BaL 3.03.18 - Mahler: Symphony no. 7

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's on DG, coupled with Karajan's studio Sibelius symphony #3.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

You heard it here first!!

No need to bother listening, then!

[mahlerei]

I much prefer Abbado's fuller, more genial Chicago M7 to his remakes. Ditto Gielen, whose Baden-Baden players seem far more responsive to nuance and colour than their BP counterparts. And yes, Klemperer defies all logic but still delivers a marvellous reading that, to me at least, never feel as long as it is. (The remesatered version sounds newly minted, too.) I will be interested to see if the new Jansons gets a mention. In many ways it reminds me of Abbado/CSO. Both are indispensable, IMHO. Still haven't heard the A. Fischer, which has had some good reviews.

[Beef Oven!]

I much prefer Abbado's fuller, more genial Chicago M7 to his remakes.....

Genial? I think the CSO is way more ballsy (please excuse the maleism). But is that the recording? Or a ballsier orchestra?

[teamsaint]

No need to bother listening, then!

It’s not the winning that matters, it’s the taking part.

( Wasn’t that the British Olympic team’s motto at one time,before funding ruled their world.....)

[Richard Barrett]

not much difference between Abbado's later Berlin recording as opposed to the earlier Chicago?

There's a point in the first movement of the Berlin recording where the ensemble is extremely dodgy, and that rules it out for me. I'm a great admirer of Abbado but his late Berlin Mahler recordings don't appeal to me at all, there's something bloated and unfocused about them in comparison with the performances he recorded earlier, and later in Lucerne. For the 7th my go-to performance is indeed his Chicago one. I've spent time with others, and grew up with Kubelík which I still like, but it's the composition I want to her primarily and Abbado's Chicago performance is where I hear it (ie. what I think of as it) most clearly. I don't think I'll need to listen to this programme. I have a couple of dozen recordings anyway!

[Beef Oven!]

How did I forget my beloved Lennie???

I've owned and loved the individual Sony CD for many years, but bought the boxset a couple of years ago (which is remastered exquisitely!). I paid £15 all-in for a brand new set two years ago, but even at its marginally higher price, is still a complete steal! Buy it now before it goes up n price!!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005SJIP1E/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[HighlandDougie]

Is there a Kurt Sanderling/NDR SO version? If so, I'd add it like a shot to the - err, 34 - recordings I seem to have on my shelves. Just a thought but maybe confused with his (very fine) recording of the 9th on Profil??

Abbado and Chicago was my "go-to" version for a long time and it still sounds very fine, especially in the Korean box. In their different ways, Abravanel (my first LP version) and Kondrashin (neither currently available) sit alongside Horenstein (the Descant issue) as performances I turn to quite often, along with the Abbado. I've also had a lot of enjoyment from the Bernstein/NYPO, which I've recently rediscovered via the LPs. The recent Adam Fischer is well worth a listen, Dan, but my current favourite has to be Zender. His scherzo, which, for me, is both structurally and musically the pivot of this symphony, just seems, well, right. SJ has a very hard job as this symphony always seems to me to have done very well in terms of recordings. I'm not sure if he'll opt for Gergiev (I wouldn't) but it suits him rather better than some of the other symphonies - and it is well-played, if not quite so well-recorded.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It’s not the winning that matters, it’s the taking part.

[Beef Oven!]

It’s not the winning that matters, it’s the taking part.

Wrong thread - go to British & Commonwealth &c ..............

[Beef Oven!]

Is there a Kurt Sanderling/NDR SO version? If so, I'd add it like a shot to the - err, 34 - recordings I seem to have on my shelves. Just a thought but maybe confused with his (very fine) recording of the 9th on Profil??

Abbado and Chicago was my "go-to" version for a long time and it still founds very fine, especially in the Korean box. In their different ways, Abravanel (my first LP version) and Kondrashin (neither currently available) sit alongside Horenstein (the Descant issue) as performances I turn to quite often, along with the Abbado. I've also had a lot of enjoyment from the Bernstein/NYPO, which I've recently rediscovered via the LPs. The recent Adam Fischer is well worth a listen, Dan, but my current favourite has to be Zender. His scherzo, which, for me, is both structurally and musically the pivot of this symphony, just seems, well, right. SJ has a very hard job as this symphony always seems to me to have done very well in terms of recordings. I'm not sure if he'll opt for Gergiev (I wouldn't) but it suits him rather better than some of the other symphonies - and it is well-played, if not quite so well-recorded.

HD, I really don't think that symphonies have 'pivot' points (save for Bob Simpson!), especially M7. But that's another discussion!

About the Gergiev, although I'm a huge VG fan, the actual concert was for me a disappointment and the subsequent CD release did not compensate.

[HighlandDougie]

HD, I really don't think that symphonies have a 'pivot' points (save for Bob Simpson!), especially M7. But that's another discussion!

About the Gergiev, although I'm a huge VG fan, the actual concert was for me a disappointment and the subsequent CD release did not compensate.

Indeed, most symphonies don't have 'pivot' points, as that would suggest that they have two halves, which is clearly nonsense. So, maybe 'pivot' isn't quite the right word but, for me, Mahler's Fifth and the Seventh are the exception in that the scherzo represents a transition from, in the case of the seventh, darkness to light (I know that the fourth movement is 'nachtmusik' but it is different in character from the second movement). Oh, and I forgot to add Sinopoli to my list of favourite recordings.

[Beef Oven!]

Indeed, most symphonies don't have 'pivot' points, as that would suggest that they have two halves, which is clearly nonsense. So, maybe 'pivot' isn't quite the right word but, for me, Mahler's Fifth and the Seventh are the exception in that the scherzo represents a transition from, in the case of the seventh, darkness to light (I know that the fourth movement is 'nachtmusik' but it is different in character from the second movement). Oh, and I forgot to add Sinopoli to my list of favourite recordings.

My brain is dead! I completely forgot Sinopoli!!! Thank you for the jolt!!!

[Alison]

Loving this conversation between my Penguin Guide editors

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Loving this conversation between my Penguin Guide editors

Just as BeefO forgot Lennie (and the remastering on that boxed set is, as he mentions, a thing of wonder), HighDoug reminds me that I forgot the Abravenal, which, if not reaching the starry heights of my favourites, is a terrific performance of the work - for years the only one I could afford.

HD is also correct in singling out the Descant issue of the Horenstein: the recorded sound of this magnificent Live performance requires some tolerance - but reports on Amazon about the BBC Legends reissue suggests that the Beeb have made things worse (so emptor all caveats if the lower price for the used copy is tempting).

Abbado/Chicago ... I need to listen to this again: it never rocked my boat in all the times I played it, and was one of the few discs I didn't regret getting rid of. (Abbado conducted the only Live performance of the work I've ever attended - in the Barbican with the LSO in the early '80s. I was deeply unimpressed - although Caliban [who, unbeknown to me, was also at that concert] had exactly the opposite response.)