BaL 9.11.19 - Mahler: Symphony no. 3

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30
Building a Library: William Mival compares recordings of Mahler's 3rd Symphony - and picks a favourite.

Available versions:-
Anna Larsson, Arnold Schoenberg Choir Vienna & Tölzer Knabenchor, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (DVD/Blu-ray)
Anna Larsson, Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado
Jessye Norman, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Sängerknaben, Claudio Abbado
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice AbravaneHilde Rössel-Majdan, Vienna Symphony Orchestra & Wiener Sängerknaben, Charles Adler *Brigitte Pinter, Hildesheim Boy's Choir, Belcanto Children and Youth Choir, members, Brunswick State Theatre Women's Chorus, Brunswick State Orchestra, Jonas AlberIris Vermillion, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Frauenchor Des Rundfunkchores Berlin, Staats- und Domchor Berlin, Knabenchor an der Hochschule der Künste Berlin, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Lucretia West, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Christa Ludwig, New York Choral Artists, Brooklyn Boys Chorus & New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Martha Lipton, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Boys' Choir of the Little Church Around the Corner, New York Schola Cantorum Women's Chorus, Leonard Bernstein *
Anne Sofie von Otter, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Sängerknaben, Women Chorus of Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Pierre Boulez
Kathleen Ferrier, BBC Symphony Ornchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Marjana Lipovšek, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Ladies of the WDR Rundfunkchors Köln, Girls and Boys from the Cathedral Choir, Köln, Semyon Bychkov *
Petra Lang, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Netherlands Children's Choir, Riccardo Chailly
Mignon Dunn, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Glen Cortese (DVD)
Alexandra Petersamer, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno (female members), Aurelius Sangerknaben Calw, Gabriel Feltz
Linda Finnie, Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Female members, Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi *
Anna Larsson, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Ádám Fischer
Gerhild Romberger, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Cantemus Children's Choir, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Iván Fischer (SACD)
Heather Foutz, Brigham Young University Philharmonic Orchestra, Brigham Young University Women's Concert Choir, Salt Lake Children's Choir, Kory Katseanes *
Anna Larsson, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Tiffin Boys' Choir, Valéry Gergiev (SACD)
Cornelia Kallisch, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen
Petra Lang, Women of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, The American Boychoir, New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert
Women's Chorus of the Netherlands Radio, Boys' Chorus of St Willibrord Church, Amsterdam, Netherlands Radio Chorus & Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Gerhild Romberger, Augsburger Domsingknaben, Frauenchor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernard Haitink *
Michelle DeYoung, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Children's Choir, Bernard Haitink *
Jard van Nes, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Women of the Ernst-Senff Choir, Tölzer Knabenchor, Bernard Haitink
Michelle DeYoung, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & Children’s Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh, Manfred Honeck (SACD)
Norma Proctor, Ambrosian Singers, Wandsworth School Boys Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein
Helen Watts, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Jascha Horenstein
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Limburg Cathedral Boys Choir, Frankfurt Kantorei Women's Chorus, Eliahu Inbal *
Kaori Ikeda, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Nikikai Chorus Group, Eliahu Inbal *
Bernarda Fink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir, Boys of the Breda Sacrament Choir, Rijnmond Boys’ Choir, Mariss Jansons (SACD)
Bernarda Fink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir, Boys of the Breda Sacrament Choir, Rijnmond Boys’ Choir, Mariss Jansons (DVD/Blu-ray))
Randi Stene, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Mariss Jansons
Waltraud Meier, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchstra, Paavo Järvi (DVD/Blu-ray))
Jadwiga Rappe, Ensemble feminine de Musique vocale de Lausanne, Maitrise du Conservatoire Populaire de Geneve, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan *
Bernadett Wiedemann, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus of the Hungarian State Opera House, Rico Saccani, Anikó Katona *
Valentina Levko, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow State Chamber Choir, Moscow State Children's Choir, Yurlov State Choir Capella, Kirill Kondrashin
Marjorie Thomas, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Der Tölzer Knabenchor, Rafael Kubelik
Marilyn Horne, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, James Levine
Dallas Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Andrew Litton
Michelle DeYoung, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesus Lopez-Cobos
Sarah Connolly, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Voices, Tiffin Boys' Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, Lorin Maazel
Anna Larsson, The American Boychoir, Women of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel *
Agnes Baltsa, Damenchor der Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Die Wiener Sängerknaben, Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Macal
Marjana Lipovsek, Vienna Boys Choir, Women's Chorus of the Vienna Singverein, Bavarian State Orchestra, Zubin Mehta (SACD)
Marjana Lipovsek, Bavarian State Orchestra, Vienna Boys‘ Choir & Women‘s Chorus of the Vienna Singverein, Zubin Mehta (DVD/Blu-ray)
Maureen Forrester, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Lucretia West, Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Dimitri Mitropoulos
New York Philharmonic Orchestra & Westminster Choir, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Beatrice Krebs, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Dagmar Pecková, Women of the Rundfunkchor, Berlin, Hannover Boys' Choir, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann
Mihoko Fujimura, Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonathan Nott (SACD)
Jessye Norman, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, American Boys' Choir, Seiji Ozawa
Ewa Marcinec, Boys of the Mainzer Domchors, Ladies of the Domkantorei Mainz, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Daniel Raiskin
Birgit Remmert, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus Women, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle
Sara Mingardo, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Women's choir of Schola Heidelberg, Young singers of the Kölner Dom, François-Xavier Roth
Anna Larsson, Women Of The Los Angeles Master Chorale , The Paulist Boy Choristers of California, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen *
Sonna Cervena, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen
Ruth Siewert, Mitglieder des Südfunk Chor, Knabenchor des Eberhard Ludwig Gymnasium, Carl Schuricht
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Carl Schuricht
Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz *
Anne Gjevang, Danish National Radio Choir, Copenhagen Boys' Choir, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leif Segerstam *
Hannah Schwarz, Philharmonia Orchestra, Women's Voices Of The Philharmonia, New London Children's Choir, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Helga Dernesch, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Women's Chorus, Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus, Sir Georg Solti
Helen Watts, London Symphony Orchestra, Wandsworth School Boys Choir, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Sir Georg Solti
Michaela Schuster, Güzenich-Orchester Köln, Mädchen und Knaben der Chöre am Kölner Dom, Damenchor der Oper Köln, Markus Stenz
Sona Swarowsky, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, RIAS Kammerchor, Staats- und Domchor Berlin, Hans Swarowsky *
Diana Eustrati, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eugen Szénkar *
Brigitte Pretschner, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Bulgarian National Svetoslav Obretenov Choir, Bodra Smyana Children's Choir, Emil Tabakov *
Ortrun Wenkel, London Philharmonic Choir, Southend Boys' Choir, Ladies Of The London Philharmonic Choir, John Alldis, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt
Waltraud Meier, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eton College Boys Choir & London Philharmonic Choir, Klaus Tennstedt
Michelle DeYoung, San Francisco Symphony, with Women of the SFS Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir and the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Michael Tilson Thomas (SACD)
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cracow Philharmonic Choir, Cracow Boys' Choir, Antoni Wit
Lilli Paasikivi, Tiffin School Boys' Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Benjamin Zander (SACD)
Birgit Remmert, Tonhalle Zurich, Zurcher Sangerknaben, Schweizer Kammerchor, David Zinman
Kelley O’Connor, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Women of the Dallas Symphony Chorus & Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas, Jaap van Zweden *


* download

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I missed out the BBC website info as the list itself contained too many characters, so I now add the information below:

Mahler's monumental 3rd Symphony, completed in 1896, remains to this day the longest symphony in the standard repertory, and one of the most powerful, taking around 90 minutes to perform all six movements. Composed largely in Mahler's hut on the edge of the Attersee in Austria, his 3rd Symphony is a musical embodiment of nature and the 6 movements together depict what Mahler wrote to his friend Max Marschalk as 'A Summer's Midday Dream. There are traces of subtitles to each movement, although they were dropped before publication, and the whole symphony opens as 'Pan Awakes' and 'Summer Marches In'. The first movement takes 30 minutes alone and forms Part 1 of the symphony, while the remaining five movements form Part 2. The fourth movement sets words from Nietzsche's 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', to be sung by mezzo-soprano, and the fifth movement sets words from Das Knaben Wunderhorn.

[vinteuil]

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... welcome back! And many thanks for this mammoth production...


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[teamsaint]

Big old job this one.( i see its a bloke as usual for the big stuff).

I’m hoping to finally get to hear this work live for the first time next Thursday at Basingstoke.

I suppose we should all be looking out for things to do on December 12. Last time round I was at a Shostakovich concert at the RFH, which was a good place to be in the circumstances.

Great effort as usual, EA.

[CallMePaul]

The contralto soloist in the Litton performance is Natalie Stutzmann.

[Petrushka]

Bernard Haitink has given what, for me, were the greatest live performances of this mighty work that I will ever hear this side of the Pearly Gates: At the 2016 Proms with the LSO and an incandescent account at the Barbican with the BPO in September 2004. The latter was one of the great concert experiences of my life so I will naturally go for BPO/Haitink or BRSO/Haitink.

My very first recording was NYPO/Bernstein on CBS and it still sounds fantastic in its latest remastering.

Too many can be ruled out, in my opinion, by having a speeding up at the very conclusion which robs it of its magnificence but Haitink, for one, is rock steady and builds to an overwhelming climax that clinches the recommendation in any of his recordings.

[verismissimo]

No Walter. No Klemperer. No Karajan. Only Kondrashin with Russians.

All very interesting. :)

[LeMartinPecheur]

Alpie: one you may care to add is Bertini as it's still fully available in his cycle. AFAIK it's never been issued singly https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symp...r%2C157&sr=1-1
The full listing would be Gwendolyn Killibrew, Boys' Choir of the Collegium Josephinum, Bonn, Ladies' Choirs of Bayerischen & Westdeutschen Rudfunks, Koln Rudfunk SO/ Bertini

[richardfinegold]

Bernard Haitink has given what, for me, were the greatest live performances of this mighty work that I will ever hear this side of the Pearly Gates: At the 2016 Proms with the LSO and an incandescent account at the Barbican with the BPO in September 2004. The latter was one of the great concert experiences of my life so I will naturally go for BPO/Haitink or BRSO/Haitink.

My very first recording was NYPO/Bernstein on CBS and it still sounds fantastic in its latest remastering.

Too many can be ruled out, in my opinion, by having a speeding up at the very conclusion which robs it of its magnificence but Haitink, for one, is rock steady and builds to an overwhelming climax that clinches the recommendation in any of his recordings.

What, no love for Haitink in Chicago? I was at one of the Concerts used for the recordings, which is my only concert experience with the piece. I also recently acquired the Haitink Amsterdam complete Mahler on Blu Ray. I have to admit I’ve never really compared the Haitink recordings critically against each other, tending to just enjoy them In the moment.
Bernstein, Horenstein, Chailly, MTT also grace my collection, all stupendous in their way, but for some reason the one that I would pick above all is Maazel in Vienna , which was the highlight of his cycle

[Nick Armstrong]

Bernard Haitink has given what, for me, were the greatest live performances of this mighty work that I will ever hear this side of the Pearly Gates...

Too many can be ruled out, in my opinion, by having a speeding up at the very conclusion which robs it of its magnificence but Haitink, for one, is rock steady and builds to an overwhelming climax that clinches the recommendation in any of his recordings.

I agree Pet. BH does conjure something very special with this piece live.

Having learned the piece through the Levine/Chicago performance (cassettes, on my 18th birthday present Hitachi ghetto-blaster) at University, I forked out to go to London from college to hear a Haitink performance. Being early 1980s, it was probably the LPO I imagine.

It was a stunning, cumulative interpretation, and the pacing of the conclusion was literally mind-altering. I tottered into the tube afterwards and proceeded to leave all my possessions on the seat when I got out (money, train ticket etc), still in a daze.

[Petrushka]

I agree Pet. BH does conjure something very special with this piece live.

Having learned the piece through the Levine/Chicago performance (cassettes, on my 18th birthday present Hitachi ghetto-blaster) at University, I forked out to go to London from college to hear a Haitink performance. Being early 1980s, it was probably the LPO I imagine.

It was a stunning, cumulative interpretation, and the pacing of the conclusion was literally mind-altering. I tottered into the tube afterwards and proceeded to leave all my possessions on the seat when I got out (money, train ticket etc), still in a daze.

My first live Mahler 3 was with Haitink and the Philharmonia at a 1981 Prom. Was that the one of your memory? Haitink's interpretation of the 3rd changed little over the years though was a little more expansive by the time of the 2016 Prom with the LSO. That same cumulative power and unerring placement of the one true climax in the entire 100 minutes is there in all of his recordings and no-one gets it so right as Haitink does.

Without any Haitink I'd go for Bernstein's 1961 recording which also has tremendous power.

I was present at Abbado's Lucerne Prom outing in 2007 and wonderful as it was I've never really warmed to his way with that conclusion where he deliberately reins in the timpani. He does it with the VPO, too.

[Richard Tarleton]

I forked out to go to London from college to hear a Haitink performance. Being early 1980s, it was probably the LPO I imagine.

It was a stunning, cumulative interpretation, and the pacing of the conclusion was literally mind-altering. I tottered into the tube afterwards and proceeded to leave all my possessions on the seat when I got out (money, train ticket etc), still in a daze.

Precisely my experience at my first Haitink Mahler 3 in 1979 (LPO, Proctor), minus losing my stuff - indeed my first Mahler 3, I'd never heard a note of it before the concert. Mind-altering indeed - we staggered over Waterloo Bridge and sank a couple of pints in the Coal Hole to recover. I can still picture Alan Cumberland on timpani at the end - and indeed I saw Haitink/LPO (with AC on timps) perform it again in the late 70s. I was also at Pet's "incandescent" Barbican performance with the BPO in 2004, with Anna Larsen. So, it's Haitink for me - I have his early RCO version on LP, well worn, and 1990 BPO.

[Pulcinella]

The recording I have is MTT's earlier LSO one, on CBS/Sony, with Janet Baker as soloist.
Seems to be nla:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-Ruckert-Lieder-Janet/dp/B01G4784SC

[LMcD]

The recording I have is MTT's earlier LSO one, on CBS/Sony, with Janet Baker as soloist.
Seems to be nla:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symp.../dp/B01G4784SC

A snip at £59.75. Don't all rush, now!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A snip at £59.75. Don't all rush, now!

Available further up the river at a more sensible price (albeit without a photo of the CD cover ... and with all the reviews actually discussing Bernstein!):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-No-R%C3%BCckert-Lieder/dp/B00004Z58P