New and recent Mahler recordings

[HighlandDougie]

OK, it's not in any way "recent' in terms of performance - 1983 in fact (fairly recent in terms of appearance, tho') but the Kindertotenlieder with Brigitte Fassbaender, the Munich PO and Sergiu Celibidache, as in:

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/products/8366988--mahler-kindertotenlieder

is, simply, exceptional. Excellent recording which allows one to hear every nuance of the singing.

[Arnold Bax]

I have been always a great fan of Mariss Jansons too: his Tchaikovsky cycle is quite without equal on Chandos (though a little short measure, I grant you, at 45 minutes or about but no matter when it is played like that) And the Dvorak 5 on EMI too. It is always a bit of a cliche on when on one is dining in society, one always brings up the fact that as a schoolboy I managed to hear his father Arvid with the USSO SO in works by Khachacturian and other works in Birmingham Town Hall circa 1983.

Yes maestro, there are those critical of Jansons. I'm not one of them! I admire most of his recordings and love to see him in live concert when I can.

[Alison]

I have been always a great fan of Mariss Jansons too: his Tchaikovsky cycle is quite without equal on Chandos (though a little short measure, I grant you, at 45 minutes or about but no matter when it is played like that) And the Dvorak 5 on EMI too. It is always a bit of a cliche on when on one is dining in society, one always brings up the fact that as a schoolboy I managed to hear his father Arvid with the USSO SO in works by Khachacturian and other works in Birmingham Town Hall circa 1983.

Please give us a standout recording with the Concertgebouw, Sir Arnold.

[Arnold Bax]

Alison, I think that my Tchaikovsky set on Chandos were recorded with the Oslo Philharmonic a long time ago with Mariss, and they are still the best IMHO. In fact I was at the Proms eons ago for the same orchestra when he did an encore of Delius something or other which gave me great joy

[BBMmk2]

Alison, I think that my Tchaikovsky set on Chandos were recorded with the Oslo Philharmonic a long time ago with Mariss, and they are still the best IMHO. In fact I was at the Proms eons ago for the same orchestra when he did an encore of Delius something or other which gave me great joy

Still stands out today but I think it be good if he Records another cycle?

[BBMmk2]

Anyone heard the LSO/Solti. Ycle? I have No’s.1 # 2,as a two-fer, very good indeed, even after this amount of time. The remastering is excellent!

[richardfinegold]

Alison, I think that my Tchaikovsky set on Chandos were recorded with the Oslo Philharmonic a long time ago with Mariss, and they are still the best IMHO. In fact I was at the Proms eons ago for the same orchestra when he did an encore of Delius something or other which gave me great joy

I think that his Oslo Tchaikovsky is an outlier. When you look at the sheer volume of Jansons recordings, and the stupendous quality of the Orchestral Forces that he gets to work with, the lack of knock-your-socks-off results is what impresses the most. There must be dozens of active Conductors who would give us better outcomes leading the Concertgebouw or the Bavarians

[Alison]

I think that his Oslo Tchaikovsky is an outlier. When you look at the sheer volume of Jansons recordings, and the stupendous quality of the Orchestral Forces that he gets to work with, the lack of knock-your-socks-off results is what impresses the most. There must be dozens of active Conductors who would give us better outcomes leading the Concertgebouw or the Bavarians

Yes I agree Richard. And my esteemed forum friends didn’t really come up with an answer did they?

I understand the Jansons LvB cycle is pretty good but I have found it relatively easy to resist.

[Alison]

Anyone heard the LSO/Solti. Ycle? I have No’s.1 # 2,as a two-fer, very good indeed, even after this amount of time. The remastering is excellent!

Great set, much better than Jansons!!

[HighlandDougie]

Anyone heard the LSO/Solti. Ycle? I have No’s.1 # 2,as a two-fer, very good indeed, even after this amount of time. The remastering is excellent!

Um, Solti recorded 1/2/3 and 9 with the LSO - and 4 with the Concertgebouw (his first 'official' Mahler recording??). The rest (5/6/7/8) are all Chicago SO so, cycle-wise, not really an earlier one. I agree about the re-masterings (which may have been triggered by the big Korean Solti boxes and have now trickled down to Eloquence and to Universal Japan) but am less convinced by the performances, although the third is pretty good until the final movement.

I am, though, a bit dispirited by all this Jansons-bashing. I wasn't aware that there was a full Mahler cycle conducted by him, although i suppose one might be constructed from the various RCO, Bavarian RSO, LSO and Oslo PO recordings). I've been at a lot of live performances of Mahler's 3rd in my time (Abbado, Chailly, Gielen, Haitink .....) but the best was undoubtedly Mariss J, the Concertgebouw and Anna Larsson at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010. The Bartok Music for Strings etc the previous evening was equally fine. I very much like his LvB Bavarian RSO cycle - a lot more engaging to my ears than, dare I say it, Colin Davis in Dresden or Simon Rattle most recently in Berlin. So, I'm wholly with BBM in his liking for him as a conductor (and, if you want an example on CD, Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique with the RCO).

[cloughie]

I have been always a great fan of Mariss Jansons too: his Tchaikovsky cycle is quite without equal on Chandos (though a little short measure, I grant you, at 45 minutes or about but no matter when it is played like that) And the Dvorak 5 on EMI too. It is always a bit of a cliche on when on one is dining in society, one always brings up the fact that as a schoolboy I managed to hear his father Arvid with the USSO SO in works by Khachacturian and other works in Birmingham Town Hall circa 1983.

I saw Arvid with both the Halle and LeningradPO - Excellent Tchaik 4 with the latter. Mariss, of course served a great orchestral apprenticeship with the BBCWSO, I think around the time it morphed into BBCNOW, and did a Tchaikovsky Sym cycle with them on radio around the time of the Oslo cylcle.

[richardfinegold]

Um, Solti recorded 1/2/3 and 9 with the LSO - and 4 with the Concertgebouw (his first 'official' Mahler recording??). The rest (5/6/7/8) are all Chicago SO so, cycle-wise, not really an earlier one. I agree about the re-masterings (which may have been triggered by the big Korean Solti boxes and have now trickled down to Eloquence and to Universal Japan) but am less convinced by the performances, although the third is pretty good until the final movement.

I am, though, a bit dispirited by all this Jansons-bashing. I wasn't aware that there was a full Mahler cycle conducted by him, although i suppose one might be constructed from the various RCO, Bavarian RSO, LSO and Oslo PO recordings). I've been at a lot of live performances of Mahler's 3rd in my time (Abbado, Chailly, Gielen, Haitink .....) but the best was undoubtedly Mariss J, the Concertgebouw and Anna Larsson at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010. The Bartok Music for Strings etc the previous evening was equally fine. I very much like his LvB Bavarian RSO cycle - a lot more engaging to my ears than, dare I say it, Colin Davis in Dresden or Simon Rattle most recently in Berlin. So, I'm wholly with BBM in his liking for him as a conductor (and, if you want an example on CD, Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique with the RCO).

I’ve bought to many disappointing Jansons discs in my time to be convinced otherwise. There always seems to be one critic somewhere who gets excited by each release, and then further critical analysis by other critics seem to find himso ho hum.
So I repeat The my earlier query: given the mountain of recordings that he has made since the Oslo Tchaikovsky, please point to one—any one—at least in a mainstream work (that exclude Honneger, who is at best, a fringe Composer) where he nails it.
I have the live Beethoven 4-6 on Blu Ray. It’s ok, nothing special. Beethoven is Conductor proof anyway—even M.J. Stopping to admire the view in the first movement of the 5th instead of letting the natural momentum of the work do it’s magic isn’t fatal—but one for the ages, it ain’t

[Conchis]

Somewhat o/t but don't Solti's 60s Mahler recordings (which never became a cycle) need some sort of comprehensive reuissue programme?

Afaia, only the 2nd is still widely avalable (on the Classic Sound reissue), the 1st is fairly easy to get hold of, but the 3rd and the 9th have been oop since the mid-90s (as has his RCO 4th, I gather) . Not everyone agrees that his Chicago cycle is superior in every way.

[Bryn]

Somewhat o/t but don't Solti's 60s Mahler recordings (which never became a cycle) need some sort of comprehensive reuissue programme?

Afaia, only the 2nd is still widely avalable (on the Classic Sound reissue), the 1st is fairly easy to get hold of, but the 3rd and the 9th have been oop since the mid-90s (as has his RCO 4th, I gather) . Not everyone agrees that his Chicago cycle is superior in every way.

All those appear to be available in decent condition and reasonable prices via amazon.co.uk, with the possible exception of the 3rd, which is a little more pricey.

[Conchis]

All those appear to be available in decent condition and reasonable prices via amazon.co.uk, with the possible exception of the 3rd, which is a little more pricey.

Thanks for that. I wasn't aware of the new Decca iterations - they look rather handsome, with the orignal artwork duplicated. But, as you say, a bit pricey.

I see the 1967 9th is now on Eloquence: a good move. :)