BaL 23.09.23 - Mahler: Symphony no. 8

[Bryn]

A further version to add to the list, which I have in a box of all Mahler symphonies with BRSO:
Alessandra Marc, Sharon Sweet, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Vesselina Kasarova, Ning Liang, Ben Heppner, Sergej Leiferkus, Rene Pape, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Sudfunkchor Stuttgart, Tolzer Knabenchor, Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Colin Davis (recorded 1995).

Yes, recorded 'live' in July 1995. That performance has, I think. turned up on TtN a few times. I recall that on one such occasion, and overrun of the precious programme led to the broadcast of the Mahler starting part way through Part 1.

[Barbirollians]

Ah yes - I have Bernstein but have not listened to all that CBS Mahler box yet. I agree about the Mitropoulos sadly close to unlistenable .

[Bryn]

Ah yes - I have Bernstein but have not listened to all that CBS Mahler box yet. I agree about the Mitropoulos sadly close to unlistenable .

I first had the Mitropoulos crammed onto on a single LP, which, of course, meant further degradation of the sound.

[smittims]

I think the Solti was a 'maximum effort' for Decca so it's not surprising it's often been praised, and it was the version selected in Universal''s 'people's choice ' poll. But I've always thought there are moments in the Bernstein LSO/CBS recording that remain unsurpassed, specially the transition into the final chorus, ineffably moving . I've read that there were big problems in the sessions , and the make-up of the choir had to be altered, so it may have been a sense of relief to complete it. Bernstein himself copied that passage in the culmination of his 'Chichester Psalms' (which also has a Mahler-8-type opening with a massive tonic chord).

[RichardB]

The recording I know best is Kubelík which of course has a fantastic vocal lineup, although I've come to prefer the Tenstedt which has more of a sense of space and more detail within it. Actually though I don't think I've ever heard a recording of this work that I disliked (that would include Solti, Bernstein, Abbado, Boulez, Sinopoli and Gielen).

[Mandryka]

I quite like this symphony. Someone once gave me a recording of Boulez playing it in a prom, July 25 1975. It is GOAT.

[silvestrione]

I quite like this symphony. Someone once gave me a recording of Boulez playing it in a prom, July 25 1975. It is GOAT.

What, single-handedly? Some performance indeed....

[Cockney Sparrow]

I quite like this symphony. Someone once gave me a recording of Boulez playing it in a prom, July 25 1975. It is GOAT.

I've tried to get to any RAH performance of Mahler 8 in the last 50 years. Colin Davis had a sure interpretation, Maazel was disastrous (pulled it about) and Boulez was as good as any - and I was present that night. I was surprised at the 1989 performance of the centenary of the ABRSM, given by forces of the four Royal Schools of Music - surprised byt he diction of the chorus which was extraordinarily clear – never heard before or after from a large chorus in the RAH (and otherwise the performance was more than adequate).

I wasn't aware, until Bryn's post, that the Boulez had been available as a recording:

Sorry to find this one appears to be no longer available. I must be sure to back mine up. Warts and all, I much prefer it to his later Berlin performances/recordings (studio and live video).

I've hit my JPEG "upload limit" so to see the image of the CD which I had to delete from the quote, look at Bryn's post on 11 September at 13:33hrs.

[smittims]

Yes, that Boulez Prom was very good, but even better, in my view , was his 9th with the New York Philharmonic later in the same season.

[Alison]

It seemed extra easy to enjoy virtually every extract played; good descriptions of the music from GM. No new purchases for me as, like many, I have all those shortlisted.

Must get round to listening to LPO/Jurowski.

[richardfinegold]

Pretty certain Abbado was chosen last time.

Did Abbado not record this as part of his Lucerne cycle? I was just checking Blu Rays of that cycle, which I haven’t listened to in few years, and there isn’t an Eighth.
This is the one Mahler Symphony that I admire more than I love. Solti was my only recording for years, and it is still the one I turn to, although I have accumulated many others as parts of complete cycles

[Alison]

Did Abbado not record this as part of his Lucerne cycle? I was just checking Blu Rays of that cycle, which I haven’t listened to in few years, and there isn’t an Eighth.
This is the one Mahler Symphony that I admire more than I love. Solti was my only recording for years, and it is still the one I turn to, although I have accumulated many others as parts of complete cycles

No Eighth from Lucerne sadly.

[edashtav]

It seemed extra easy to enjoy virtually every extract played; good descriptions of the music from GM. No new purchases for me as, like many, I have all those shortlisted.

Must get round to listening to LPO/Jurowski.

A useful and sound BaL which reminded me why I neither own nor lust for any of the recorded versions.

For me, the work is akin to Poster Art. Similar works to be avoided include Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony and R.Strauss’s Alpine Symphony.0f the latter,a friend pointed out a witty remark in a recent Bachtrack’s newsletter:
“Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony is a work few organisations could afford to take on tour because of the sheer number of players on the platform and offstage – as much a job creation scheme as an orchestration.“

[Goon525]

It’s clear that this season’s BaL has been renamed ‘Building an Abbado Library’ - he’s running at 100% so far. Doubtless someone will turn up a recording he made of the Schumann piano quartet so he can keep it up next week.

[RichardB]

Similar works to be avoided include Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony and R.Strauss’s Alpine Symphony

Really, Ed? because (IMO) both of those works suffer from being distended far beyond any duration their somewhat slight materials can animate, whereas Mahler's 8th is almost literally bursting with memorable ideas, in a state of constant evolution, while at the same time embodying a vast sense of perspective between massed and delicate sonorities, and is much more subtly scored than either of those pieces (unless you count Strauss's farmyard impressions) and visionary in a way that Strauss couldn't manage and Shostakovich wasn't concerned with. But I think (though this was millennia ago) that it was the first Mahler symphony I ever heard a recording of, and those experiences cast a long shadow.