Mahler Symphony no. 9

[Thropplenoggin]

It's a symphony that has always bewitched me, but it does require a special way to bring out all its aching (and often ugly) beauty.

I learned the work through Ancerl/CPO, went on to buy Klemperer/PO and Barbirolli/BPO. Listening to the latter again recently, I was struck by the way my concentration wandered mid-way through the 1st Movement, how the timpani sounded more like muffled bongos, and how harshly sibilant the cymbal crashes sounded. Still, the final adagio remains a potential 'reference' movement - not over-egged and slow as many modern versions, but still retaining lyricism and poignancy in its swifter tempo.

I still felt I hadn't found the 'perfect' version, so I have been streaming lots of other versions, old and new, to see if any revealed anything new to me. After much listening, the two that opened up a whole new vision of the work in terms of its sonic scope and emotions were:

1) Walter/Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony)
2) Haitink/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips)

Both have long been praised (the Haitink by Deryck Cooke) and rightly so. Wonderful interpretations and recordings.

I'm still interested in a version in modern sonics, and look forward to Ivan Fischer's account one day with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as his Mahler cycle has often proved insightful (but not always - his generally excellent 2 suffers from a terrible alto in 'Urlicht' who also kills the choral ending for me ). Nott's version is marred by a sneeze and dropped score in the final adagio, quite shattering the tension of the movement built up until that point.

Over to you.

[pastoralguy]

Mrs. PG and I are going to hear the Concertgebouw Orchestra play it under Daniele Gatti during the EIF and I've started listening to various cds of it. No conclusions yet but It's not a piece I can listen to too often. (Having written that I do like Herbie and the Berlin Phil. - possibly the greatest recording he ever made?!)

[Bryn]

Without a doubt, the Stuttgarters following Roger Norrington's direction, though it's hard to choose between the commercial CD and the DVD-R derived from the later Prom performance broadcast.

[LaurieWatt]

It's a symphony that has always bewitched me, but it does require a special way to bring out all its aching (and often ugly) beauty.

I learned the work through Ancerl/CPO, went on to buy Klemperer/PO and Barbirolli/BPO. Listening to the latter again recently, I was struck by the way my concentration wandered mid-way through the 1st Movement, how the timpani sounded more like muffled bongos, and how harshly sibilant the cymbal crashes sounded. Still, the final adagio remains a potential 'reference' movement - not over-egged and slow as many modern versions, but still retaining lyricism and poignancy in its swifter tempo.

I still felt I hadn't found the 'perfect' version, so I have been streaming lots of other versions, old and new, to see if any revealed anything new to me. After much listening, the two that opened up a whole new vision of the work in terms of its sonic scope and emotions were:

1) Walter/Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony)
2) Haitink/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips)

Both have long been praised (the Haitink by Deryck Cooke) and rightly so. Wonderful interpretations and recordings.

I'm still interested in a version in modern sonics, and look forward to Ivan Fischer's account one day with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as his Mahler cycle has often proved insightful (but not always - his generally excellent 2 suffers from a terrible alto in 'Urlicht' who also kills the choral ending for me ). Nott's version is marred by a sneeze and dropped score in the final adagio, quite shattering the tension of the movement built up until that point.

Over to you.

Very interesting. As you say it is very difficult to bring off. At the beginning the symphony staggers into existence like an old man getting out of bed and then covers the widest gamut of his life, from banality albeit sardonic, through to the most intense of emotion in the last movement. I will be very interested to see what everyone likes or not.

My favourites are:
Solti with the LSO in the late '60's on Decca - a very fine performance with well judged speed relationships and a state of the art recording for its time.
I have a radio recording I love of Kurt Sanderling with the then BBC Northern SO. Also one in the LPO archive with Sanderling which is not well recorded although a fine performance.
I also love both Karajan in his last manifestation and Abbado from Lucerne although the end of the first movement, with Abbado, is far too fast c/f Karajan in the same passage. The horn and flute are supposed to float and intertwine around each other not have a race to the end.

I heard Bruno Maderna do it at a Prom which I believe is now available on Legends or something like that. The performance was so slow I thought it was going to stop, especially in the last movement. BM, poor man, looked dead on his feet and, indeed, was only a few days later.

[clive heath]

Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw performed this work at a 1970 prom ( the same year as their recording ) and you can hear all but the first few bars on

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/vinyl.php

[Thropplenoggin]

Very interesting. As you say it is very difficult to bring off. At the beginning the symphony staggers into existence like an old man getting out of bed and then covers the widest gamut of his life, from banality albeit sardonic, through to the most intense of emotion in the last movement. I will be very interested to see what everyone likes or not.

My favourites are:
Solti with the LSO in the late '60's on Decca - a very fine performance with well judged speed relationships and a state of the art recording for its time.
I have a radio recording I love of Kurt Sanderling with the then BBC Northern SO. Also one in the LPO archive with Sanderling which is not well recorded although a fine performance.
I also love both Karajan in his last manifestation and Abbado from Lucerne although the end of the first movement, with Abbado, is far too fast c/f Karajan in the same passage. The horn and flute are supposed to float and intertwine around each other not have a race to the end.

I heard Bruno Maderna do it at a Prom which I believe is now available on Legends or something like that. The performance was so slow I thought it was going to stop, especially in the last movement. BM, poor man, looked dead on his feet and, indeed, was only a few days later.

A wonderful synopsis of the work, Laurie.

There is another Sanderling account with the Berliner-Sinfonie Orchester on Berlin Classics which is also worth a listen. His account of the 10th with the same forces is, for many, a reference recording of that piece. Both are available on this disc, along with DLvdE - though I don't know the merits of the latter.

[verismissimo]

The one that I tend to return to is the Columbia/Walter.

[Petrushka]

It's Haitink and the Concertgebouw for me. Recorded in 1969 it still sounds as if it was set down yesterday. Haitink's remake with the Bavarian Radio SO is every bit as fine though the very special sound of the Concertgebouw gives the earlier version the edge. I haven't yet caught Clive Heath's Prom transfer; what a pity the first few bars are missing!

Karajan's live 1982 account is also a very fine performance though I much prefer the sound given to Haitink in 1969. Karajan's earlier account shouldn't be dismissed either. I'm sure I recall reading somewhere that this was done in one take!

Try also Bernstein and the BPO in a live 1979 performance. The electric atmosphere is palpable. Has anyone tried a recent live Bernstein issue with the Israel PO? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symph...=IM1JYNTQ8P8H9

[Barbirollians]

Walter( both 1938 and 1961 ) and Barbirolli - modern version Abbado.

[amateur51]

There's a 'live' performance conducted by Barbirolli that I remember enjoying enormously decades ago. I haven't listened to it again since.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-9-RAI-Torino-1960/dp/B004WZ7A7A/ref=sr_1_16?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370170617&sr=1-16&keywords=mahler+symphony+no+9+Barbirolli

I've enjoyed the BBCPhil/Sanderling too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-9-Gustav/dp/B000024K15/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370170716&sr=1-4&keywords=mahler+symphony+no+9+Sanderling

Has anyone heard the LAPO/Dudamel?

I know this is repetition on my part but I feel this symphony is one best encountered at a concert.

[richardfinegold]

It's a symphony that has always bewitched me, but it does require a special way to bring out all its aching (and often ugly) beauty.

I learned the work through Ancerl/CPO, went on to buy Klemperer/PO and Barbirolli/BPO. Listening to the latter again recently, I was struck by the way my concentration wandered mid-way through the 1st Movement, how the timpani sounded more like muffled bongos, and how harshly sibilant the cymbal crashes sounded. Still, the final adagio remains a potential 'reference' movement - not over-egged and slow as many modern versions, but still retaining lyricism and poignancy in its swifter tempo.

I still felt I hadn't found the 'perfect' version, so I have been streaming lots of other versions, old and new, to see if any revealed anything new to me. After much listening, the two that opened up a whole new vision of the work in terms of its sonic scope and emotions were:

1) Walter/Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony)
2) Haitink/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips)

Both have long been praised (the Haitink by Deryck Cooke) and rightly so. Wonderful interpretations and recordings.

I'm still interested in a version in modern sonics, and look forward to Ivan Fischer's account one day with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as his Mahler cycle has often proved insightful (but not always - his generally excellent 2 suffers from a terrible alto in 'Urlicht' who also kills the choral ending for me ). Nott's version is marred by a sneeze and dropped score in the final adagio, quite shattering the tension of the movement built up until that point.

Over to you.

I agree with you about the Barbirolli. I also learned this piece via the Ancerl recording and i still think that it holds up very well. Walter is very special.
In "Modern" sonics (actually the latest Walter remastering sounds pretty damn good) I have MTT/SFSO in SACD and on Blu RayI have both Abbado/ Lucerne and Luisi/Concertgebouw (I've only listened to the latter once). Abbado and MTT are both very good, but I prefer the remastered Bersnstein/NYP. i haven't heard barenboim, but I attended a Concert used in his recording (wthe concert was marking his stepping down as MD in Chicago) and it was fantastic.

[Stanfordian]

It's a symphony that has always bewitched me, but it does require a special way to bring out all its aching (and often ugly) beauty.

I learned the work through Ancerl/CPO, went on to buy Klemperer/PO and Barbirolli/BPO. Listening to the latter again recently, I was struck by the way my concentration wandered mid-way through the 1st Movement, how the timpani sounded more like muffled bongos, and how harshly sibilant the cymbal crashes sounded. Still, the final adagio remains a potential 'reference' movement - not over-egged and slow as many modern versions, but still retaining lyricism and poignancy in its swifter tempo.

I still felt I hadn't found the 'perfect' version, so I have been streaming lots of other versions, old and new, to see if any revealed anything new to me. After much listening, the two that opened up a whole new vision of the work in terms of its sonic scope and emotions were:

1) Walter/Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony)
2) Haitink/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips)

Both have long been praised (the Haitink by Deryck Cooke) and rightly so. Wonderful interpretations and recordings.

I'm still interested in a version in modern sonics, and look forward to Ivan Fischer's account one day with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as his Mahler cycle has often proved insightful (but not always - his generally excellent 2 suffers from a terrible alto in 'Urlicht' who also kills the choral ending for me ). Nott's version is marred by a sneeze and dropped score in the final adagio, quite shattering the tension of the movement built up until that point.

Over to you.

Hello Thropplenoggin,

In Mahler's Symphony No.9 in D Major I still highly regard the Barbirolli with the Berliner Philharmoniker recorded in 1964 at the Jesus Christ Church in Berlin/Dahlem. I have played movements of this at a number of Recorded Music Societies and it has always received praise.

I love the recently released version by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink recorded live in 2011 at the Hercules Hall, Munich on BR Klassik 900113.

In addition I also admire the version with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Leonard Bernstein recorded live 1979 at the Philharmonie, Berlin on Deutsche Grammophon 477 8620.

Then there are also two more very fine recordings with the Berliner Philharmoniker the one under Karajan and also under Abbado.

[BBMmk2]

Is the Abbado/Lucerne Blu Ray, is it available only in that format?

[Petrushka]

Is the Abbado/Lucerne Blu Ray, is it available only in that format?

No, I have the DVD. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symph...bbado+mahler+9

[Barbirollians]

Is the Abbado/Lucerne Blu Ray, is it available only in that format?

Yes I am afraid so like many of his Lucerne discs . The BPO 9th is very fine though too.