Mahler 4 - Roth -essential purchase ?

[Barbirollians]

Anyone heard it ? Seems to be being presented as a new library choice and essential purchase . If you have heard it what do you think ? I am a bit cautious of FXR’s records after his disappointing Symphonie Fantastique.

[Bryn]

Anyone heard it ? Seems to be being presented as a new library choice and essential purchase . If you have heard it what do you think ? I am a bit cautious of FXR’s records after his disappointing Symphonie Fantastique.

I've imported it from QOBUZ and am planning to listen this evening.

[pastoralguy]

We heard Roth and Les Siecles play Stravinsky’s Le Sacre last week and they were absolutely outstanding! Yes, I’ve wondered about that Mahler 4 too but I may wait until it hits the second hand market since I have so many recordings of that work.

[Bryn]

I'm lovin' it but expect others to baulk at the portamenti and bowing techniques employed (plus a lot else, I don't wonder). All clearly presented by the recording. I need to listen again, soon. There's life after Szell, after all.

[HighlandDougie]

I'm lovin' it but expect others to baulk at the portamenti and bowing techniques employed (plus a lot else, I don't wonder). All clearly presented by the recording. I need to listen again, soon. There's life after Szell, after all.

Me too. I'm biased as I have a very high regard for F-X R (and find his Berlioz SF anything but disappointing). Like PG, having been thrilled by hearing Les Siècles live in Edinburgh recently and having been much looking forward to this release, it lives up to my expectations in pretty much every way. For lovers of Lenny and of the VPO, say, in Mahler, it might well not be to your taste but, if you are interested in Mahler performance practice as in how it might - but not should - have sounded in 1900 (and, it has to be said, can appreciate a very fine performance), it is in my un-humble opinion, a "must-hear". Sabine Devielhe is an excellent soloist (no surprise there). Kubelik for the 2020s. Those portamenti!

[cloughie]

I'm lovin' it but expect others to baulk at the portamenti and bowing techniques employed (plus a lot else, I don't wonder). All clearly presented by the recording. I need to listen again, soon. There's life after Szell, after all.

Maybe after Szell but VPO Abbado is the one to beat for me - but there are those who think movt 3 to slow, or maybe with too smooth a string sound - I just think it sublime! Is Roth’s interpretation and sound what Mahler would have heard when it was first performed? I have yet to hear the whole symphony so will not prejudge the full performance!

[Barbirollians]

I liked the sounds the orchestra made but thought the Symphonie Fantastique dully conducted.

If one wants to hear it how it might be most likely to have sounded in its early days then surely best to listen to Bruno Walter ?

[cloughie]

I liked the sounds the orchestra made but thought the Symphonie Fantastique dully conducted.

If one wants to hear it his it might be most likely to have sounded I. It’s early days then surely best to listen to Bruno Walter ?

VPO? NYPO? or…

[Barbirollians]

Either !

[RichardB]

If one wants to hear it how it might be most likely to have sounded in its early days then surely best to listen to Bruno Walter?

Indeed. But I don't think we should think of Roth's recording (which I haven't heard yet although by the end of today I will have done) exclusively in those terms. The formulation after all is historically informed, not historically accurate. Roth, I think, is a sensitive and individual Mahler interpreter in his own right, and of course he didn't exist 120 years ago. What he's offering is a new interpretation that uses instruments and playing techniques in a way that was current in 1900 even while acknowledging that there would have been far less standardisation in orchestral sound then than there is now (or even than there was when Walter was making his recordings).

[Bryn]

Indeed. But I don't think we should think of Roth's recording (which I haven't heard yet although by the end of today I will have done) exclusively in those terms. The formulation after all is historically informed, not historically accurate. Roth, I think, is a sensitive and individual Mahler interpreter in his own right, and of course he didn't exist 120 years ago. What he's offering is a new interpretation that uses instruments and playing techniques in a way that was current in 1900 even while acknowledging that there would have been far less standardisation in orchestral sound then than there is now (or even than there was when Walter was making his recordings).

Roth's recordings of the 1893-4 Hamburg Version of 'Titan' with Les Siècles, the 1st Symphony with the SWRSO, plus the 3rd and 5th with the Gürzenich-Orchester all demonstrate that he's a fine Mahlerian with a fine feel for the interaction of instrumental timbres. I look forward to prospective recordings of the other Mahler symphonies and song cycles.

[RichardB]

Roth's recordings of the 1893-4 Hamburg Version of 'Titan' with Les Siècles, the 1st Symphony with the SWRSO, plus the 3rd and 5th with the Gürzenich-Orchester all demonstrate that he's a fine Mahlerian with a fine feel for the interaction of instrumental timbres. I look forward to prospective recordings of the other Mahler symphonies and song cycles.

Exactly. The 3rd is particularly good I think.

[richardfinegold]

It’s in my Qobuz queue after I read the Gramophone article devoted to it yesterday. I can report back in a few days. I am awaiting the live Karajan from Norpete with more interest, I have to say

[Bryn]

Exactly. The 3rd is particularly good I think.

The earlier recording of the 5th might not represent his current views regarding the Adagietto, at least I hope they don't, he directed a fairly slow tempo for a sometime HIPPster.

[makropulos]

I've just heard this all the way through for the first time, have enjoyed it enormously and look forward to a more careful listen in due course. Lovely pacing, some delightful instrumental details (and generally attractive sonorities, especially in the woodwind) and an excellent soprano too. First rate and fascinating all in one.

Fast becoming as predictable as the weather (or more so), Hurwitz has just posted a poisonous review of 'Roth's Rotten Mahler Fourth', which will surely encourage any doubters to give it a try.