Calling Mahler or Bruckner fans
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You are a lucky person - you own one of the best interpretations of this symphony. As far as I remember (from the CD version
) the performance is very slow and dramatic. I also have the Nr. 5 conducted by Barbirolli - great interpretation and very rich sounding.
Thank-you. I liked alot of his other work as a conductor, and the record sounded great. I have so many records that I bought over the past 30 years- and never listened to- working more than full time in a profession. Now that I'm semi-retired, I finally have time to explore this considerable collection of vinyl that I have amassed. I will keep digging in - that's why I value the insights you (and others) can offer on great performances with good sonics on vinyl.You are a lucky person - you own one of the best interpretations of this symphony. As far as I remember (from the CD version
I also have the Nr. 5 conducted by Barbirolli - great interpretation and very rich sounding.
Best,
Bill Hart
Hi
Woke up this morning and took out this from my collection and might have been my mood but this is an excellent Box Set available , of course, at Amazon, by Georg Solti... I don't think it was ever issued on Vinyl though .. Sorry :
I just listened to the #8 .. Superb ..
Recording is multi-miked for sure but doesn't deter from the performance and is honest and full range .. Dynamics are real and powerful. I would have preferred more vigor in the fortissimi but ..Hey it is what it is and very, very good...
Now off to the Symphony #5 from the same Box Set
P.S. The Box Set sessions are probably on LPs issued between 1970 to 1984 ...
Woke up this morning and took out this from my collection and might have been my mood but this is an excellent Box Set available , of course, at Amazon, by Georg Solti... I don't think it was ever issued on Vinyl though .. Sorry
:I just listened to the #8 .. Superb ..
Recording is multi-miked for sure but doesn't deter from the performance and is honest and full range .. Dynamics are real and powerful. I would have preferred more vigor in the fortissimi but ..Hey it is what it is and very, very good...
Now off to the Symphony #5 from the same Box Set
P.S. The Box Set sessions are probably on LPs issued between 1970 to 1984 ...
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My favorite hands down of the (3) M2 albums:
Mahler: Symphony No. 2; Deutsche Grammophon 423 395-2 (1988/CD); New York Philharmonic/Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY/April 1987; Leonard Bernstein (conductor); Barbara Hindricks (soprano); Christa Ludwig (alto); The Westminster Choir.
I'd love to have this one on SACD
Mahler: Symphony No. 2; Deutsche Grammophon 423 395-2 (1988/CD); New York Philharmonic/Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY/April 1987; Leonard Bernstein (conductor); Barbara Hindricks (soprano); Christa Ludwig (alto); The Westminster Choir.
I'd love to have this one on SACD
I happened to be listening to this
when I saw this thread appear. This is pretty good!
I have also enjoyed
These are all cd format.
when I saw this thread appear. This is pretty good!
I have also enjoyed
These are all cd format.
Solti with the CSO is pretty special.Mike, that's an awful lot of CD sound to put on your ears.
That Solti 8th and the 5th are the only ones I have by him.
Solti with the CSO is pretty special.
+ ! That Boxset is a must have for Mahler Fan .. Solti's with the CSO is rightly powerful, poignant , beautiful ...
I think I've heard that whole box at some point in time, but for some reason most of the time Solti and Mahler don't go together for me?
rbbert
Give it if you can, a re-listen. The weak point of this boxset is the #5 .. Kind of flat, the others are good to very good and the 8th superior..
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I'm actually pretty partial to the MTT set, but when I have enough spare change I might go for those Abbados.
On Amazon I see a set of Sym 1-7 and 2 choices for Sym 9. Are those actually two different performances for #9, and is #8 available?
On Amazon I see a set of Sym 1-7 and 2 choices for Sym 9. Are those actually two different performances for #9, and is #8 available?
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Upon checking I find that I actually have only #4 and my version of #8 is the old analog one recently redone.
For Mahler, some of my favorites (all on vinyl):
Mahler 1 - Bruno Walter Columbia Symphony - Columboa
Mahler 2 - Klemperer EMI
Mahler 3 - Horenstein Unicorn
Mahler 4 - Szell Cleveland - Epic
Mahler 5 - Barbirolli - EMI
Mahler 6 - Barbirolli - EMI
Mahler 7 - Bernstein - Columbia
Mahler 8 - Solti Chicago - Decca
Mahler 9 - Klemperer - EMI
Mahler Das Lied von der Erde (his real Sym 9) - Walter - Columbia
(N.B. Bruno Walter was Mahler's assistant conductor and premiered several of his major works)
Mahler feared that he would suffer the same curse as many composers and die after completing his 9th symphony. So he called his 9th symphony "Das Lied von der Erde". He then went on to write his 9th symphony (really his 10th) and thought he had escaped the curse. Of course, he died while writing his 10th symphony.
If you want to hear Mahler as part of a movie soundtrack - see Visconti's Death in Venice which used the hauntingly beautiful Adagietto from the 5th Symphony throughout the movie.
For a very interesting story about Mahler obsessions, read the wiki article on Gilbert Kaplan. He is a very wealthy publisher who become obsessed with Mahler's 2nd symphony and learned to conduct. He has recorded the symphony with the London Symphony (LSO) and more recently with the Vienna Philharmonic.
In 2010-11 during the Mahler Centennial, the three big London orchestras (as well as others around the world) did complete Mahler Symphony Cycles. I was able to hear parts of each of them - Jurowski conducting the LPO in the 6th, Gergiev conducting the LSO in the 5th, and a magnificent performance by Maazel conducting the Philharmonia in the 1st, paired with Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer whose second song forms the basis of the main theme of the 1 movement of the symphony.
For Bruckner I don't have suggestion for all of the symphonies. In vinyl I have the complete sets of Eugen Jochum on EMI and Haitink on Philips. For individual symphonies (again all on vinyl)
Bruckner 3 - Carl Schuricht on EMI (reasonably priced on a Testament reissue)
Bruckner 4 - Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 5 - Karajan on DGG
Bruckner 6 - Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 7 - Walter on Columbia or Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 8 - Karajan on DGG
Bruckner 9 - Schuricht on EMI (reasonable on Testament reissue - I have the original EMI ASD493 which is around 1000 GBP and I found in a Boston shop for $15.)
I am currently ripping my MTT Mahler vinyl set to 192/24. The vinyl, I believe sourced from original digital files has the largest dynamic range that I have in my collection. I also have his symphonies on SACD. I like his Mahler and have heard a few of the SFS Mahler live, including the Symphony 2.
Larry
Mahler 1 - Bruno Walter Columbia Symphony - Columboa
Mahler 2 - Klemperer EMI
Mahler 3 - Horenstein Unicorn
Mahler 4 - Szell Cleveland - Epic
Mahler 5 - Barbirolli - EMI
Mahler 6 - Barbirolli - EMI
Mahler 7 - Bernstein - Columbia
Mahler 8 - Solti Chicago - Decca
Mahler 9 - Klemperer - EMI
Mahler Das Lied von der Erde (his real Sym 9) - Walter - Columbia
(N.B. Bruno Walter was Mahler's assistant conductor and premiered several of his major works)
Mahler feared that he would suffer the same curse as many composers and die after completing his 9th symphony. So he called his 9th symphony "Das Lied von der Erde". He then went on to write his 9th symphony (really his 10th) and thought he had escaped the curse. Of course, he died while writing his 10th symphony.
If you want to hear Mahler as part of a movie soundtrack - see Visconti's Death in Venice which used the hauntingly beautiful Adagietto from the 5th Symphony throughout the movie.
For a very interesting story about Mahler obsessions, read the wiki article on Gilbert Kaplan. He is a very wealthy publisher who become obsessed with Mahler's 2nd symphony and learned to conduct. He has recorded the symphony with the London Symphony (LSO) and more recently with the Vienna Philharmonic.
In 2010-11 during the Mahler Centennial, the three big London orchestras (as well as others around the world) did complete Mahler Symphony Cycles. I was able to hear parts of each of them - Jurowski conducting the LPO in the 6th, Gergiev conducting the LSO in the 5th, and a magnificent performance by Maazel conducting the Philharmonia in the 1st, paired with Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer whose second song forms the basis of the main theme of the 1 movement of the symphony.
For Bruckner I don't have suggestion for all of the symphonies. In vinyl I have the complete sets of Eugen Jochum on EMI and Haitink on Philips. For individual symphonies (again all on vinyl)
Bruckner 3 - Carl Schuricht on EMI (reasonably priced on a Testament reissue)
Bruckner 4 - Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 5 - Karajan on DGG
Bruckner 6 - Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 7 - Walter on Columbia or Klemperer on EMI
Bruckner 8 - Karajan on DGG
Bruckner 9 - Schuricht on EMI (reasonable on Testament reissue - I have the original EMI ASD493 which is around 1000 GBP and I found in a Boston shop for $15.)
I am currently ripping my MTT Mahler vinyl set to 192/24. The vinyl, I believe sourced from original digital files has the largest dynamic range that I have in my collection. I also have his symphonies on SACD. I like his Mahler and have heard a few of the SFS Mahler live, including the Symphony 2.
Larry
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I a big Mahler fan. Bruckner too.
I believe that if you want to listen and understand Mahler you have to go with Bernstein (DG), Chailly (Decca), Bertini (EMI Classics) or Gielen (Hanssler Classics). I have all this cycles and every one of them is amazing. There are other conductors with amazing interpretations of some of the symphonies such as Fischer, Honeck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Gilbert - recent recordings benefiting from an exceptional sound too. Ozawa is also amazing conducting some of the symphonies, as is Klemperer and Haitink.
Skrowaczewski's (Arte Nova) and Klemperer's (EMI Classics) Bruckner are exquisite. You don't need anything else. Maybe some Celibidache if you want something different yet special.
I believe that if you want to listen and understand Mahler you have to go with Bernstein (DG), Chailly (Decca), Bertini (EMI Classics) or Gielen (Hanssler Classics). I have all this cycles and every one of them is amazing. There are other conductors with amazing interpretations of some of the symphonies such as Fischer, Honeck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Gilbert - recent recordings benefiting from an exceptional sound too. Ozawa is also amazing conducting some of the symphonies, as is Klemperer and Haitink.
Skrowaczewski's (Arte Nova) and Klemperer's (EMI Classics) Bruckner are exquisite. You don't need anything else. Maybe some Celibidache if you want something different yet special.
My kind of man, with a great system - welcome. I was into Mahler as much when I was your age as I am now... Have read a biography on him too.
I love playing Mahler but don't actually own many recordings... Just one, I think, probably Mahler 5. I need to pick up some of the CSO series and other greats.
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