BaL 26.11.11 - Mahler: Symphony no. 8

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Julian Johnson with a personal recommendation from the available recordings of Mahler's 8th Symphony, the "Symphony of a Thousand."

Available versions:
Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Singverein, Wiener Sängerknaben & Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Westminster Chorus, Schola Cantorum New York, Public School Manhattan Chorus & New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Russian Television Grand Academic Chorus & Children’s Choir and Double Mixed Chorus of the Moscow Choral Academy, Evgeny Svetlanov
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Eliahu Inbal
Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Staatskapelle Dresden, Shin-Yuh Kai Chorus, New London Children's Choir, The Southend Boys' Choir, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra Warsaw Boys’ Choir, Kraków Philharmonic Choir & Kraków Boys’ Choir, Antoni Wit, Michael Halász & Robert Olson
Brunnsbo Barnkör, Göteborgs Operakör, Musikaliska Sällskapet, Gothenburg Symphony Chorus, Estonian Boys' choir, Stora Teaterns Orkester, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Neeme Järvi
Eaglen, Schwanewilms, Ziesak, Fulgoni, Larsson, Heppner, Mattei, Rootering
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Gary Bertini
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Singverein, Wiener Sängerknaben & Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein
LSO, Bernstein
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Sängerknaben, Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Reinhard Oechsler, SWF Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Michael Gielen
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Staatskapelle Berlin, Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin, Rundfunkchor Berlin & Aurelius Sängerknaben Calw, Pierre Boulez
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Robert Shaw
Rundfunkchor Berlin, Prager Philharmonischer Chor, Tölzer Knabenchor & Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
NDR-Sinfonieorchester und Kölner Rundfunkchor, Chor der Hamburger Musikhochschule Städtischer Chor Hamburg & Knabenchor der Oberschule Eppendorf, Winfried Zillig
Choruses of Bavarian, North & West German Radio, Regensburger Domspatzen, Frauenchor des Münchner Motettenchores & Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
an Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas
Deutscher Rundfunk Berlin & Deutsches SO Berlin, Kent Nagano
Warsaw Boys Choir, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Wiener Singakademie, Vienna Boys Choir, Slowakischer Philharmonischer Chor & ORF-Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bertrand de Billy
London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, London Symphony Chorus & Eton College Boys’ Choir, Klaus Tennstedt
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Schweizer Chamber Choir, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, David Zinman
Choir of Eltham College, Choral Arts Society of Washington, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev

DVD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly

[Barbirollians]

Much my least favourite of his symphonies . Solti is enough for me .

[rauschwerk]

(I'll get me coat)

[VodkaDilc]

Hasn't Tennstedt and the LPO been a long-term recommendation for this? I suppose there are recordings with more modern sound now..

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Julian Johnson is new to the "personal choice" slot, isn't he? He was involved in one of the "group therapy" sessions on "Recent Mahler CDs" last year (and was very good - his praise for Tennstedt's "Live" LPO Resurrection led me to buy the discs, which I haven't regretted for a moment: one of the greatest performances of this work ever made IMO).

He also wrote the sane and essential Who Needs Classical Music, so his choice(s) should be well worth listening to. (And a pleasant change from the other Johnson!)

[Alison]

There's only one Haitink version isn't there, EA ?

Seem to remember a good Brucker new releases discussion with JJ. Pleasingly modest and tries to see/hear where the interpreter is coming from.

[Roehre]

There's only one Haitink version isn't there, EA ?

The recordings are identical, but there are two distinct CD releases available at the moment (Pantone and Decca IIRC, both ex-Philips 1970s).

[Nick Armstrong]

Hasn't Tennstedt and the LPO been a long-term recommendation for this? I suppose there are recordings with more modern sound now..

That and the Solti I think, the latter being spectacular and featuring pretty flawless soloists (rare).

But I have a great soft spot for Klaus Tennstedt's studio recording which is the first one I had - despite the smaller chorus he digs deeper I think...

Plus the stunning RFH concert on the DVD mentioned above (in which yours truly is visible in the stalls in ludicrous stripey early 90s City-boy braces ). Of course it is that DVD performance which recently came out on a CD from LPO Live - so the Tennstedt ref in #1 above should really have "2 versions" after it.

[ostuni]

That and the Solti I think, the latter being spectacular and featuring pretty flawless soloists (rare).

Certainly Solti's women are near-faultless: so many M8s are (for me) ruined by sopranos who can't sing a pp high Bb, or an in-tune high C. Difficult, I know - but if you can't do it, don't take the gig... However, as rumour has it, Solti's tenor (Kollo) wasn't there for all (any?) of the sessions, and had to overdub his part. That would certainly account for some shockingly bad ensemble moments in Part 1.

M8 might not be the most profound Mahler symphony, but I still enjoy it immensely, and own way too many recordings. Abbado (BPO) is one of the best, I think. And the recently-issued live Tennstedt is very thrilling. The much lauded live Horenstein is just too accident-prone for me, I'm afraid, though I'm sure that it left a great impression on those there.

[Biffo]

No 8 is also my least favourite Mahler Symphony but I have several versions; my favourite is probably Chailly with Colin Davis close second. I don't recall Julian Johnson but thank goodness we don't have Edward Seckerson doing the review.

[umslopogaas]

ostuni (#9), I just checked the booklet that came with the LPs of Solti's Mahler 8 on Decca and it says Rene Kollo appears by courtesy of G.B.S. G.M.B.H. There is also a photo of him singing next to John Shirley-Quirk, so he must have been present for at least one session.

[Alison]

but thank goodness we don't have Edward Seckerson doing the review.

Amen !

[ostuni]

ostuni (#9), I just checked the booklet that came with the LPs of Solti's Mahler 8 on Decca and it says Rene Kollo appears by courtesy of G.B.S. G.M.B.H. There is also a photo of him singing next to John Shirley-Quirk, so he must have been present for at least one session.

Thanks for the info. The ensembles in Part 2 sound OK, but I'm convinced he wasn't there for part 1. If anyone is interested, listen to 3-4 bars after fig 10, or fig 13 + 2: if he was there, he wasn't looking at the conductor, and I can't imagine Solti letting him get away with that!

[DublinJimbo]

The Tennstedt I have has slightly different forces (the Tiffin School Boys' Choir, for instance) and was recorded in Walthamstow Town Hall in April 1986. Is this no longer available?

Like others here, I'm not a great fan of the 8th, but the final twelve minutes or so of this recording (from Blicket auf ...) never fail to work their magic.

[Chris Newman]

Thanks for the info. The ensembles in Part 2 sound OK, but I'm convinced he wasn't there for part 1. If anyone is interested, listen to 3-4 bars after fig 10, or fig 13 + 2: if he was there, he wasn't looking at the conductor, and I can't imagine Solti letting him get away with that!

Nor was the organist. Listen to the tape splices at the shrieks of Hostem and Pacem in the middle of the march in the Development "Hostem repellas longius, Pacemque dones protinus). At one point you actually hear a tape skid up to pitch and the sound from one of the speakers is from another accoustic. Mind you, I love the recording for Heather Harper in the first part. To be fair to Kollo he had not long ceased pop singing and was still learning his parts by ear.

I am very fond of the Horenstein recording from the Albert Hall despite the car crashes in the excitement. Apart from Arnold van Mill, Agnes Giebel and Helen Watts I had never heard of the other soloists. I never heard Kenneth Neate sing and he is a good as John Mitchinson (who appears on many a Mahler 8 and DLvdE) yet Neate is much brighter voiced. I looked him up on Wiki to find he had a good career abroad but rarely worked here apart from deputising with Joan Sutherland at Covent Garden.

The best live performance of Mahler 8 I ever heard was Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos also at the Albert Hall in 1971 with the Philharmonia. All that needed was Heather Harper to make it perfection.