On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 08:19:27 -0800 skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> wrote:
How about opinions on Mahler, specifically complete symphonic collections.
Solti is the clear winner, with Mazel up there as well, although I like Bernstein's DG recording of the 5th (and I'm kind of a 5th guy).
Do you like Maazel's 5? I'm still really on the fence about that one after years of trying. Bernstein's DG 5 is precisely one of the examples to which I referred a moment ago, an improvement over the Sony version. The same cannot be said for the DG 4, and not just because of Bernstein's perverse decision to use a boy soprano in the final movement.
Karajan (whose Mahler I don't like as a rule).
With the exception of an otherworldly 9 that he recorded right before he died, I'm with you all the way on this one.
Bruno Walter's recordings don't suck either.
Hell, yeah. I grew up on Walter's 1, which still rates well. And his 9, recorded just before WWII broke out (and recently issued for a pittance on Naxos) is magnificent, botched notes, sloppy attacks and all. Sounds like the end of the world, which, for all Walter knew, it was.
Gilbert Kaplan has conducted, I think, the 2nd over and over again. The last time he did, he packaged his symphony with recordings of the piano rolls Mahler made of his own pieces. Pretty interesting.
And more impressive still when you remember that Kaplan was a financier who taught himself to read music and conduct specifically so he could do that one piece, and has since become one of the world'd leading experts on it. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - Beethoven, Violin Sonata No. 1 - Dumay / Pires (DG)
on 11/26/02 9:50 AM, Steve Smith at ssmith36@sprynet.com wrote:
On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 08:19:27 -0800 skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> wrote:
How about opinions on Mahler, specifically complete symphonic collections.
Solti is the clear winner, with Mazel up there as well, although I like Bernstein's DG recording of the 5th (and I'm kind of a 5th guy).
Do you like Maazel's 5? I'm still really on the fence about that one after years of trying. Bernstein's DG 5 is precisely one of the examples to which I referred a moment ago, an improvement over the Sony version. The same cannot be said for the DG 4, and not just because of Bernstein's perverse decision to use a boy soprano in the final movement.
I don't love his 5th the way I do Bernstein's, but his 1st was one of my first Mahler records, and was probably the one that most revealed to me what about Mahler was so damn good. As for Lenny's penchant for boy sopranos, "perverse" may cover the whole decision-making process.
Karajan (whose Mahler I don't like as a rule).
With the exception of an otherworldly 9 that he recorded right before he died, I'm with you all the way on this one.
have seen it but never picked it up. Now I'm curious.
Bruno Walter's recordings don't suck either.
Hell, yeah. I grew up on Walter's 1, which still rates well. And his 9, recorded just before WWII broke out (and recently issued for a pittance on Naxos) is magnificent, botched notes, sloppy attacks and all. Sounds like the end of the world, which, for all Walter knew, it was.
I grew up on Ormandy's Beethoven, which to me seemed dry. Then I heard Water's, and it kind of snapped me. His was among the first Mahler I got, and there is something so rebellious about the sloppiness of it that I responded with real glee. Still do. Definitely a solar plexus approach to something that's usually done too brainy.
Gilbert Kaplan has conducted, I think, the 2nd over and over again. The last time he did, he packaged his symphony with recordings of the piano rolls Mahler made of his own pieces. Pretty interesting.
And more impressive still when you remember that Kaplan was a financier who taught himself to read music and conduct specifically so he could do that one piece, and has since become one of the world'd leading experts on it.
Except that he's set himself up as the arbiter of all things Mahler. I have to give it up to him tho for his interpretations of the 2. He understands what the hell he should be after in the piece, and can get an orchestra to actually do that. As for teaching oneself to conduct, as a self-taught occasional conductor, I have to wonder why anybody wants to conduct. I find it the most unpleasant experience, completely draining, and generally unsatisfying, even when the performance goes as I'd hoped. OTTH, when I've left the job to someone else, all those adjectives apply all the more forcefully. sh
Some Beethoven I can deal with: http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_858257.html * David Beardsley * http://biink.com * http://mp3.com/davidbeardsley
participants (3)
-
David Beardsley -
skip Heller -
Steve Smith