BaL 9.11.19 - Mahler: Symphony no. 3

[Nick Armstrong]

I, too, was at both of those. The 1980s were a real golden age for classical music in London You could have Abbado, Solti, Haitink and Tennstedt at the RFH in the same week with Karajan turning up usually around May/June.

Very true about the ‘80s, I was lucky to be in or around London.

Looking for the Haitink programme pictured above wasn’t that difficult - I have only kept a handful, from especially memorable concerts. All are from the ‘80s....

Karajan’s last London concert (Verklärte Nacht, Brahms 1),
Bernstein’s Mahler 5 Prom with the VPO,
Tennstedt’s Brahms 4 (I was sitting in the front row, he caught me grinning during the scherzo and gave me a wink ),
Janet Baker singing Das Lied von der Erde,
... plus the two magnificent series programmes from the Mahler, Vienna and the Twentieth Century cycle at the Barbican in 1985 - I caught Abbado’s Mahler 3 (with Jessye!), 5, 6 & 7, Colin Davis’s Mahler 8 (in St Paul’s I think), and Bernstein’s Mahler 9 with the Concertgebouw.

Such riches (quite apart from any number of other Abbado and Tennstedt concerts which were regular occurrences).

[LMcD]

Very true about the ‘80s, I was lucky to be in or around London.

Looking for the Haitink programme pictured above wasn’t that difficult - I have only kept a handful, from especially memorable concerts. All are from the ‘80s....

Karajan’s last London concert (Verklärte Nacht, Brahms 1),
Bernstein’s Mahler 5 Prom with the VPO,
Tennstedt’s Brahms 4 (I was sitting in the front row, he caught me grinning during the scherzo and gave me a wink ),
Janet Baker singing Das Lied von der Erde,
... plus the two magnificent series programmes from the Mahler, Vienna and the Twentieth Century cycle at the Barbican in 1985 - I caught Abbado’s Mahler 3 (with Jessye!), 5, 6 & 7, Colin Davis’s Mahler 8 (in St Paul’s I think), and Bernstein’s Mahler 9 with the Concertgebouw.

Such riches (quite apart from any number of other Abbado and Tennstedt concerts which were regular occurrences).

RFH 4/12/69: LPO/Haitink/Reynolds/Young Haydn 102 and 'Das Lied von der Erde'
RFH 20/1/70: LPO/Haitink/Magaloff Beethoven PC 2 and Mahler's 9th (during which BH's baton flow out of his hand and nearly blinded the percussionist)
A particular memory from our Fairfield Halls days -Andrew Davis briefly vacating the podium during the Fauré Requiem in order to play the chamber organ.

[Petrushka]

Colin Davis’s Mahler 8 (in St Paul’s I think), and Bernstein’s Mahler 9 with the Concertgebouw..

I was at both of those. The Davis Mahler 8 was in the Royal Albert Hall on April 21 1985. I still have the programme book for the first part of the Mahler, Vienna and the Twentieth Century series signed by Jessye Norman, Claudio Abbado and Leonard Bernstein.

[Ein Heldenleben]

"£3.30"! Those were the days.

I was intrigued by this and did a bit of checking. According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator £3.30 in 1981 is equivalent to £12.40 in 2018. A seat in the last six rows of the balcony ( previously the terrace ?) for a Philharmonia concert is currently £12. That’s pretty amazing giving that West End theatre prices and ROH/ENO have gone up by way more than either CPI or RPI

[Bryn]

I wonder if the Hinaufziehen marking in the 4th movement will come up as a qualifying feature. Rather more easily observed a la Rattle if using Viennese style instruments, I am given to understand. Abbado and (my go-to) Gielen passed the challenge to their respective oboe and cor anglais players to great effect, I feel. Of those who eschewed or did not consider the literal interpretation of the term, Horenstein, Haitink and Bernstein spring to mind as directing particularly fine performances on record.

Did I miss it or did William Mival totally fail to even mention the Hinaufziehen markings in the 4th movement? The solution applied by Rattle et al is, of course, open to question but to me it makes a big positive differnce.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I didn’t hear any such reference but wasn’t listening to the whole . To be honest that level of textual detail doesn’t tend to crop up on BAL much these days . I had no quibble with the final decision though . It did make me think though that BAL is a bit pointless for me as unless you are just starting up you will probably have a few of the classic recordings . I think I have at least four recordings of Mahler 3 .

[HighlandDougie]

Did I miss it or did William Mival totally fail to even mention the Hinaufziehen markings in the 4th movement? The solution applied by Rattle et al is, of course, open to question but to me it makes a big positive differnce.

You did not miss it - he didn't mention it (and the Abbado illustration got cut off just as the music reached one of the interjections so that would have been a good opportunity to do so). Can't fault the chosen recording (I would probably take it to my desert island) but the short list was, well, very short. No gabbling this week but I found it all a bit blah. And, alas, next week AMcG, "will be joined by Jeremy Summery".

[Barbirollians]

You did not miss it - he didn't mention it (and the Abbado illustration got cut off just as the music reached one of the interjections so that would have been a good opportunity to do so). Can't fault the chosen recording (I would probably take it to my desert island) but the short list was, well, very short. No gabbling this week but I found it all a bit blah. And, alas, next week AMcG, "will be joined by Jeremy Summery".

Striking that there are only 3 contributions in the time the programme was on today. In times past there would have been loads more . I suspect that reflects much more on the twofer format than the forum membership.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Who "won"?

[Bryn]

Who "won"?

Jessye Norman.

[Pulcinella]

Jessye Norman.

Yes: it did seem to all hinge on her contribution.
By that token, and not to dismiss Jessye Norman, I'm happy enough with Janet Baker.

[teamsaint]

Yes: it did seem to all hinge on her contribution.
By that token, and not to dismiss Jessye Norman, I'm happy enough with Janet Baker.

I heard Ester Pavlu singing this on Thursday. She sang it beautifully.
Perhaps she will get a chance to record it one day.

I was about 10 feet away from her, and the power, control and vibrato seemed just about perfect to me. It really is a make or break element of a performance.

Bit of a lightweight BaL, but as they indicated, what can you do in 45 mins to cover this work or breadth of available recordings adquately, other than give a strong recommendation based on some decent justifications.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Jessye Norman.

[BBMmk2]

I’m quite happy with mine.

[ardcarp]

It's becoming a bit boring to keep banging on about the twofer. But the ratio of talk:music was too great. My chief niggle is that we don't seem to get two or more versions of the same extract of music compared. OK Mahler 3 is vast...but less chat, more music.