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Mahler


alppila

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Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place but I only seem to be able to turn up threads about one or two individual symphonies - nothing approaching a comprehensive guide and nothing really even about the song cycles. Sorry if I'm being thick here but if someone could point me in the right direction or take the time to share the wealth of their experience, I'd be grateful!

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Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place but I only seem to be able to turn up threads about one or two individual symphonies - nothing approaching a comprehensive guide and nothing really even about the song cycles. Sorry if I'm being thick here but if someone could point me in the right direction or take the time to share the wealth of their experience, I'd be grateful!

since you've joined exactly a year ago today ( :party: ) you should know by now that we prefer it when people dig out threads from several years ago which are vaguely related to post their inquiries! it helps us keep the information together :P

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These are the recordings I own, FWIW.

Symphony #1 NY Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein

Symphony #2 'Resurrection' Philharmonia Orch. and Chorus, Otto Klemperer

Symphony #4 Chicago Symphony, Fritz Reiner

Symphony #5 New Philharmonia Orch. , Sir John Barbirolli

Symphony #7 Chicago Symphony Orch., Claudio Abbado

If I had to pick one single recording, choose Symphony #2. An epic performance.

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Some favorites of mine in more or less chronological order:

1

Haitink/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

2

Walter/New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra London

Haitink/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

3

Horenstein/London Symphony Orchestra

Haitink/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

4

Szell/Cleveland Orchestra

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

5

Barbirolli/New Philharmonia Orchestra London

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

6

Szell/Cleveland Orchestra

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

7

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

9

Klemperer/New Philharmonia Orchestra London

Giulini/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (second live recording)

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

Edited by J.A.W.
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  • 5 months later...

With some trepidation, I'm bumping this thread up. I will confess I don't "get" Mahler yet. This doesn't mean I haven't liked what I've heard, it's just that his music hasn't clicked in that ahhhh! way yet. But I'm not giving up.

If you had to recommend a single disc of any of his symphonies for a newbie, what would you choose?

Any words on how/where to gain access to this composer's world would be interesting too.

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Wanting to get into Mahler and not knowing where to start I picked this up because it was in a desert island picks list by Brad Mehldau.

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 / Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker

31YRFZPYSEL._AA180_.jpg

I don't have other 5ths to compare it to but its pretty epic to my ears. While recorded in 73 the remaster of it is excellent.

The louder the better with this one!

Edited by WorldB3
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Wanting to get into Mahler and not knowing where to start I picked this up because it was in a desert island picks list by Brad Mehldau.

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 / Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker

31YRFZPYSEL._AA180_.jpg

I don't have other 5ths to compare it to but its pretty epic to my ears. While recorded in 73 the remaster of it is excellent.

The louder the better with this one!

I have that one and it works for me.

I wouldn't get too worked up by the 'who recorded the best version' school of classical music comparison. It always seems to me that there's as much projection as revelation going on there. Fine, if you want to go into that sort of detail, but not a prerequisite of enjoying the music.

I've always focussed on the composer, rarely buying alternative versions; I'd rather spend the time/money on exploring someone/thing else. Where I do have several versions I tend to find I enjoy the ones I started with most...not always.

I 've returned to this set over the years:

mahlersymphoniesKubelik.jpg

[The title is misleading - it only has the first movement of the 10th; don't be put off by the fact that the existing full 10ths are posthumous reconstructions. The music therein is stunning!].

I don't make any claims for it in relation to other versions - it's where I started on LP and where I've ended up back at. Somehow the different speeds of the versions I bought on CD bothered me. I'm not saying Kubelik is right - I believe he adopted some quite swift approaches in order to fit things on disc. It's just how it's lodged in my head now.

Edited by Bev Stapleton
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With some trepidation, I'm bumping this thread up. I will confess I don't "get" Mahler yet. This doesn't mean I haven't liked what I've heard, it's just that his music hasn't clicked in that ahhhh! way yet. But I'm not giving up.

Any words on how/where to gain access to this composer's world would be interesting too.

Many good recommendations above; I'm immersed deeply into the Kubelik set that Bev mentioned at the moment. Also, on Monday I found this:

41R9HDS8A7L._SS500_.jpg

a very good insight into what made the man tick.

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Kubelik is probably a "safe" deal but I have huge problems with No. 1. Way too speedy. Horenstein is a favorite (Vox/mono first, Unicorn/stereo next).

Might come back and complain about others later but the first caught my attention.

I like the tempi in the Kubelik First. His speedboat Sixth is the one that's too fast for me.

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I don't know what the situation is now but back in the 80s/90s the First was the one Kubelik Mahler that used to get frequently cited as a top recommendation.

The Sixth is quick - again, the desire to get whole movements onto a single LP side, I suspect (my LP had it spread ovr 3 sides with the Adagio from the 10th on the fourth side). The strange thing is that having heard that version first, it's how it's lodged in my head - the opening march in particular. I have the Karajan version and it always seems to plod for me - I stress this is no comment on that or other versions, which are probably correct. Just how my brain has been influenced by my initial hearing.

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With some trepidation, I'm bumping this thread up. I will confess I don't "get" Mahler yet. This doesn't mean I haven't liked what I've heard, it's just that his music hasn't clicked in that ahhhh! way yet. But I'm not giving up.

Any words on how/where to gain access to this composer's world would be interesting too.

Many good recommendations above; I'm immersed deeply into the Kubelik set that Bev mentioned at the moment. Also, on Monday I found this:

41R9HDS8A7L._SS500_.jpg

a very good insight into what made the man tick.

De La Grange wrote a huge multi-volume bio of Mahler. I bought the first and read it c.1980 - it took years for the translation of the second volumeto come out and I seem to recall they reformatted it with overlaps.

Maybe I should track down a complete set and save it for retirement.

Mahler seems to bring out the elephantine in writers - Donald Mitchell has written a series of exhaustive analytical books on Mahler. I've always been scared off by the 'flyshit'!

Edited by Bev Stapleton
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Have been enjoying the recent reissue of Maderna's Mahler 9 and the Ondine recording of the 6th. Now I'm looking for strong recordings of the other symphonies and the song cycles. Can anyone help?

Hi.

Here is a Mahler overview by Tony Duggan:

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/Mahler/index.html

Here are some favs off the top my head:

1.

Jansons: RCO on their RCO Live (SACD)

Tilson-Thomas: SFS (SACD)

2.

Klemperer: EMI NPO or live Bravarian Radio Sym. (out of print maybe available on Arkivmusic.com as CD-R?)

Zinman: RCA (SACD) Zurich Tonhalle Orc.

3.

Zinman: RCA (SACD) Zurich Tonhalle Orc

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam (SACD)

Bernstien: NYP on Sony.

4.

Szell: Cleveland

Kletzki: EMI Philharmonia Orc.

Zinman:(SACD) Zurich Tonhalle Orc

5.

Bernstein: VPO on DG

Solti. Chicago (1st one)

Barshai: German Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on Brilliant classics

6.

Jansons: RCO on their RCO Live (SACD)

Klaus Tennstedt LPO : live recording available from Japan, studio is good too.

Bernstein: NYP or VPO

7.

Daniel Barenboim BSO on Warner classics

Vladimir Ashkenazy Czech Phil. on Exton (SACD) from Japan.

Bernstein: NYP. There is an SACD in Japan.

8.

Rattle

Solti

Bernstein--recording soso--SACD from Japan better.

9.

Chailly/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam (SACD)

Barbirolli Berlin on EMI

10.

Rattle Berlin

Sanderling

Das Lied von der Erde

Klemperer EMI

Kletzki EMI --there is a twofer with #4

Bernstein: VPO on DECCA

For a box set get the Bertini on EMI. His readings rank up there with the best esp. the 8th and Das Lied.

Michael

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  • 6 years later...

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