I'm curious to hear the new Haitink (who hasn't yet, in my view, quite nailed the work). His earliest Concertgebouw reading, the one Oliver mentions, leaves me cold - often taken too quickly for my liking (especially the third movement) and I am not terribly keen on Ameling's voice (too much vibrato for my taste and a tone that grates somewhat on these ears). But each to their own. The Christmas Matinee, while very fine in places, seemed to suffer slightly from technical oddities.


Perhaps the disc wasn't helped by the fact that DAB has been turned down to 160 <irate smiley> which I'm sure hurts anything, but I didn't feel grabbed by the Dudamel Mahler at all on CD Review this morning.

I find recordings of the 5th often turn in a thrilling and gripping reading of the first two movements, only to lose their way a little later on (Rattle in Berlin and Haitink's live Concertgebouw are two examples that spring to mind), and while those comparisons are perhaps a little unfair (being two of the finest professional orchestras in in the world), but the Dudamel reading doesn't seem to approach anything like the passion they bring in the opening movement.

bws

That's interesting, tonybob, I'm working through the Tennstedt Mahler set and I just finished no.3. I thought no.2 was particularly strong (and this is my least favourite of the symphonies). I was then distracted by some other things, but sounds like I ought to get back to it now.

And Opilec - I heard the Barbirolli 9th for the first time just last year, and I agree with you - at the moment it's up there with Maderna as the one I go to first.

Actually I haven't heard the Boulez 9th for a long time. Must remember to reacquaint.

Good question and I dont know the answer.

Similar query arises over Bruckner 8.

An intriguing question.
There's an interesting article here written in 2001 after his terrible illness:

"He also mentioned that he loved Mahler's Lied von der Erde and did not share the skepticism shown in some quarters. Yet he did not seem to be utterly exuberant about it, and said he might contemplate a performance of the final Abschied (Farewell) on its own. He did not consider the spontaneous idea of combining the Abschied and the introductory Adagio from Mahler's Tenth to be at all outlandish. Abbado was only vaguely familiar with the early work Das Klagende Lied, but at this point he asked quite frankly what others thought of it, and said that the suggestion of working on it was worth considering."

In April 2004, Abbado did conduct the Abschied in a GMYO concert: (which Bryn spotted too!  )

Gustav Mahler, Lied von der Erde (Last part: Abschied),
Anna Larsson, Mezzosoprano
Gustav Mahler, Symphony n°9
Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Yes, I'd forgotten that disc too!

I can happily report that the new Zinman Mahler 3 is very good indeed; tremendous playing, especially the third movement with the post-horn solo, which is perfectly 'placed'. Impressive sound, as experienced in the first two issues in this promising cycle.

Hum! It appears to be a bit more complicated than that, ollie. In the Finale of the 6th the lower strings have semibreves towards the start, and then change to minims later. The upper strings seem to be consistently minim-ised.

th the 8th and 9th Sypms, dosent mahler use more of the sustaining notes than ever before, especially in the final 'chorus Mysticus' of no.8

Richard, I refer you toe the get-out clause used by Norrington in part justification for his interpolation of "Blunine" between the first and second movements of the revised Symphony no. 1. He cites Mahler's comment to Mengelberg, "Ja, verändern Sie die Musik weiter - auch nach meinem Tod!".