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    What's truly amazing is Gustavo started out sitting in the last chair of the 2nd violin section. The conductor was absent for whatever reason, so Gustavo stepped up to the podium and took the baton. At first, the rest of the orchestra balked, but he proved more than competent. The rest, as they say, is history.
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  23. #48
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    I don’t see anyone commenting on the Eliahu Inbal versions. These were my first versions I bought on cd. I find them to some of the best recorded versions and the performances are top notch.

  24. #49
    Here's my favorites in Mahler:

    First:
    None (oddly don't own this one...need to rectify that)

    Second:
    Rattle/CBSO
    Klemperer/Philharmonia

    Third:
    Bernstein/NYPO (DG)

    Fourth:
    Szell/Cleveland Orchestra (need to do more exploring in this symphony)

    Fifth:
    Barbirolli/Philharmonia

    Sixth:
    Barbirolli/Philharmonia (very polarizing performance...I love it)
    Bernstein/NYPO (Sony)

    Seventh:
    Abbado/Chicago SO

    Eighth:
    Solti/Chicago SO

    Das Lied von der Erde:
    Klemperer/Philharmonia
    Walter/VPO (1952)

    Ninth:
    Walter/VPO (1938)
    Barbirolli/Berlin PO
    Karajan/Berlin PO (1982)

    Tenth:
    Wigglesworth/BBC Wales (only one I own, so...)


    I haven't found any 21st Century Mahler recordings to fall in love with. MTT's San Francisco cycle is gorgeously recorded, but bland. In general, I like my Mahler to have a little "hair" on it--some (or a lot of) personality.

    As for sound quality, budgets are lower these days, and I really don't think that current recordings are actually better than, say, the stunningly beautiful recordings that the Philharmonia Orchestra made for EMI throughout the 1960s. Yes, the strings have a little edge, but then I think they should. Otherwise, it sounds like an "orchestral soup."

    Oh, and Bruno Walter's 1938 recording of the Ninth is simply something that every Mahler aficionado must own. Forget the sound quality (although Pristine Classical appears to have done some interesting work in their release of it), it goes places no other performance will ever reach.

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