BaL 18.06.16 - Mahler: Symphony no. 5

[Barbirollians]

The horn notes were restored on the Barbirolli by Nicholas Busch about 20 years later.

I suspect I am much less worried about a slowish finale than such a lugubrious Adagietto as Haitink's.

[LaurieWatt]

A disappointing BAL - Barbirolli appeared to be ignored as was the 1947 complete Walter . Worthy winner though. These twofers seem particularly ill-suited to cases where there are masses of recordings .

Oh dear, another lazy William Mival BAL - remember his Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony. He blithely states that while there are lots of good recordings he should only cover the very best, then compares a number of less than best (LSO/Gergiev) and misses out some classics. Barbirolli - no missing horn notes on the GROC these days Petrushka, they were put back, Tennstedt's two recordings, the live one of which should certainly have been a contender, Chailly, to name just four.

Frankly, this BAL was a disgrace. I love the chosen Bernstein recording but it is not a BAL choice; it is far too eccentric. A good BAL is like a journey out of which emerges a sensible choice, whether one agrees with it or not. This felt as if it had been cobbled together in the car park after the journey because half the best recordings had been left at home.

[HighlandDougie]

Both the Death in Venice and Brief Encounter examples have cast very long shadows. Recordings of Mahler 5 made since the Visconti film show this all too clearly and a trend was set that has never fully been extinguished.

Lennie's NYPO recording, which predates the Visconti film by about 5 years, has an Adagietto which is only 10 seconds faster than the 1987 performance and which is over a minute slower than the Kubelik recording used in the film. I don't think that he can't be blamed for the Adagietto's association with death - that surely stems largely from the film where marrying scenes of the dying Aschenbach with the music has transmogrified it into a form of lament - and which I doubt if Mahler ever intended should be the case.

The Leinsdorf is not I think currently in the catalogue, although Amazon has used copies for not a lot of money.

[EdgeleyRob]

Oh - and the opening: Beethoven 5? Or Mendelssohn's Wedding March?

Mendelssohn Op 62 No 3

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Lennie's NYPO recording, which predates the Visconti film by about 5 years, has an Adagietto which is only 10 seconds faster than the 1987 performance and which is over a minute slower than the Kubelik recording used in the film.

I used to think this (based, in my case, on an LP of Mahler's "hits" cobbled together from Kubulik's DG recordings after the success of the film) but although the recording and film appeared in the same year (1971), the Music on the film soundtrack was specially recorded by the St Cecilia National Academy Orchestra, conducted by Franco Mannino.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The point about the exclusion of Barbirolli (an interpretation about which I have severe reservations) is that it is highly praised in many reviews - it has become a reference recording, and if a reviewer is going to reject it, the reasons why s/he is going against this acclaim needs to be made clear. Ignoring it completely isn't serving the listeners properly.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Mendelssohn Op 62 No 3

Yer not wrong, Edgey - but the joke about Weddings = Funerals is lost thereby

[Petrushka]

Oh - and the opening: Beethoven 5? Or Mendelssohn's Wedding March?

Or the Haydn Symphony 100 (Military) perhaps?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Or the Haydn Symphony 100 (Military) perhaps?

But you've RUINED the Wedding/Funeral March joke, Pet - RUINED it, I tell'ee!

[Barbirollians]

The point about the exclusion of Barbirolli (an interpretation about which I have severe reservations) is that it is highly praised in many reviews - it has become a reference recording, and if a reviewer is going to reject it, the reasons why s/he is going against this acclaim needs to be made clear. Ignoring it completely isn't serving the listeners properly.

[MrBear]

I did like they way they concentrated on a few recordings and played longer excerpts
Too much chat though
With so many recordings of such a long, complex and open symphony to go through and list and dismiss most of them could be really tedious
I love the Bernstein along with Walter my favourites and almost think the later would be a better library choice
Not sure what I would choose as a library choice, Abbado ? a lot of versions I have not heard maybe the Czech Neumann ?
I wonder why on earth they played Boulez and Norrington

[HighlandDougie]

I used to think this (based, in my case, on an LP of Mahler's "hits" cobbled together from Kubulik's DG recordings after the success of the film) but although the recording and film appeared in the same year (1971), the Music on the film soundtrack was specially recorded by the St Cecilia National Academy Orchestra, conducted by Franco Mannino.

I stand corrected - 45 years of being wrong! I can't remember enough about the film soundtrack to know whether the performance was à la Lennie or not (and have no great wish to see the film again - I vaguely remember thinking, "Just get on with it!" as we were treated to yet another lingering shot of Dirk Bogarde about to shuffle off that mortal coil).

[Barbirollians]

I think in a way not playing the 1947 Walter was even more objectionable . This was I think one of the very first recordings if not the first of the whole symphony and it has a terrific charge . Casual listeners would have been left with the impression that Walter only ever recorded the Adagietto .

[Petrushka]

But you've RUINED the Wedding/Funeral March joke, Pet - RUINED it, I tell'ee!

There was a joke? Weddings and funerals are pretty much the same anyway. In both cases you are bidding someone off into the unknown.

[Beef Oven!]

Once again I forgot to tune in and iPlayer's not an option until I return to the UK. No mention of Karajan? My favourites that seem to have fared differently are; Karajan BPO, Bernstein VPO & NYPO, Gerviev LSO, Barshai German Youth Orchestra and Barbirolli (my first M5 CD, so sentimental reasons as much as anything else).