BaL 26.11.11 - Mahler: Symphony no. 8

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Me too. Its a good read. He certainly doesn't hold back in his views on conductors!

And yet, none of them seemed to have a bad word for him.

Or a good one.

[BBMmk2]

I love this work, especially in the hands of Solti and Abbado. I like all of it, but I do rather like that the finale! Gawd!

[Lordgeous]

He seems to be quite frank about his own strengths AND failings too. An interesting picture of the orchestra at its peak. Record companies and producers come in for quite a bit of stick too. I had a piece performed by the LSO in the 70s. Must check to see if he was leading then.

As a student I sang in the chorus for Mahler 8 (under Sir Adrian, RAH) but didnt really 'get' Mahler then. Nowadays the finale of 8 seems like a pale shadow of the end of Mahler 2, which never fails to thrill and move.

[Barbirollians]

He seems to be quite frank about his own strengths AND failings too. An interesting picture of the orchestra at its peak. Record companies and producers come in for quite a bit of stick too. I had a piece performed by the LSO in the 70s. Must check to see if he was leading then.

As a student I sang in the chorus for Mahler 8 (under Sir Adrian, RAH) but didnt really 'get' Mahler then. Nowadays the finale of 8 seems like a pale shadow of the end of Mahler 2, which never fails to thrill and move.

Your last sentence sums up my feeling about the end of Mahler 8 .

[BBMmk2]

The ending for, is the summing of this marvellous work. Does it for me everytime.

[Dave2002]

The ending for, is the summing of this marvellous work. Does it for me everytime.

I see you and I like some of this work!

Solti's is good, but so also is Kubelik's. If you want the house to shake you need Solti's, but Kubelik's is splendid in a different way. As I recall Tennstedt's has an organ which wasn't so blended in - but that's only part of the equation I think. Gergiev's version comes out better than the live performance I attended, but it's still pretty awful regarding the sound from St Pauls. I have no idea how it even manages to hang together at all.

Is there a reason why we're suddenly discussing a BAL from eight or so years ago? Is a "refresh" coming along soon?

[gurnemanz]

I love this work, especially in the hands of Solti and Abbado. I like all of it, but I do rather like that the finale! Gawd!

Re Mahler 8. I'm not too keen on the start which seems a bit bombastic to me and I seem to have concentrated over the years mainly on his setting of Goethe's Faust, which I studied rather intensively as a student of German Lit (I was very much into investigating by das Ewig-Weibliche - see also Kundry.) Since the second section of the Eighth is a setting of the final scene of Part II of Goethe's drama, it is not for me really like part a symphony at all. The text is hardly ever performed as a stage play and though it is not something I need to listen to that often, Mahler puts the text across most effectively. I love the last bit - Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis.

[Dave2002]

I love the last bit - Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis.

[Pulcinella]

Is there a reason why we're suddenly discussing a BAL from eight or so years ago? Is a "refresh" coming along soon?

See Barbirollians' post #98, which resurrected the thread as he'd just got round to listening to the Tennstedt recording.

[Barbirollians]

Guilty as charged .

[BBMmk2]

I see you and I like some of this work!

Solti's is good, but so also is Kubelik's. If you want the house to shake you need Solti's, but Kubelik's is splendid in a different way. As I recall Tennstedt's has an organ which wasn't so blended in - but that's only part of the equation I think. Gergiev's version comes out better than the live performance I attended, but it's still pretty awful regarding the sound from St Pauls. I have no idea how it even manages to hang together at all.

Is there a reason why we're suddenly discussing a BAL from eight or so years ago? Is a "refresh" coming along soon?

Ah with me, I like all of this work. The opening Veni Creator Spiritus, those vast depths from the heights of the gorges, to the bottom to measure the vast length of it all. So perfect.

[Barbirollians]

Now finally have got round to listening to the Abbado - Part 1 a bit of a slow burn Part 2 - marvellous and with wonderful singing. Top of my heap of four when sound quality is considered - Horenstein in 1959 probably my favourite performance.

[BBMmk2]

Now finally have got round to listening to the Abbado - Part 1 a bit of a slow burn Part 2 - marvellous and with wonderful singing. Top of my heap of four when sound quality is considered - Horenstein in 1959 probably my favourite performance.

With me it’s a toss between Abbado or Solti.

[teamsaint]

Just bumping this re the comments about Mahler 8 elsewhere, and the lack of a specific thread.
There are a few other M8 threads too, but this is by far the longest.

[Oakapple]

This thread prompted me to dig out my boxed set of Haitink complete Mahler symphonies on LP. Not having opened it for some years, the first thing that greeted me was a lot of crumbling foam.

Anyway, I was reminded that there was a recommendation in the accompanying booklet to turn the volume up when playing the 8th. This certainly is necessary and not just because my equipment for playing LPs is not the best. I wonder - is this was it not recorded as well as it might have been? Was the technology for recording not really up to coping with such huge forces? I also wonder why Haitink did not record it again, especially with the advent of CDs.